Celebrate National Cheesecake Day with this Guilt-Free Recipe

Saturday, July 30, marks a mouth-watering holiday: National Cheesecake Day! Just because one slice of New York style cheesecake has 43 grams of fat — more than most people should consume in a day, much less in one dessert — doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate. The secret to our slimmed down cheesecake recipe is silken tofu, which keeps the filling smooth and creamy without needing so much cheese. We also ditched the butter but kept the buttery graham cracker crust that no cheesecake, skinny or not, should ever go without. The result: a velvety, rich cheesecake with only a quarter of the fat.

RELATED: 10-Minute Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

Skinny Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe

Serves 6

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes (plus 2 hours chilling time)

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Ingredients

9 whole graham crackers (5 ounces), processed in a food processor to fine crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
10 ounces silken tofu
8 ounces light cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
6 large fresh strawberries, thinly sliced

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and milk until it looks like wet sand. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch pie plate, packing it in an even layer across the bottom. Bake the crust for 10 minutes and cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
3. For the filling, place the tofu in a blender and process until smooth. Add the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla and process until creamy. Add frozen strawberries and process until completely smooth.
4. Pour the filling over the crust and bake until the filling is set but still wobbly in the center, about 30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve with fresh strawberries.

Looking for more slimmed down desserts? Try these 15 delicious recipes that have 150 calories or less. 

Originally posted December 2013. Updated July 2016.