Banana-Nut Healthy Cheesecake Recipe
This healthy cheesecake recipe is a long way from the low calorie, processed imitation ‘diet’ cheesecakes that big diet food brands make (and trust me I’ve tried most of them).
The problem is, cheesecake is naturally a very high calorie, high sugar treat food. When you try and make sugary puddings healthy, somewhere along the lines flavour and texture get altered, and so manufacturers add all sorts of processed junk in a bid to make it taste authentic.
The result is often closer to plastic than food, so how do you make a healthy cheesecake that’s both nutritious and delicious?
Cheesecake is a popular desert with the fitness / IIFYM community because it has more balanced macros compared to high sugar or carb treats like chocolate or cookies.
So for people counting their carbs, protein and fat as well as calories, cheesecake contributes to all of them, meaning you don’t end up with the rest of the day being tinned tuna and broccoli, having used up all your ‘carb’ allowance.
But for people wanting to lose weight or not wanting to consume too many calories, cheesecake is still a very high calorie dessert, and not usually thought of as a dieters’ best friend!
Try this too > Healthy Coconut Cream Pie
Well try this recipe and you’ll see it’s possible after all! High carb sugary biscuits are replaced with crunchy nuts, and there’s still an authentic cheesecake flavour from real cream cheese. But at just over 200 calories per portion, while being high protein and low sugar, you really can have your (cheese) cake and eat it!
I have a free healthy baking cheat sheet that helps you recreate your own favourite baked treats using nutritious ingredients, you can grab it here!
Banana Nut No Bake Healthy Cheesecake
Serves 12
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BASE INGREDIENTS
200g mixed nuts
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. honey
50g coconut oil or butter
Spray Cooking oil to grease
FILLING INGREDIENTS
6 gelatine leaves
2 tsp. honey
3 ripe bananas
2 tsp. vanilla extract
380g Quark
280g Light Cream Cheese
METHOD
Whizz nuts in a processor into crumbs with the cinnamon, 2 tsp. of honey & melted coconut oil or butter.
Spray a 20cm cake tin with spray oil or cake release spray and press the base mixture in with the back of a spoon. Chill in the fridge for an hour.
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes.
Drain the soaked gelatine, then mix with 3 tbsp. boiling water until smooth and blend in a processor with the cream cheese, bananas, vanilla, Quark and remaining honey.
Spoon the cheese mixture into the chilled base and return to the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight.