Sugar Free Cheesecake Recipe

I have gotten into the habit of eyeballing ingredients whenever I am home baking, rarely measuring or following a recipe. I like to throw things together that I have in my baking cupboard and make up the recipe as I go along. It seems to work for me and I usually end up with some delicious and healthy treats. I have now found that the more delicious treats I make, the more people request the recipe from me, and as I truly want to share my creations with anyone who would like to try them I will vow from now on to try to write the recipe down as I go.

My most recent creation was a healthier version of one of my favorite desserts, cheesecake. Usually laden with sugar, butter, and biscuits, I tried to replace some ingredients to make this treat sugar-free and with some wholesome and nutritious ingredients and a good dose of protein.

This is a rough estimate of the measurements, as I did not measure it at the time, but it turned out so well I had to try to recreate it from memory.

The main thing to remember for the base is that you want it to have enough texture to hold together the way a biscuit base would, so if any of these measurements don’t work for you, for example, its a bit wet and liquidy, just add more oats or flax meal to bulk it up, or if its a little dry add more melted coconut oil.

You basically want something that is moldable and that you can press down into the bottom of the tray whilst still keeping some moisture so that it doesn’t turn out dry and chalky. This will just set in the fridge and become a lovely chewy base. I used an 8x8 roasting/baking dish. As long as it's deep enough to hold the base and the topping, you’re good to go. I would recommend parchment paper in the bottom so you can just lift it out once it's set.

BASE

• 3 scoops whey protein - I used chocolate peanut butter, but this could be any flavor you choose - I prefer to use WHEY protein as I have tried to use vegan proteins before and find they are chalkier and don’t set well, whey tends to form a more biscuit-like base and is an excellent option for homemade protein bars.

• 1/2 cup ground flax meal.

• ¼ cup chia seeds.

• ½ peanut butter of your choice, I used Adams.

• 3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)

• 1 cup old fashioned oats (add more if needed)

Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until you get a good consistency and then pack into the bottom of your baking dish into an even level.

TOPPING

• 2 boxes LIGHT cream cheese (any brand will do)

• 100g unsalted butter (softened, not melted)

• 1.5 cups SWERVE icing sugar alternative sweetener (you can find in the baking aisle)

Use a hand blender to beat the butter, cheese, and ‘sugar’ together until a fluffy and creamy texture comes about with no lumps, spoon the topping on top of your base and throw it in the fridge for a few hours. I made it in the morning and was eating it by the afternoon.

Let me know if you try it!