Has anyone made a cheesecake with low fat or fat free cream cheese?!


Question: I love to bake but have never made a cheesecake. I found a pumpkin cheesecake recipe online and want to make it for Thanksgiving dinner. I would like to make it a little healthier but don't know what results I would get if I use fat free or low fat cream cheese. If you've made a cheesecake please pass on your tips (even if they don't pertain to the substution of the cream cheese.)

Thanks in advance for the advice. I want to wow the cheesecake lovers in my family with this dessert.


Answers: I love to bake but have never made a cheesecake. I found a pumpkin cheesecake recipe online and want to make it for Thanksgiving dinner. I would like to make it a little healthier but don't know what results I would get if I use fat free or low fat cream cheese. If you've made a cheesecake please pass on your tips (even if they don't pertain to the substution of the cream cheese.)

Thanks in advance for the advice. I want to wow the cheesecake lovers in my family with this dessert.

Absolutely... Low fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the Cuisinart with the rest of the ingredients. It is the only way I make cheesecake and it is excellent every time. I do use regular sugar as I don't know what effect sugar substitutes will have, also most sugar substitutes have been known to cause cancer and are very bad for you. This is a known fact the FDA doesn't want you to know about, you can read all about it in Kevin Trudeau's book Natural Cures..

When you are baking the cheese cake, make sure the cake pan has butter or margarine on it so the cake won't stick to the sides. Also, you need to follow the baking instructions very carefully so the cake rises and doesn't split nor does it sink too far if it is undercooked. Use of a toothpick to test the firmness of the cake is recommended in determining if the cake is fully baked.

Good Luck! I hope this was helpful to you...

The Neufchatel (1/3 less fat) works fine. The non-fat does NOT, don't even waste yoru ingredients!

Low-fat works just fine. Fat free does not. Fat free comes out soupy.

As far as using cream cheese, you will usually sacrifice taste for nutrition. It might be okay to use low-fat cream chese in pumpkin cheesecake, though, because pumpkin is a very strong flavor and you might not notice the difference. It can also affect texture, so I would strongly advise against using non-fat cream cheese. You will lose texture and taste, and the cheesecake may not set right.

So if you want to follow a traditional recipe, low fat cream cheese is much better than non-fat.

However, there are some really good recipes out there for "healthy" pumpkin dishes.. so if you could spare with doing a pumpkin pie instead of a cheesecake, you will definately have a healthier dish. HungryGirl.com has a really good recipie for pumpkin pie that only has 133 calories per slice! You really can't beat that.

Ingredients:

For Crust
2 cups Fiber One bran cereal (original)
1/4 cup light whipped butter or light buttery spread (like Brummel & Brown); melted & mixed with 1 oz. water
3 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, granulated
1 tsp. cinnamon

For Filling
One 15-oz. can pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
One 12-oz. can evaporated fat-free milk
3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, granulated
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)
1/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
Optional Topping: Fat Free Reddi-wip

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Combine crumbs with all other crust ingredients. Stir until mixed well. In an oven-safe 9-inch pie dish sprayed lightly with nonstick spray, evenly distribute mixture, using your hands or a flat utensil to firmly press and form the crust. Press it into the edges and up along the sides of the dish. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients for the filling. Mix well. Pour mixture into pie crust. (Filling may be taller than the crust -- trust us, this is okay!) Bake pie in the oven for 45 minutes, and then remove it and allow to cool. Chill in the fridge for several hours (for best results, chill overnight). Cut into 8 slices, and if you like, top with Reddi-wip before serving! MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 133
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 236mg
Carbs: 28g
Fiber: 9g
Sugars: 8g
Protein: 6g

POINTS? value 2*


Tin foil around the edges of the crust while baking will help prevent it from burning. Be sure to let the cheesecake completely cool before refrigerating or serving, and it will turn out much better. Happy Thanksgiving!

I've made these Cheesecake Tarts with fat-free cream cheese and it worked great. For the regular recipe, I made them and had them in a bake sale. They were the first to go.

CHEESECAKE TARTS

2" foil cups (21)
2 (8 oz) pkgs non-fat cream cheese
4 egg whites (or 2 eggs)
3/4 c sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 box Keeblers Vanilla Wafers
1 (20 oz) can cherry pie filling

Mix all except the wafers and pie filling and beat 5 minutes. Arrange cups in a muffin pan. Put 1 vanilla wafer in each and fill 3/4 full. Bake in preheated 375o oven for 15 minutes. Cool. Put cherry pie filling on top just before serving.

These can be frozen as well before adding the pie filling so you can pull them out of the freezer as you need them. Top them with whatever you would like.





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