Today at RAW fitness I was challenged to create a healthy, high protein dessert. I came home knowing exactly what I wanted to create- cheesecake!!

I browsed Pinterest for inspiration and found this blog post as a good base! BUT… Wheat gives me an upset stomach so I didn’t want to use graham crackers. And I was too lazy to go shopping for cream cheese and cottage cheese. Instead, I decided to make a European-style fluffy cheesecake with what I had on hand. European cheesecakes are a little different from New York cheesecakes because they are fluffy and light rather than dense and creamy.

Here’s what you need:

For the crust:
1/2 c old fashioned oats, ground in a blender
1/2 c almond meal (Trader Joe’s)
1 packet stevia (or 8 drops liquid stevia)
About 3 tbs almond milk

For the filling:
1c fat free ricotta cheese
2/3 c fat free plain Greek yogurt
1 tbs unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
6 tbs liquid egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 packets stevia (or liquid stevia)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein isolate
1tsp xanthan gum (to thicken batter- may substitute corn starch)

do this:

1. Preheat oven to 325 deg. Make crust by combining all ingredients until crumbly. Disperse evenly among 12-14 muffin tin spots. I used 1 muffin pan and 2 ramekins. Bake for 10 mins.

2. While crusts are baking, make the filling in a stand mixer by adding one ingredient at a time on low speed. At the end, crank up the speed to make the batter light and airy.

3. Remove crusts from the oven. Divide the batter evenly almond the muffin tins.

4. Lower the temp to 300 deg and bake the cheesecakes for 30 mins. Watch them expectantly :)

5. While they are baking, whip up an easy blueberry topping by microwaving 1 c frozen blueberries with a bit of stevia and lemon juice. You can thicken it with a pinch or two of cornstarch.

6. Remove cheesecakes from the oven and transfer to a plate. Allow the cheesecakes to cool for 15 mins before placing in the fridge to cool for several hours. If you’re impatient like me, serve them lukewarm with blueberry topping immediately! YUM!!

nutrition:
4 cheesecakes (without toppings):
304 calories
28.6g protein
20 g carbs
3 g fiber
11 g fat

Can’t wait to try a lemon version of these! Hope you enjoy and share!