Early in December, I met Karen and Alex, two of my close blog friends, for dessert. We settled on one of my favorite places in town, a retro diner dedicated entirely to sweet treats.
Although I’ve been an embarrassingly large number of times since we moved last October, I still feel overwhelmed every time I walk through their doors. Two long display cases full of four- to six-layer cakes, éclairs, cream puffs, cheesecakes, pies, cookies, and bars greet you, and somehow in just a few moments, I’m supposed to pick out what I want to give the bakers behind the counter my order. Impossible!
I always hem and haw indecisively, pacing up and down the cases, trying to narrow down my choices to five, then three, then one. Sometimes my guy takes pity on me and tells me to buy two desserts, but this time…
Karen and Alex agreed that we should share around the table—the sweetest girls I could’ve asked for. Decision crisis averted! Karen went with a layered caramel, whipped cream, and puff pastry treat; Alex ordered a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate and peanut butter frostings; and I ended up with a piece of spiced apple cake.
Within minutes, we had nine forks spread out across the table, one for each person and dessert, and we nearly forgot to talk. So many desserts! So little time! Pure heaven for a baking blogger.
While the caramel in Karen’s and my treats made me weak at the knees, it was Alex’s frosting that stole the show. I already knew that I adored the restaurant’s rich, fudgy chocolate frosting, but that peanut butter one… It was sweet, nutty, and with the texture of mousse combined with cheesecake. I wanted to hole up with a bowl of that and a spoon!
That frosting became the inspiration for today’s dessert: Skinny Peanut Butter Cheesecake! It’s sweet and creamy with a light peanut butter taste, and boy oh boy… This is the stuff dreams are made of!
This lightened up cheesecake starts with the crust. I settled on a chocolate graham cracker crust because chocolate and peanut butter go together like two peas in a pod. (I bet Oreos would make an incredible crust too!) It’s held together with butter and an egg white, which helps cut down on fat and calories, and is baked until just barely fragrant.
The filling proved to be slightly trickier. It needed a prominent—but not cloying—peanut butter taste, and not just pure vanilla either. I tested the filling three times in five days before I proclaimed it perfect! (And yes, at one point, we had all three cheesecakes in the fridge. There was hardly room for anything else!) So here’s my trick…
I used a combination of Better’n Peanut Butter and PB2. Both of these have less fat and calories per serving compared to regular peanut butter, but they still provide the same iconic taste. You’ll need ½ cup of the former and 1 full cup of the latter.
However, because PB2 is actually a powder, it makes the filling really thick—much more so than a regular plain or vanilla cheesecake. We’ll add a little milk to compensate, but because it’s still so thick, the cheesecake finishes baking in a shorter period of time.
As hard as it may be, chilling is mandatory. At least 8 hours in the fridge before serving! This allows the texture and flavor to fully set, but as soon as the time was up, you better believe I cut into this, and…
Pure bliss.
| Skinny Peanut Butter Cheesecake | | Print |
- 7 sheets (109g) chocolate graham crackers
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter, melted
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 3 (8oz) blocks fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ c (96g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp (30mL) nonfat milk
- ½ c (128g) Better’n Peanut Butter
- 1 c (96g) PB2
- ½ tbsp (3g) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- chocolate syrup, for serving
- Preheat the oven to 300°, and lightly coat a 9” springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the crust, add the graham crackers to a food processor, and pulse until they turn into fine crumbs. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and 1 egg white in a small bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the prepared pan. Bake at 300° for 8 minutes, then cool completely.
- To prepare the filling, beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy. Beat in the milk, Better’n Peanut Butter and PB2. Add in the remaining egg whites, cornstarch, and vanilla, mixing well.
- Spread the filling on top of the cooled crust, and bake at 300° for 28-33 minutes, or until the center barely jiggles when shaken. Cool completely to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap, ensuring that it touches the top of the cheesecake, and chill for at least 8 hours. Just before serving, drizzle each slice with chocolate syrup.
I have not tried this cheesecake with any other peanut butter products and do not know how best to substitute them.
For a low-sugar version, granulated sucralose may be substituted in place of the sugar. I haven’t tried any other sugar substitutes.
{gluten-free, low fat, low calorie}
More peanut butter cheesecake recipes from other food bloggers…
♥ No Bake Frozen Peanut Butter Cheesecake {with Nutter Butter Crust!} by Crazy for Crust
♥ Peanut Butter Nutella Cheesecake Bars by Inside BruCrew Life
♥ Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cheesecake by Sally’s Baking Addiction
♥ Peanut Butter Cheesecake Minis by TidyMom
That looks incredible! Nothing like peanut butter + chocolate 🙂
Thanks June!
Mmmmm this looks terrific! Love me some PB. And what sweet friends to share desserts!
Thank you so much Julie!
I could eat at Rick’s every day. And this cheesecake! I couldn’t even have it in my house!
It’s a good thing we don’t live downtown Dorothy — I could easily eat at Rick’s every day too!
It’s not too often I see “skinny” in front of the word cheesecake. This looks so delicious I can’t wait to try this lighter version!
Thanks Shelby! I hope you enjoy the cheesecake!
Going to dessert is always better with friends! Haha I’m with you, I always want to try everything so I love sharing with people … I hope they enjoy it as much as me 😉 Girl, this is not even fair it looks so good. Chocolate AND peanut butter AND skinny?? Sign me up in a heartbeat!
You’re first on the list Mary Frances! 😉 I’m a huge fan of family-style dining everywhere we go. Thank goodness most of my family and friends agree to it!
I hate when I want ALL the desserts and nobody wants to even share! Panic moment.
This looks amazing! I use PB2 for everything. Sounds delish!
Thanks Melissa! So true about a panic moment — and I normally have to hold back a tear or two too. 😉
It so great that your friends were willing to share! Those kind of friends are the best. This cheesecake looks heavenly. I love the peanut butter in it and the fact that it’s skinny makes it even more dangerous. I’d go for slice after slice, ha!
Thanks Jen! I’d gladly feed you slice after slice. I need to stop eating it myself! 😉
Hmmm, that diner sounds familiar… 😉 And BOY I wish it had worked out for me to stop by your place and snag some of this cheesecake! I’m drooling over here!
You’re in luck Andrea — I saved it in the freezer! So the next time you visit, I’ll be sure to send you home with some! 🙂
Sooooo, I totally ate a slice for breakfast this morning… and intend to do the same tomorrow!! Protein-packed? Delicious? Quick, no prep?! SOLD! It felt so indulgent but it was SO much healthier than anything I would have eaten at work! <3<3 <3
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cheesecake Andrea — and thank goodness for the best friend I could’ve asked for to take it off of my hands! 😉
That does sound like a baking blogger’s heaven! I wish I lived closer so I could join in on spontaneous diner dessert nights with you three! Peanut butter cheesecake was the first cheesecake I made and it turned out….less than stellar. Your version, on the other hand, looks so perfect that I want to shove multiple slices into my face right this very moment!
I SO wish you lived closer too!!! We’d go on dinner and dessert dates all the time. 🙂 It took quite a few tries to get this PB cheesecake right… PB normally has such a strong flavor, but it took a whole lot more than I expected to get the cheesecake to taste like more than vanilla!