Can this be made lower calorie?

ElizabethRoad

What changes could be made to this recipe to lower the calories without sacrificing taste? Or should I make it as-is?

Eggnog Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

1 9-inch deep-dish graham cracker crust
16 oz regular or nondairy cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp dark rum or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup Silk Nog
2 eggs
PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 325°. 2. Using an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, salt and nutmeg until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl. 2. Beat in rum or vanilla and Nog. 3. Beat in eggs, one at a time. 4. Pour into prepared crust and bake for 25-30 minutes until set. 5. Chill.

geekymom57

I've not baked with Splenda, but if you made the crust instead of buying one pre-made, maybe you could substitute Splenda for the granulated sugar in the crust and in the filling. I'm not familiar with nondairy cream cheese, but there is a lower-fat option that you could try. If you were to make substitutions, I'd definitely try it before making it for some special event--substitutions in baking don't always have the intended result!

However, in all honesty, I'd probably make it the way it is and just eat a smaller portion. It looks tasty and not as messy as using a springform pan (mine always leaks butter from the crust so I have to put it on a pizza pan).

Cathleenr

What changes could be made to this recipe to lower the calories without sacrificing taste? Or should I make it as-is?

Eggnog Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS

1 9-inch deep-dish graham cracker crust
16 oz regular or nondairy cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp dark rum or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup Silk Nog
2 eggs
PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 325°. 2. Using an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, salt and nutmeg until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl. 2. Beat in rum or vanilla and Nog. 3. Beat in eggs, one at a time. 4. Pour into prepared crust and bake for 25-30 minutes until set. 5. Chill.

1. make it a regular crust, not deep-dish.
2. use splenda instead of regular sugar
3. use neufchatel cheese rather than cream cheese (don't use non-dairy..it isn't worth it)
4. use egg whites, not the whole egg.

Erindipitous

Low-fat or fat-free cream cheese, and Splenda instead of sugar. I also agree with the above poster about making your own pie crust.

aekaya

Use stevia instead of sugar, and get some lowfat or fat free cream cheese!

gmrgirl

you can't substitute just egg whites for the eggs, the protein in the yolks are required to make the custard which becomes the cheesecake. otherwise I agree with the following suggestions:

- make it as is and have a smaller serving
- use stevia or splenda instead of sugar (but read the ingredients if you are serving diabetics as the maltodextrin used as a shelf stabilizer has a negative effect on their blood glucose)
- use neufchatel cheese rather than cream cheese
- make it regular and not deep dish.

I do wonder if raw sugar would be a better substitute than the stevia/splenda. I wonder if it's similar to kosher salt (larger granuals but lower sodium. maybe raw sugar is similar? larger granuals but lower on the GI scale *shrug* I'll have to look that one up)

sleepytexan

1. you can generally omit 1/3 the sugar from any baking recipe without affecting the outcome.

2. birch sugar (expensive) has roughly 1/2 the calories of regular sugar without the weird aftertaste of splenda. it's also natural.

3. neufchatel (light cream cheese) has fewer calories than regular cream cheese or soy cream cheese.

4. don't use the rum--many more calories than vanilla extract. you could try rum extract flavoring.

5. check the labels on Silk nog as well as other light dairy nogs to find the one with the least calories.

6. make your own graham cracker crust -- use a cheesecake pan (springform pan), and you only need a small amount of crumbs and minimal amount of butter for the bottom of the pan. those pre-made graham crusts usually contain partially hydrogenated oils anyway (many graham crackers do too--shop carefully!), PHOs will sabotage your weight loss efforts.

OOPS -- edit: if this is one of those mock cheesecakes, it may not bake firm enough to use a springform pan.

momof3and3

make it as is and just have a really small piece..that is what I would do

kantone999

Neufchatel is a good bit softer than cream cheese. If you use it, drain it first. I'd just get the fat free Philly. It won't hurt if you cut the sugar. If you want the rum flavor, put it in an earthenware bowl and ignite it. Burns off the alcohol in seconds which is where a lot of the calories are. Or use half ignited rum and half flavorIng. And do test drive the recipe before serving to guests. If you don't want it sitting around to tempt you, take it to the wolves at work.

JWeaser

Bump. I like using my springform pans for cheesecake. Anyone know for sure if this recipe is okay for that?

significance

I agree with those who have said reduce the sugar and use lite cream cheese. You could also omit the crust entirely - just line the dish with baking paper. It'd be a little harder to serve, but you'd get most of the taste. If you use a larger dish (and make the cheesecake shallower), you can more easily cut smaller slices that won't look stingy.

velarneyraptor

Is there a lower calorie verson of graham crackers you can use? I'm guessing they're like Ritz or something... that could halve the calories in the crust.

ElizabethRoad

Some good suggestions! Thanks! I don't do a lot of baking so I wasn't sure what could be changed.