Please don't shoot me! Yes, this is a cheesecake recipe. And yes, I even sank so low as to add the dreaded white sugar to this cake! (Only half a cup.) But honestly, after perusing as many recipes as I could find on the Interwebs, I decided I could make my own version healthier and just as delicious as those decadent recipes!
First off, I improved the crust by removing the typical cookie crumbs and substituting rolled oats and whole almonds. I added a tiny bit of coconut oil to replace the butter, although butter would also be fine here. In addition, I threw in some cocoa nibs (unsweetened, raw cocoa) for added nutrition and fiber, as well as flavor. Because I ended up making too much crust, I saved some to sprinkle over the top. Then I topped that topping with a chocolate coconut glaze. Overkill? Nah!
For a rich, decadent coconut taste, I used a product I found recently at Trader Joe's: coconut cream. This is MUCH thicker than coconut milk. It is solid in the can and needs to be scooped out with a spoon. The flavor is heavenly and there is NO ADDED SUGAR. Half the can went into the filling and the other half went into the dark chocolate glaze.
If you are trying to lose weight, this recipe might not be completely forbidden to you. As you will see, it makes a much smaller cheesecake than usual. To lighten it up even more, you could skip the glaze completely. Just use a little extra crust crumbs for the topping. I recommend slicing the finished cake into 8 pieces (minimum!) and eating no more than one serving per day. Use your slice of cheesecake as a planned small meal or snack. It has plenty of protein from the eggs, cheese, and nuts. It has lots of fiber from the nuts, oats, and nibs. Yes, there is also some sugar so don't go crazy here! But also plenty of healthy fats from the almonds and coconut. If you love an almond joy bar, I hope you will love this cheesecake just as much!
Almond Joy Cheesecake
Crust:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole raw almonds
1 TB coconut oil (or butter)
2 TB raw cocoa nibs
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 350F. In the bowl of a food processor, place oats and almonds. Pulse several times. Add cocoa nib, coconut oil and salt. Continue pulsing until ground into fine crumbs. Dump the crumbs into the bottom of a Pyrex deep-dish pie pan. (I never use a springform pan- I find them annoying. Save some crumbs for the top if you like.) Press the crust up the sides of the pan and along the bottom with your fingertips. Sprinkle coconut into the bottom of the crust. Bake for 11 minutes or until toasted and golden brown. Remove crust from oven and reduce heat to 325F.
Cheesecake:
1 8 oz. package low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 can of coconut cream
Blend all ingredients until perfectly smooth. (I use a hand-held immersion blender.) Pour into baked crust. (Sprinkle extra crust over the top if you ended up with extra!) Bake at 325F for about 55 minutes or until just slightly liquid in the center. Remove from oven and let cool on countertop.
Glaze:
1/2 can coconut cream
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat the coconut cream in microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute or until warm. Add chocolate chips and heat for another 30 seconds. Stir until melted completely. Drizzle glaze over cheesecake. Let it cool. Refrigerate cake or several hours or overnight before serving. Makes at least 8 servings.
First off, I improved the crust by removing the typical cookie crumbs and substituting rolled oats and whole almonds. I added a tiny bit of coconut oil to replace the butter, although butter would also be fine here. In addition, I threw in some cocoa nibs (unsweetened, raw cocoa) for added nutrition and fiber, as well as flavor. Because I ended up making too much crust, I saved some to sprinkle over the top. Then I topped that topping with a chocolate coconut glaze. Overkill? Nah!
For a rich, decadent coconut taste, I used a product I found recently at Trader Joe's: coconut cream. This is MUCH thicker than coconut milk. It is solid in the can and needs to be scooped out with a spoon. The flavor is heavenly and there is NO ADDED SUGAR. Half the can went into the filling and the other half went into the dark chocolate glaze.
If you are trying to lose weight, this recipe might not be completely forbidden to you. As you will see, it makes a much smaller cheesecake than usual. To lighten it up even more, you could skip the glaze completely. Just use a little extra crust crumbs for the topping. I recommend slicing the finished cake into 8 pieces (minimum!) and eating no more than one serving per day. Use your slice of cheesecake as a planned small meal or snack. It has plenty of protein from the eggs, cheese, and nuts. It has lots of fiber from the nuts, oats, and nibs. Yes, there is also some sugar so don't go crazy here! But also plenty of healthy fats from the almonds and coconut. If you love an almond joy bar, I hope you will love this cheesecake just as much!
Almond Joy Cheesecake
Crust:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole raw almonds
1 TB coconut oil (or butter)
2 TB raw cocoa nibs
1/2 teas. salt
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 350F. In the bowl of a food processor, place oats and almonds. Pulse several times. Add cocoa nib, coconut oil and salt. Continue pulsing until ground into fine crumbs. Dump the crumbs into the bottom of a Pyrex deep-dish pie pan. (I never use a springform pan- I find them annoying. Save some crumbs for the top if you like.) Press the crust up the sides of the pan and along the bottom with your fingertips. Sprinkle coconut into the bottom of the crust. Bake for 11 minutes or until toasted and golden brown. Remove crust from oven and reduce heat to 325F.
Cheesecake:
1 8 oz. package low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 can of coconut cream
Blend all ingredients until perfectly smooth. (I use a hand-held immersion blender.) Pour into baked crust. (Sprinkle extra crust over the top if you ended up with extra!) Bake at 325F for about 55 minutes or until just slightly liquid in the center. Remove from oven and let cool on countertop.
Glaze:
1/2 can coconut cream
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat the coconut cream in microwave-safe bowl for 1 minute or until warm. Add chocolate chips and heat for another 30 seconds. Stir until melted completely. Drizzle glaze over cheesecake. Let it cool. Refrigerate cake or several hours or overnight before serving. Makes at least 8 servings.
To make an even lower carb version of this cheesecake, you can completely remove all the sugar from the batter. The crust works fine if you cut the oats in half (use only 1/2 cup rolled oats) and add a quarter teaspoon of almond extract in addition to the vanilla.
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