Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients:
- 3/4 c. walnuts
- 4 t. honey
- 2 large eggs (separated)
- 8 oz. reduced-fat block cream cheese
- 1/2 c. reduced-fat sour cream
- 1 c. canned pumpkin
- 1/2 c. Z-sweet or granulated Splenda
- 1 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 t. ground cloves
- 1 t. pure vanilla extract
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 t. salt
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a standard size muffin tin with 12 muffin papers (preferably foil papers).
Place the walnuts in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until they are coarse crumbs. Drizzle in the honey through the top of the food processor until well-blended into the crumbs, then stop the food processor. Distribute the walnut mixture evenly between the muffin papers and pat down gently. Place the pan in the oven and cook for ten minutes. Remove from the oven.
Fill a large roasting pan with about 1 1/2 inches of water and place in the oven. While the crust is cooling, place the cream cheese, sour cream, pumpkin, sweetener, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla extract, lemon juice, egg yolks and salt in a clean food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade. Process until smooth.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold in the batter from the food processor until well-blended. Pour the batter into the muffin tins. The muffin papers should be as full as you can make them. Place the pan in the heated water bath and bake for 20 minutes. Turn off oven and remove the water bath from the oven.
Return just the cheesecakes in the muffin tin (without the water bath) to the warm oven and allow to sit for 40 minutes in the oven as it cools. Chill for at least four hours before serving.
Servings = 12
Serving Size = 1 muffin-sized cheesecake
Cooking Time = 2 hours
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 t. canola oil
- 2/3 c. Z-Sweet Stevia or Splenda
- 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
- 1 c. canned pumpkin
- 3 large egg whites
- 1/2 c. dried pumpkin seeds
- 1 1/4 c. all-purpose white flour
- 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
- 1/4 t. salt
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
- 1/4 t. ground allspice
- 1/4 t. ground cloves
- 1/4 c. wheat germ
- 1/3 c. non-fat buttermilk
- 2 t. light brown sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 1 1/2 quart oblong glass loaf pan with non-stick foil. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolk until smooth. Add the canola oil and whisk together until smooth. Whisk the canned pumpkin into the mixture until smooth. Add the Z-Sweet Stevia or Splenda® and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Fold in the pumpkin seeds.
In separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they’re frothy and white. Do not beat into stiff peaks. Sift the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and wheat germ into a separate mixing bowl.
Gently fold the creamed mixture together with the flour mixture. Once well-blended, add the frothed egg whites and fold together until smooth. Add the buttermilk and fold until smooth. Pour the batter into the lined glass dish and sprinkle the light brown sugar evenly over the top. Place the loaf pan in the preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes
Servings = 8
Serving Size = 1 slice
Cooking Time = 90 minutes
Blueberry-Yogurt Popsicles
Ingredients:
- 2 c. blueberries
- 2 T. agave or honey
- 2 c. vanilla Greek yogurt (or any flavor)
Directions:
Blend the blueberries in a food processor or blender on high speed until nearly liquified into a smoothie-like consistency.
Pour the thick blueberry liquid into a large bowl. Stir in the agave/honey. Add the yogurt and very gently mix everything together. If you want a
tie-dye, swirly look to your popsicles, do not fully blend the yogurt and blueberries. You want those patches of white and blue. The mixture will be thick. Taste it. If you want it sweeter, you can add a little more agave/honey.
Pour mixture evenly into each popsicle mold. If your popsicle mold has slots for sticks, you can insert them before freezing – if not, freeze for 2 hours, then put a wooden popsicle stick in the middle (that is what I did). Continue to freeze for an additional 4-6 hours or overnight.
Run popsicle molds under warm water to easily remove.
Strawberry-Kiwi Smoothie
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe kiwifruit, peeled and chopped
- 1 c. frozen whole strawberries
- 1 container (6 ozs.) low fat strawberry yogurt
- 1/2 c. 1% low-fat milk
- 2 T. honey
Directions:
Put the kiwi chunks, strawberries, yogurt, milk and honey into a blender container.
Cover the blender with the lid and blend on high speed until the mixture is smooth. Turn the blender off and on (or pulse), if needed, to break up the strawberries.
Banana Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients:
- 2 c. all purpose flour
- 1/2 t. baking soda
- 1 t. baking powder
- 2 t. ground cinnamon
- ½ t. salt
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 2 eggs,room temperature
- 1 c. vegetable oil
- 2 t. vanilla extract
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 c. shredded zucchini,drained
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F and prepare a muffin pan with extra large cupcake liners.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a large bowl, add the bananas. Use a fork to mash. Add in the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir well until fully combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until just combined. Add in the shredded zucchini and stir until incorporated.
You do not have to peel the green skin off the zucchini, but you certainly can. If you have a large zucchini, remove the seeds prior to grating.
Add 1/3 cup of batter to each cupcake liner.
Bake for 22-26 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick is removed with some crumbs, but not wet batter. Tops should be golden brown.
Serving size: 14
Source: iambaker.net
Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
- 3 medium baking apples, cored, sliced thin
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 2 T sugar
- 2 T flour
Topping:
- 1 c. quick oats
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/2 t. cinnamon
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 2 T heart-healthy margarine
Directions:
Mix first four ingredients and place into 9-inch (square or round) baking dish.
In small bowl, mix topping ingredients until crumbly.
Sprinkle topping over the apples.
Bake at 325 degrees until apples are soft and topping is golden brown (about 30 minutes).
Serving Size: 4