Live Well
Healthy Cheesecake Must-haves
By Jo Hill
When I was younger , I couldn ’ t stand cheesecake … I can ’ t even tell you why ! I have always been a dessert person , but I typically stuck with chocolate desserts or puds , something rich and decadent , but now I love cheesecake , and I think the reason is that it ’ s pretty light . So , it ’ s generally a dessert you can have after any meal … and who doesn ’ t want that ? So give these two recipes a try .
Recipe 1 : Baked Protein Cheesecake
When I was trying to come up with a healthy baked cheesecake recipe , my goal was to make a cheesecake that would be good enough to replicate that episode of Friends where Rachel and Chandler find the cheesecake . ( Yes , Friends is my all-time favourite TV programme .) Well , I think this super-simple cheesecake recipe is a winner !
Ingredients
• For the base : 1 / 3 cup oat flour
• For the cheesecake : 1 tub fat free cottage cheese , smooth
• 1 / 2 tsp stevia or a few drops of liquid sweetener
• 2 servings vanilla whey protein
• 3 Tbs coconut flour
• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 1 / 4 cup lemon juice
• The rind of 1 lemon
Instructions
1 . Preheat oven to 180 degrees and lightly spray a springform cake tin with some cooking spray . 2 . Sprinkle the oat flour over the base of the tin . This will be the ‘ base .’ 3 . Add the cottage cheese , egg whites , egg and lemon juice to a blender and blend for a minute , until creamy and smooth . 4 . Add the whey protein , stevia and coconut flour to this mixture and blend again . 5 . Pour this mixture into the prepared tin and top with the lemon rind . 6 . Bake for 25 to 30 minutes . ( It is better to slightly underbake the cheesecake , as it should continue to ‘ bake ’ once out of the oven .) 7 . Once cooled , slice and enjoy .
Jo ’ s Notes
I have tried baking the cheesecake by placing the tin inside a regular baking tray and filling the baking tray with water , almost creating a bain-marie . I really enjoyed the final product and baking time was reduced to 17 minutes .
Recipe 2 : Salted Caramel Protein Cheesecake Brownies
Being considered a ‘ fit foodie ’ is honestly the coolest thing ! Sometimes I get sent products to try , and if I love the product , I share it with everyone . In my opinion , Grenade ’ s protein bars are the tastiest protein bars on the market , and I would choose one of these bars over a normal choccie any day ! I also came up with these brownies using their white chocolate salted peanut protein bar . Now I know that the title of these beauts is quite a mouthful … I apologise , but I couldn ’ t think of anything else to call them . More importantly , these are an absolute gamechanger that you simply must try !
Ingredients
• For the brownie : 1 tin blackbeans , drained and rinsed
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbs coconut oil , melted
• 3 / 4 cup xylitol / erythritol / coconut sugar ( or 1 tsp stevia powder and 1 / 3 cup xylitol / 10 to 12 drops of liquid sweetener )
• 1 / 4 cup cocoa or sugar-free hot chocolate
• 3 / 4 tsp baking powder and 1 / 2 tsp bicarb
• 1 Grenade white chocolate salted peanut protein bar
• For the cheesecake : 1 tub fat free cottage cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 servings vanilla whey protein
• 3 Tbs coconut flour
• 1 / 3 cup sugar-free granulated sweetener / xylitol / erythritol / 1 tsp stevia powder / liquid sweetener
Instructions
1 . Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with some tinfoil , shiny side down .
2 . Add all of the brownie ingredients ( except the Grenade bar ) to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy . Pour 3 / 4 of the brownie mixture into the baking tray and bake for 8 minutes .
3 . While the brownie is baking , make the cheesecake layer . In a clean blender , add all of the cheesecake ingredients and blend until smooth .
4 . Grate half of the grenade bar and stir it through the remainder of the brownie batter . Slice the remainder of the bar to use as decorations .
5 . After 8 minutes have passed , take the brownies out of the oven and pour the cheesecake mixture into the baking tray . Spread it evenly over the cooked brownies . Top with the rest of the brownie mixture . Bake for 10 minutes .
6 . Once the brownies have cooled fully , slice and then decorate making sure to use the remainder of the Grenade bar . I recommend making my homemade caramel and using that as a drizzle and then topping with the chopped Grenade bar . The recipe for my homemade caramel is on my website .
Jo Hill is a Durban-based baking enthusiast with two selfconfessed addictions : Fitness and chocolate . She has made it her mission in life to show the world that it is possible to have the best of both worlds . The popularity of her healthy recipes led to her creating her popular Facebook page and blog called Pull ups and Peanut butter , where she shares her recipes for clean , healthy and diet-friendly treats . More info at www . pullupsandpeanutbutter . co . za
54 ISSUE 135 NOVEMBER 2020 / www . modernathlete . co . za