Clean Protein Cheesecake

3 recipes to get away with eating cheesecake every day.

I don't know about you, but I love sweets. And I want to eat them pretty much every day. The added sugar can be pretty hazardous though, and we're trying to stay under 25 grams per day - just a hundred years ago, our intake was only about 5 grams per day.

This cheesecake recipe tastes amazing, and can be made 3 ways: a cleaner and much lower sugar version (it's also the cheapest recipe), a keto version, and a low calorie high protein version.

Recipe Notes:

For the yogurt, cream cheese, and milk, use the fat percentage of your choice. I don't have a problem with dairy fat from a health perspective, and I personally use whole milk and whole milk greek yogurt and regular cream cheese. Higher fat will make a creamier cheesecake, lower fat will make a thicker cheesecake. I have not found an organic or natural fat free cream cheese, but I haven't seen any particularly sketchy ingredients in the fat free cream cheese.

For the butter, use real butter. I use Kerrygold because I love the flavor and grass fed nutrition bonus points, but anything coming from a cow (especially one that's well taken care of) is great. For a vegan version, use a clean butter alternative with expeller pressed oils like Miyoko's. Salted vs unsalted is up to you! I'm not very concerned with sodium for most people and prefer the depth of flavor salted butter gives.

Naked Blended Protein

The Blended Protein is one thing I DO NOT recommend swapping out, because of the ratios of different protein powders inside it play a key role in the texture of this cheesecake. It should only be swapped for another blended protein like Muscle Pharm Combat, pro JYM, or Trutein. If it is flavored, I recommend vanilla and to adjust the sugar and vanilla extract down - but I tend to avoid the flavored ones because I don't like the sucralose.

Make Other Flavors

The following recipe is for classic cheesecake, but feel free to experiment with different flavors too! Some ideas:

- Add a matching amount of peppermint extract to the vanilla extract and use a chocolate cookie or keto cereal crust

- Add a table spoon of cocoa and a teaspoon of instant coffee to the batter for a deep chocolate cheesecake

- Replace half of the yogurt with pumpkin puree and add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

Clean Protein Cheesecake

Ingredients

Cheesecake:

• 12 oz Neufchatel, Fat Free Cream Cheese, or Horizon cream cheese for keto

• 10 oz plain greek yogurt

• 1/2 cup Truvia Cane Sugar Blend or 1 cup of Swerve or sweetener of choice - 1 cup sugar equivalence

• 2 eggs

• ¼ cup milk

• 1.25 scoop of Naked Blended Protein (I DON'T recommend swaps)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp salt

Optional: Graham crust

• 1 cup crushed graham crackers - the lowest carb graham I've found is by Simple Mills, for a true keto crust use Catalina Crunch Honey Graham Cereal instead

• 4-5 Tablespoons butter (7-8 Tablespoons if using Catalina Crunch)

• Optional: 1-2 Tablespoons Truvia Cane Sugar or sweetener of choice

Optional: Low carb cookie crust

• 1 cup crushed keto chocolate, vanilla, or peanut butter sandwich cookies, like Catalina Crunch

• 4 Tablespoons butter

• Optional: Pinch of salt

Directions

All ingredients should be room temperature for best results. Colder ingredients will work but will take longer to blend.

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Prepare 6" cake pan with non-stick spray and parchment paper (skip the parchment paper if you're doing a crust) on the bottom.

Crust:

1. Combine graham cracker or cookie crumbs, optional sweetener/salt, and melted butter in a mixing bowl and mix until well blended.

2. Press mixture into the bottom and up the sides of an 8- or 9-inch pie plate.

3. Bake for 7-10 minutes at 325° F. Take out and let cool while making cheesecake batter.

Cheesecake:

1. Place cream cheese in mixer. Mix on medium until creamy, then scrape the sides of the bowl down.

2. Add your sweetener of choice. Mix on medium until incorporated, then scrape the sides of the bowl down.

3. Add eggs one at a time while on medium, continue scraping the sides of the bowl down.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix on medium for 3 minutes.

5. Pour into cake pan and place in the center rack of the oven.

6. Bake at 325° F for 30 minutes. Turn oven to 200° F for 50-60 minutes. Remove and let cool on the counter. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Comparison

Protein cheesecakes vs standard cheesecake

The Keto Version uses Horizon organic cream cheese, whole milk greek yogurt, whole ultrafiltered milk, Swerve, and a Catalina Crunch graham crust.

The Clean Version uses neufchatel, fat free greek yogurt, whole milk, Truvia Cane Blend and a Simple Mills graham crust.

The Bodybuilder's Version uses Philadelphia fat free cream cheese, fat free greek yogurt, skim ultrafiltered milk, Swerve, and no crust.

Regular Cheesecake with Graham Crust	Keto Protein Cheesecake	Clean Protein Cheesecake	Bodybuilder's Protein Cheesecake

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