Pumpkin Cheesecake

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We love the fall because that means it time to break out the pumpkin recipes!

We’ve been craving pumpkin AND cheesecake so we threw together two of our favorite ingredients in this healthy and flavorful pudding-like dessert. For an even lower calorie version, you can opt out of baking the crust, and just sprinkle some graham cracker crumbs on top of the pudding (by itself) instead.

Crust Ingredients

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, low-fat (processed in your food processor)
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar
• Pinch salt

Pudding Ingredients

• Cooking oil spray or coconut oil
• 2 cups pumpkin puree, fresh
• 8 oz cream cheese, reduced fat
• 1 cup Greek yogurt 0%, 2%, or whatever you prefer)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 2 tsp stevia or 1 tbsp agave (can add more or less, to your preferred level of sweetness)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Typically we use canned pumpkin puree for our pumpkin recipes, but we decided to try our hand at making our own puree from scratch. We were pleasantly surprised at how easy it really is.

To Roast the Pumpkin

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For this recipe, you will only need one of the small 4” diameter size pumpkins. Cut your pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and the stringy stuff. We put the seeds into a small bowl so that we could bake them (see pumpkin seed recipe at the bottom of this article).

Lay the pumpkin cut side down on a baking sheet covered in tin foil (sprayed with olive oil or coconut oil). Place into the oven and bake for 1-1/2 hours. Remove from oven and allow it to cool so that you can handle it.

Scoop out the roasted pumpkin, place into a bowl and set aside for use in recipe.

To Make the Crust

Heat the oven again to 350 degrees F.

Add the graham cracker crumbs, flaxseed meal, salt, agave, and butter cubes to a medium size bowl. Using your hands, squeeze the butter into the mixture until the butter is evenly distributed throughout the crumbs.

Pour mixture equally into 4 ramekins (or 8 if you want small servings), and using a drinking glass with a flat bottom, press the crumb mixture so that it coats the bottom and sides of each ramekin.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Update: You may want to place the ramekins in a water bath while they bake, as this seems to help keep the crust moist (so it won’t crack).

To Make Pumpkin Pudding

Add pumpkin puree, cream cheese, yogurt, stevia, vanilla, and spices to a medium size bowl and mix using a hand/stand mixer on medium/high until thoroughly blended. Pour into cooled crusts and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving so that the pudding has a chance to set up and the spices can meld together.

Nutritional Info

Makes 4 large servings, or 8 small.

Per 8 small servings = per serving

Calories: 173
Fat: 10 g
Carbs: 14 g
Protein: 7 g

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