Greek Yogurt Lowfat Cheesecake

Greek Yogurt Low Fat Cheesecake

6 oz graham cracker crumbs (about 8 graham crackers)
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups 2% cottage cheese
8 oz low-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups low-fat Greek yogurt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature
pinch of salt

• Stack 3-4 paper towels on a plate and spread the cottage cheese over the paper towels; let sit for 15 minutes.  Repeat with fresh paper towels.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Pulse graham crackers and sugar in a food processor until crackers resemble fine crumbs.
• Toss cracker crumbs with melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9″ spring-form pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake crust for 10-15 minutes until just starting to brown.  Place crust on a wire rack to cool.
• Heat a medium-sized pan of water while preparing the filling.
• Beat cream cheese in KitchenAid for 1 minute; add cottage cheese and Greek yogurt.  Beat for another 1-2 minutes, or until smooth.
• Add sugar, salt, and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
• Carefully spray the sides of the spring-form pan with cooking spray.  Tightly wrap the outside of the spring-form pan with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Place spring-form pan inside a roasting pan and pour filling into spring-form pan.  Place roasting pan in the oven, and carefully pour the hot water into the baking pan to form a water bath.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven to 250 degrees (do NOT open the oven door).  Continue to bake until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center reads 150 degrees, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Remove spring-form pan from the water bath, and transfer to a wire rack.  Cool for 10 minutes, then run a paring knife around the edge of the cake.  Cool to room temperature, about 3 hours, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Serves 12

Notes:

• Some low fat cheesecake recipes call for corn starch to thicken the cheesecake.  I tried this and found the resulting cheesecake more cake-like, and less custard-like.
• I used low-fat cottage cheese, yogurt, and cream cheese.  When made with no-fat versions, the cheesecake that never came together and tasted pretty bland.
• Use your favorite toppings as you would with any cheesecake.  I used caramel topping and homemade blueberry syrup.