Recipes

Healthier Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Are you tired of turkey? Crying over cranberries? Disgusted with dressing? Well so am I! I am so glad that the chaotic Thanksgiving frenzy is over. Ok, maybe the frenzy was only at our holiday table. What with all the turkey, potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, dressing, and gravy it's any wonder someone didn't blow a gasket. Thankfully we all survived, bloated, but happy. And with it all being over I can now concentrate on Christmas and the chaotic frenzy that is going to entail. But before I get there I need to take off some of this extra gravy off my hips. So I am going to start incorporating more healthy items into my diet. More veggies and fruit, chicken and pork, and less red meat, fats and sugars. I'm not saying I am going to forgo bacon fat forever, God forbid, but I am making a conscious decision to substitute healthy for unhealthy and make smarter choices.



So starting today is the first recipe I am going to try. I found it on Martha Stewart's website (long live our queen). And what better way to start eating healthier than to start with chocolate! Yes, you can have chocolate and not pack on the pounds.

These cheesecake squares are made healthier by replacing some of the calories with reduce fat cream cheese and reduce fat sour cream. I also used Dark Chocolate cocoa powder instead of just the regular Hershey variety. And dark chocolate has some heart healthy benefits as well.  So while these indulgent treats won't be considered "good for you" they are at least better than the full fat version. So lets get started and you'll see how easy, and delicious they are.

Here's the ingredients. Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, eggs, reduce fat cream cheese, sugar, chocolate wafers (not oreo's), dark cocoa powder, corn starch and reduce fat sour cream.



To start I greased a 8 x 8 inch pan and then crisscrossed two rectangles of parchment paper and greased them as well. Then I processed the chocolate wafers in my food processor till they were fine crumbs. I put them in the bottom of the pan then pressed them into the bottom evenly. The recipe calls for 8 wafers, but I used 14.



Then add the softened cream cheese and sour cream to the processer bowl and blend till smooth and mixed.



Then I added the cocoa powder, sugar, and eggs. Actually my big girl added them, it was her turn to help momma "cooker" something. And she actually pushed the button on the food processor, which to you may not seem like such a big deal but to her (a girl who HATES loud sounds) it was a milestone achievement! Anyway, just blend those ingredients till throughly mixed. Then pour into the pan on top of the crumbs.



To make it look purty, you sprinkle some chocolate chips on top. I used mini so that you could get some in every bite and they would kinda melt a little. And it was all I had on hand.
After you pop them in the oven for 35-40 min (mine took 35 min) ya gotta let them cool for about an hour. Then I put them in the fridge for about 1 1/2 hours to set completely. It also makes them easier to cut. This is after it has set up in the fridge.



See how beautiful they are? And my goodness were they good. Just one was enough to need a large glass of milk. Skim, of'course!



Chocolate Cheescake Squares

Ingredients:
Makes 9