Hip To Be Cheesecake Square

Any of you ever been to a bodybuilding show? Well, at the night show, an MC announces who you are and a couple of things about you before you step on stage. It's like an introduction. It's often something like "This is Jim, he trains at ____ gym and he wants to thank his mom... blah blah". Something really simple and a tad unoriginal. Ladies, and gents... I'm not a lot of things... but I like to think I'm original.

My last show I had the announcer say "Adam is a chiropractic student, and he makes a mean cheesecake." The guy was cracking up as he was saying it. Something tells me he probably hasn't said that one before. I wish I could upload the video. I know it's on Facebook, but that part might be cut off. I'll have to see what I can do about it. But anyways, I really, really, enjoy cheesecake. The top radio dessert hits for me would be fried ice cream, cheesecake, and apple pie. Weird thing though, it's not the texture that I love, but the flavor. Cheesecake ice cream? Delicious to the max. Could you imagine cheesecake filled pierogi? Oh my goddness, did I just say that? Yes... and I'm single at the moment :)

I made this lower fat cheesecake recipe up yesterday. I didn't have any gram crackers... plus some of them have transfats... so I made up a crust for it. You can add more cream cheese if you want to make the squares thicker, or use a smaller pan. This recipe was for my classmates, so I wanted to get the most bang for my buck... kinda literally.

This is also going to Ben's What's Cooking?, I Love Baking Event. It's a bi-weekly baking event that is going to start in August. Let's get everyone involved! There's going to be prizes, you cool cats. I'm submitting because, hey, the baking guys have to stick together. Ben has a great site over there, and I have to support my brother in baking.


Vanilla Cheesecake Squares
Recipe by Adam

Crust:
-1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
-1/3 cup packed brown sugar
-1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
-4 oz butter, melted
-Dash of salt
-2 Tbs low fat sour cream

Filling:
-2 8oz. pkg low fat cream cheese (blocks)
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
-2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350*, line a 13x9 pan with foil or a slip mat.

In a medium bowl, make the crust by combing the flour, sugar, salt, and almonds. Add in the melted butter and mix well with a spoon until the dry ingredients get wet and start to stick together. Add sour cream to the mix and stir so an almost soft dough forms. Press this dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until it browns nicely.

Meanwhile, while the crust bakes, make the filling. In a large bowl, add the softened cream cheese and sugar, and mix with a handmixer on a low speed until the cream cheese becomes smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and follow with yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix on a low speed until the filling is smooth and no lumps remain. Don't over mix though, because cracks can happen that way.

Take out the pan with the crust when done, and pour the filling on top of the hot crust. Smooth out evenly with a spatula, and return to the oven for 20-25 mintues. If you are using more cream cheese or a smaller pan, you might need to increase the baking time. Cheesecake should jiggle a bit when you shake the pan... you'll need to try it out to understand what I mean.

Let cool on a wire rack until it's completely cool. Place in the fridge to firm it up for anywhere from 4 hours to overnight. Top with some awesome summer fruit, and cut and serve.

I choose to top them with strawberries, because strawberries are awesome. I think summer is the perfect time to keep cheesecake simple, and let the fruit and natural flavors meld. Save the going crazy and mixing things into cheesecake other times of the year:) Once again, thanks for the feedback on the FFF, and I'll answer the questions you have on Friday. Oh, and not that I'm counting... but 4 months til I'm a doctor. In the name of The Todd from Scrubs... "Internet High Five!"