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Cheese cake made with ricotta satisfies my sweet tooth. I grew up in an Italian household and ricotta based cheesecakes and pies were the norm. Ricotta, regardless of how much it is beaten, retains a grainy texture. If you prefer the smoothness of a cream cheese based cake, then you may want to pass on this recipe.
Ricotta can be made from whole, low fat and fat free milk. Keeping the saturated fat as low as possible for my hubby is of primary importance, so I normally use fat free ricotta. Fat free cottage cheese worked well in this recipe but it was a bit more salty.
Please see the recipe card below for exact amounts and directions.
Ingredient Round Up
- A container of your favorite ricotta. I use fat free.
- Plain non-fat yogurt. Greek yogurt can be substituted.
- Egg whites or whole eggs, your choice.
- Vanilla and your favorite sweetener. I use monkfruit with erythritol.
- Flour and a pinch of salt
- Graham cracker crumbs
Making the Cheesecake
- For plain fat free yogurt, place it in a coffee filter lined strainer and let it drain over night to thicken it. If you are using Greek yogurt you can probably skip this step.
- Crush one full square of graham crackers into crumbs with a rolling pin and grease and dust a pie plate with the crumbs.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the flour, sweetner and salt together.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the ricotta, yogurt and vanilla until “smooth” with a hand mixer or food processor works well.
- Add the flour/sweetener mixture, blend well and taste. Now is the time to adjust the sweetness level to suit your taste.
- Add the eggs and beat until well mixed.
- Pour the mixture into a pie plate and bake. Cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hr before serving.
- The cheesecake keeps well for several days in the refrigerator.
Serving Ideas
- Top a slice of this cheesecake with fresh strawberries or blueberries.
- Drizzle with caramel or chocolate sauce.
- Top with a dollop of Reddi-wip.
WW – 1 pt
Servings: 8 slices
Calories: 77kcal
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- small mixing bowl
- 9" pie plate
- Rolling Pin
- hand mixer or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 full size graham cracker
- 4 tsp flour
- ⅓ cup Whole Earth monk fruit with erythritol or other sweetener equivalent to ⅓ c sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 15 oz fat free ricotta
- ¾ cup plain non-fat yougurt, drained overnight or Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 egg whites or 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 ℉
- Using a rolling pin, crush 1 full square of graham crackers into crumbs.
- Grease and dust a 9" pie plate with graham cracker crumbs. Shake out excess crumbs.
- Beat ricotta and yogurt until smooth with a hand mixer or food processor.
- Mix flour, sugar substitute, and salt together and then mix into the ricotta and yogurt mixture. Taste for sweetness. Add more sweetener if you desire.
- Add the egg whites to the cheese mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour into the pie plate.
- Bake for 30 min. The cheese cake will be jiggly in the middle but a knife inserted in the center will come out relatively clean.
- Cool to room temperature and refrigerate for at lest 4 hr before serving.
Notes
The cheesecake will hold up well in the refrigerator for four days.
When 2 tbsp of cornstarch was used instead of flour, the recipe was runny and took much longer to cook. 1 tbsp of cornstarch is equivalent to 2 tbsp of flour. I have not tried increasing the amount of cornstarch.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 77kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 7.6g | Fat: 0.3g | Sodium: 95mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
