Recipe Doctor: Oreo cheesecake still yummy with less fat
Dear Recipe Doctor: I saw a recipe for No Bake Oreo Cheesecake by Kraft and I really want to try it, but I only want to try a lighter version. Can you tell me what will work?
A: If you enjoy Oreo cookies and love all things cheesecake, then this is the perfect summer cheesecake recipe for you. No hot ovens required for this dessert.
The original crust is made with Oreo cookies and a half stick of butter. We are using fewer Oreo cookies, switching to reduced-fat Oreos, and replacing the 4 tablespoons of melted butter with 2 tablespoons melted less-fat margarine and 1 tablespoon fat-free sour cream. The original recipe calls for breaking an additional 15 cookies into chunks and mixing those into the cheesecake filling. Using 10 Reduced-Fat Oreos for this seemed to work just fine.
For the cheesecake filling I used 3 packages of Philadelphia light cream cheese and 1 package of fat-free cream cheese instead of 4 packages of regular cream cheese. And finally I folded a tub of light Cool Whip into the cream cheese mixture instead of regular. You can use fat free Cool Whip if you would like.
Oreo Lover’s Perfect Summer Cheesecake
The original recipe contains 290 calories, 22 grams fat, 12.5 grams saturated fat, and 47 milligrams cholesterol.
30 reduced fat Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, divided use
2 tablespoons less fat margarine (with 8 grams of fat per tablespoon), melted
1 tablespoon fat free sour cream
3 packages (8 ounces each) Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese
1 package (8 ounces) Philadelphia Fat Free Cream Cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar (Splenda can be substituted if desired)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tube (8 ounces) Light Cool Whip (whipped topping, thawed), fat-free can be substituted
Line a 13-by-9 inch pan with foil. Make sure the ends of the foil extend past the two ends of the pan. Coarsely chop 10 of the Oreo cookies and set aside.
Add the remaining 20 Oreo cookies in a large food processor and pulse until finely crushed. Add melted margarine and fat free sour cream and briefly pulse until a moist crust mixture forms. Press firmly onto bottom of the prepared pan. Refrigerate crust while you move onto the filling.
Add all of the cream cheese to large mixing bowl, along with the sugar and vanilla and beat on medium speed until well-blended. Gently stir in the whipped topping and the chopped cookies. Spoon the mixture over the prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Yield: 24 small or 12 large servings.
Nutrition per serving, based on 24: 168 calories, 5 g protein, 16 g carbohydrate, 8.5 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 2.2 g monounsaturated fat, 1.5 g polyunsaturated fat, 14 mg cholesterol, .5 g fiber, 260 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 49 percent.
Weight Watchers points: 4.