Carb-Conscious Chocolate Cheesecake 

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Serves: 16 person(s)

Preparation Time: 35 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins
Extra Time: 4 hrs (or overnight, for refrigeration)

This delicious chocolate cheesecake is not only reduced in fat, but it's also lower carb than the traditional recipe. It will become a favorite!
Per serving * : 154 calories, 10.2 g fat, 12.3 g carbs and 8.9 g sugars
Saves * : 105 calories, 6.4 g fat, 14.3 g carbs and 12.4 g sugars

Ingredients:

* (NOTE: For comparison purposes, our nutritional analysis compares equal serving size slices, however, in many restaurants, the actual serving size of the traditional Chocolate Cheesecake slice could be 2 to 3 times larger, or heavier by weight.)

Traditional Chocolate Cheesecake is a high-calorie combination of high-fat, high-sugar ingredients. This madeover recipe lowers the calories and fat by replacing the milk chocolate with dark chocolate, regular cream cheese with a mix of reduced-fat cream cheese, nonfat sour cream and egg whites. Replacing the Oreo cookie pie crust with ground almonds and using a sugar alternative in this pie crust lowers the carbs.

To learn more about recipe makeovers see CalorieKing's library article "Smart Substitutes: Your Guide to Low-Calorie Cooking Alternatives".

Recipe Makeover
1/2 cup finely ground almonds (for crust) 3 packages (8 oz each) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened 1 1/4 cup Equal® Spoonful ** 2 eggs 2 egg whites 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup nonfat sour cream 2 tsp vanilla 4 oz (4 squares) semi-sweet dark chocolate, melted and cooled 32 fresh raspberries (optional, for garnish) 16 fresh mint sprigs (optional, for garnish)

Traditional Recipe
1 (6 oz) chocolate Oreo pie crust 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup sugar 2 large eggs 1/2 tsp vanilla 6 oz (6 squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

CRUST: Spray bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Sprinkle almonds over bottom, patting gently onto pan; set aside.

CHEESECAKE: Beat cream cheese and Equal® in mixing bowl on medium speed of mixer until smooth and well-combined. Mix in eggs, egg whites and salt. Fold in sour cream and vanilla until combined. Gently mix in chocolate until blended. Pour batter over crust.

Bake in preheated oven 40 to 45 minutes or until center of cake is almost set. Cool on wire rack. Gently run metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake. Let cheesecake cool completely. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

To serve, remove side of pan. Garnish top of cheesecake with fresh raspberries and mint, if desired. Cut cake into wedges.

Variations:

** May substitute 30 packets Equal® sweetener for the 1 1/4 cups Equal® Spoonful.

Crust can be made with chocolate crumb wafers instead of ground almonds.

Crust serving suggestion is not included in the nutritional analysis, and may not be lower-carb or diabetic-friendly, if low-carb or diabetic-friendly is desired.

Author:

Merisant/Equal®
Equal®