I’m currently suffering from a sugar hangover. Let me rewind. Last night we went out for a friend’s 30th birthday party. My friend Kristen brought a buttercream-frosted cake to surprise the birthday boy, and I brought a peanut-butter-packed cookbook recipe that knocked some socks off. I also brought these light chocolate chip cheesecake bars to the party. They look pretty diet-busting, right!? They certainly taste that way too. These bars defy all sorts of baking science rules. They’re so rich-tasting, yet made with lightened-up, protein-packed ingredients. The cheesecake layer is ultra thick and undeniably creamy. I don’t even how it’s possible?! No one even knew they were lighter than regular cheesecake! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not one to sacrifice taste for lighter desserts, thus this creamy cheesecake bar was born. 🙂 So how can you make these ultra rad light cheesecake bars? (Yeah, rad.) The recipe is quite similar to my Light Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars. You’ll need a few easy ingredients: light cream cheese, Greek yogurt, egg whites, and a touch of flour. The flour is used for thickening the cheesecake mixture since you are not using full-fat ingredients. You cannot leave out the flour; the cheesecake will not set up properly. The protein-packed Greek yogurt makes these cheesecake bars unbelievably creamy. I used nonfat plain Chobani Greek yogurt, but you can use low fat and/or a flavored kind like vanilla or even raspberry, honey, strawberry, etc. Using 2% Greek yogurt will give you an even creamier cheesecake bar. Add some sweetness. 1/4 cup of sugar sweetens the bars. That’s only 1/4 cup of sugar sweetening 16 servings. Not too bad, right? I tried my hand at using honey or maple syrup, but the bars did not set up properly. 1 teaspoon of added sugar per serving is heaven sent for cheesecake! (1 tsp does not include the sugar in the cream cheese, chocolate chips, yogurt or crust). For the chocolate? I like to use mini chocolate chips because you get more chocolate in every bite. Always a good thing. I recommend mini in these lightened up strawberry chocolate chip muffins, too! The crust is made from graham crackers and a touch of melted butter. I’ve tested the crust with melted coconut oil and it works wonderfully. So you have the option of either. The bars only take 25 minutes in the oven. But then you have to wait for them to fully chill before digging in. Ugh, that’s probably the only thing I don’t like about cheesecake. Tests your patience! Especially when all you want is some dang dessert! So how do these cheesecake bars measure up? Only 128 calories each!
5 sheets low fat Graham crackers = 350 2 Tbsp butter = 200 8 ounces light cream cheese = 560 3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt = 105 1/4 cup granulated sugar = 194 2 Tbsp flour = 56 2 egg whites = 34 lemon juice = 0 vanilla extract = o 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips = 560
Do yourself a favor and stop reading. Set out your cream cheese to soften right now. Because you have got to try these simple lightened-up cheesecake bars! It’s been exactly 20 hours since I had one and life just isn’t the same…
