Oh my goodness. As my brain is melting and hands are shaking, nearing the 30 Clean Quick Dinner Recipes eBook publication date this Sunday, I really wasn’t going to post any recipe until Sunday. Simply just because I haven’t taken pictures of any recipes in the last 10 days. Has it been that long?! Whooooaaaa.
I had wonderful Alex at home cooking for us. Yes, he is that good and all mine.:)
But then I felt wrong and guilty for teasing you with my skinny cheesecake photos on Instagram and Facebook for over a month. Luckily, I managed to snap a few shots before it disappeared on New Year’s Eve.
It’s that good and foolproof – made it 3 times already. Creamy, rich, and guilt free. No refined sugars at all.
I feel like a moron and totally breaking all rules of food blogosphere, to post a dessert recipe after all that indulgence during the Holidays. But the truth is I didn’t overindulge and wish I had a bar or two of this goodness in front of me NOW.
So, let me tell you why I think my Healthy Strawberry Cheesecake Bars are the best in the world!:)
One, I made a pecan crust from scratch. As I do not believe graham crackers are clean food, I just used ground pecans with spices, coconut oil and a bit of agave. I experimented baking the crust for 10 minutes before pouring cream cheese filling on top, and found no real need for that. But you can do that, if you wish.
Secondly, my filling is made with more of a Greek yogurt than cream cheese. Both of them were organic and low fat, but really you can use full fat ones. By the way, I’m starting to lean towards full fat dairy products after reading Family Gone Healthy post on low fat dairy.
Thirdly, I didn’t soften the cream cheese and just blended filling ingredients together. It was fine!
Last but not least, I added only 3 tbsp of agave to the filling. So, that’s 4 tbsp total per the whole cheesecake! Plus some ridiculous 1-2 tbsp of strawberry jam. Ah-mazing!!!
By the way, about jam. I used organic strawberry jam from Costco. It had chunks of strawberries and was thick. To make it swirl easy, I pulsed it in Magic Bullet with a few tbsp of water. Worked like a charm for a toothpick art. And it was so much fun!
My kids, former-cheesecake-hater Alex and all 1cup-sugar-2packages-cream-cheese friends absolutely loved these Healthy Strawberry Cheesecake Bars!
Spicy and fragrant pecan crust complemented perfectly the smooth and creamy cheesecake filling, and strawberry jam on top was a nice bonus. I tried to make these bars plain before and they were amazing on their own. Kind of like New York style cheesecake.
Looking for more healthy cheesecake recipes? Try my clean eating cheesecake bars with cranberries, and healthy pumpkin cheesecake parfaits.
PrintHealthy Strawberry Cheesecake Bars
Healthy Strawberry Cheesecake Bars Recipe with Greek yogurt, pecan crust and only 4 tbsp of agave per entire recipe.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 9 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 tbsp whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger, ground
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
For the Filling:
- 6 oz cream cheese, low fat or regular
- 8 oz plain Greek yogurt, non-fat
- 3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 cup egg whites
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp strawberry jam, organic or homemade*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 8 x 8 square baking dish with parchment paper, overhanging on the sides. Set aside.
- To make the Crust: In a food processor or Magic Bullet, process pecans into fine crumbs. Transfer to a medium bowl along with flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir to combine. Add coconut oil and maple syrup (honey), and mix well. Press into prepared lined pan. Set aside.
- To make the Filling: Add Filling ingredients, except the jam, into a large bowl, and beat with mixer until smooth and creamy, for about 2 minutes. Pour over crust. Drop many small drops of jam on top and swirl with a toothpick.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheesecake has set and edges are lightly browned. Cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, and then in the fridge for 2 hours. Lift the cheesecake out of the pan by holding the flaps and cut into 9 squares.
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
*If your jam has chunks of strawberries or is too thick, add 2-3 tbsp of water to it and puree in a small food processor or blender. This way, it will swirl easier and won’t sink in the cream cheese filling.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
Do I have to use pecans in the crust? Because of nut allergies
You can use your favorite graham crust recipe. Nuts are a must in my recipe.
Loved these!! Turned out soooo good.
★★★★★
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Meg.
Delish!
★★★★★
Mmm. Cheesecake. Can’t wait to make these.
These are easy to make and taste delicious. I used almonds because I don’t like pecans and it works just as good.
That’s great! Any nuts would work pretty much.
These are incredible!!! And SOOOOO easy to make. My three year old daughter and I made these together, and since I didn’t have a 9×9 dish, I used a pie pan. . . . absolutely awesome. My husband doesn’t care for cheesecake but he loved this!!! Guilt free!!!
Glad Slippers enjoyed the treat.:) Any small-medium pan/dish works.
I tried this recipe last night – it turned out awesome! Thank you so much!! I skipped the jam and put fresh blueberries instead…so not as pretty as yours. Mine didn’t cut so neatly though – is there a “correct” way of cutting it? I used a pizza cutter.
Hey Sonal. I cut mine slowly with a serrated wet knife and rinsed after each cut. Definitely cut the bars with the knife next time. Glad you liked the recipe.:)
the best recipe I have ever tried, thank you olena
LOVE the idea of a healthy cheesecake, Olena! I love cheesecake but am always a bit too aware of how unhealthy it can be. And pecan crust … sounds delicious!
Love the blog! And congrats on the ebook … it’s looking great!
Hi Helen. Thank you and I agree. In fact, I never made a cheesecake before for same reasons. But this one I LOVE!!!
I will definitely try these. Gorgeous pictures, looks delicious too.
Thank you, Veranika. You would never know this cheesecake is healthy.;) I can’t eat regular one anymore.;)
love the crust. it looks delish!
We love it too!:)
I like that you used yogurt. Almost gives them a mediterranean flair. 🙂 And the toothpick art is beautiful. Pinning.
Ha, never thought of mediterranean cheesecake bars.:) Thank you, Norma. I wish I could do toothpick art on my breakfast, lunch and dinner.
These are not only gorgeous, but they look delicious too!
Thank you, Kristi! They are everything I expected them to be and way more!
I like pictures. Really good job.
Thank you, Viktor!:)
These look amazing! Congrats on your ebook 🙂
Thank you, Laura! I just need to survive till Sunday to hit “Publish” button.:)
What a beautiful photo Olena! These sound wonderful. I need to make some coconut yogurt so I can try this recipe.
Thank you, Melissa! I hope you had great Holidays!:) I want to try it with organic vanilla yogurt next time.:)
These look so good!!! I love how artistic the strawberry jam looks. And yes, I would make them with full fat products 😉
Thank you.:) It’s so much fun to do toothpick jam art. And I’ve heard about full fat dairy before, buy you reassured me.:) Thank you.:)