No way! Healthy cheesecake bars?? Ok, I'm not gonna lie, they're still not as good for you as a salad, for example, but they are healthier than a regular cheesecake bar because they use 1/3 less fat cream cheese and skim Greek yogurt. And the best part? You can't taste the difference...
Read on for recipe and photos...
Ingredients (this makes enough for about 12 medium sized bars of about 10 thick bars if you make them in a casserole dish like I did...see? I do need more stuff for my kitchen!)
8 oz package of cookies (I used Oreos but you could go healthier and use Newman's O's)
2 tbsp canola oil
12 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/8 cup sugar (this is a half recipe, thus the weird measurements)
3/8 cup skim Greek yogurt, softened at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
8 oz package of cookies (I used Oreos but you could go healthier and use Newman's O's)
2 tbsp canola oil
12 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3/8 cup sugar (this is a half recipe, thus the weird measurements)
3/8 cup skim Greek yogurt, softened at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line an 8 x 8 baking dish or 9 x 5 casserole dish (if you wanna be like me) with parchment paper, allowing it to hang over the sides.
- Put 14 cookies in a sturdy ziploc bag and beat them up with a rolling pin til they're nice and crumbly (You could use a food processor for this if you have one, but it doesn't get out as much aggression!).
- Transfer cookie crumbs to a medium bowl and mix with the canola oil. Drop into parchment lined baking dish and press down with the back of a spoon to even out.
- Bake for 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool.
- Place 4 or 5 cookies in the ziploc bag and beat with a rolling pin until roughly chunky. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Beat in Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Beat in eggs one at a time then beat the mixture until smooth. Fold in the cookies.
- Pour batter into baking dish over crust. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating dish once halfway through.
- Remove from the oven when the cheesecake portion is set. Cool on wire rack for about an hour until it's at room temperature.
- Chill in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
When you're ready to cut the bars (and this is one of the best parts), just lift the parchment paper out of the baking dish and you'll be able to cut easily without scratching your baking dish or having to scrape around edges, plus it makes clean up super easy!
Et voila!
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