Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Low-Fat Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes


I'm really loving this recipe! I found a cheesecake swirl recipe from Annie's Eats and changed it up a bit to my liking. I love cheesecake but I don't like all the fat that comes along with it so I made a low-fat version. And they are delicious! My only complaint is that the blueberry taste was not strong. Next time I'll experiment with different fruit flavors (like strawberry or raspberry) and see which one works best.

Adapted from: Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS for the CRUST:

1 1/2 cups of finely ground graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 tablespoons melted margarine

INGREDIENTS for the CHEESECAKE FILLING:

2 pounds (32 ounces) of fat-free cream cheese - room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs

INGREDIENTS for the BLUEBERRY SWIRL:

1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS for the CRUST:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Line 24 muffin/cupcake tins with liners. In a small bowl, stir together the graham crackers, sugar and zest. Add the melted margarine and stir until combined. Take 1 full tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture and put into the bottom of each liner. Take a small glass and flatten the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake. Bake for 6 minutes then set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

DIRECTIONS for the CHEESECAKE FILLING:

1. In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy-about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and the vanilla and mix for another 1-2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, while mixing and combine well.

2. Pour 3 tablespoons of cheesecake batter over each of the pre-baked crusts.

DIRECTIONS for the BLUEBERRY SWIRL:

1. Combine blueberries, lemon juice, water and sugar in a medium-sized pan. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes or until the blueberries have broken down and become juicy.

2. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve. You want about 10-12 teaspoons worth of thick blueberry juice for the cupcakes.*

3. Using about 1/2 a teaspoon of the juice per cupcake, place 3 dots on each of the cupcakes.


4. Using a toothpick (and some creativity), swirl the blueberry mixture around.


5. Bake 325 F for 22-25 minutes or until the cupcakes have set.

6. Set aside to cool for 1 hour then put in the fridge for 3 hours to chill completely before serving.

* Save the remaining blueberry mixture to top ice cream or yogurt. It's delicious!

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14 comments:

  1. These look and sound quite delicious and make me curious to try the lower fat. I'm all about full fat and flavor but those look tasty and I trust your judgment. I might give them a shot!

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  2. You should! They are surprisingly good for a lower fat recipe. :D

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  3. These look beautiful and delicious! But I'd have to use regular cream cheese. I've seen reduced-fat cream cheese here, but never "no fat." Plus I'm all about the fat myself! ;) On my two most recent trips to the US, I couldn't get over the fact that almost ALL the yogurt in the supermarket was "no fat" (not "low" but "no") Drove me nuts, as I can't stand that stuff. They usually fatten it up with gelatin!

    But I digress. These cupcakes are a work of art!

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  4. PS... those court pants of Gordon's. THey don't fit him in the waist anymore (they're a 34, he's not.) He has ordered new ones and says they're YOURS if you want them. :) I would get them dry-cleaned for you first. Just incase you want to dress up as a Canadian lawyer for Hallowe;en.

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  5. Don't get me wrong, I actually do love fat, but my waistline does not! Now the funny thing is, I made hummingbird cupcakes on Saturday and they are LOADED with fat. I go back and forth a lot. Sometimes I care, sometimes I don't. And considering that I have 2 dozen yummy (and fatty) cupcakes waiting to be consumed, I can't even think about caring. Bring on the fat!

    I'm surprised you don't have fat-free cream cheese! I see it quite a bit here. And yes, a lot of yogurt here is low-fat or fat-free. I eat Greek yogurt a lot and most of the time it's not fat free.

    Guess what? I am size 34! I would feel bad taking your husband's pants though. I'm normally not a pants stalker, I just really liked 'em!

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  6. David, if you don't take his pants, they'll be relegated to a closet for all eternity. ;)

    Greek yogurt is the best!!!!

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  7. Hmmm...what a terrible life for those pants! I would hate to see that happen.

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  8. Tried this out a while back; think I overcooked them. How do you tell when they're done?

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    1. Since all ovens vary so much these can be a bit tricky. I would stick a toothpick in the center after about 18-20 min. If nothing (or very little) sticks to the toothpick they are done. If they're not done, keep trying every 2 minutes.

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    2. Thanks! Gonna give them a go again this week. I used two boxes of med fat philadelphia cream cheese but was left with a lot? Do you think it'll work ok if I use just one box and keep all the other quantities the same?

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    3. Sorry for the late reply! Strange you were left with so much extra. Are your muffin tins shallow? You could try half the amount but I don't know what the baking time would be.

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    4. Half the cheese worked - were perfect this time round! Thank you so much for responding and helping out! :)

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  9. I'm allergic to egg, should I use a egg-replacer? Unsure..

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