Ahhh the best time of the year. The Holidays. The perfect excuse to eat all kinds of Christmas candy, Gingerbread, and delicious desserts like this Gingerbread Protein Cheesecake.
I don’t know about you all, but the part I love most is seeing all the family. I was just in San Francisco visiting my aunt and uncle. My mom and I went out to meet my sister who lives in Minnesota and my cousin who lives in Florida. I had a blast with some awesome training rides (including a crazy 6 hour day in the mountains).
Check out the ride below!
This was when we were making the rice krispy treats!
Anyway, back to the gingerbread protein cheesecake!
I am a huge fan of making protein cheesecakes. I don’t make them super often due to the time it takes to make the crust, filling, bake it, and then wait for it to chill. When I want dessert I am usually pretty impatient! But, this one was well worth the wait.
Step 1: The graham crack crust.
I made my own graham cracker crust for this one. It’s so easy to make. Just pulse together some melted butter and graham crackers in a food processor and you are good to go! After mixing the crust, I pressed it into a glass baking dish and baked briefly to harden the crust a bit.
Step 2: Blend the cheesecake filling
This one is super easy. Just basically throw everything into your food processor (not sponsored, but this Cuisinart one is amazing!). I then poured the filling over the crust and put it in the oven. I dropped the heat from 350F (temp to bake the crust) to 300F. Low and slow is the key for cheesecake!
Step 3: Gingerbread peanut butter drizzle!
The gingerbread peanut butter drizzle is optional, but so delicious! I used some Nuts-N-More gingerbread protein peanut butter. It is amazing! The peanut butter was a delicious touch on top of the cheesecake. I even added some crushed up gingerbread cookie for extra deliciousness!
I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I did! Also, one of my favorite cheesecakes of all time, PEPPERMINT OREO PROTEIN CHEESECAKE can be found in my Holiday Recipe eBook! Check it out below
Some other protein cheesecake recipes too:
- Microwave Pumpkin Protein Cheesecake
- No-Bake Salted Caramel Protein Cheesecake
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Cheesecake
- PB&J Protein Cheesecake
- Almond Joy Protein Cheesecake Bars
Gingerbread Protein Cheesecake
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 5 hours
- Yield: 8 slices
Description
This graham cracker crust gingerbread protein cheesecake is creamy, packed with 15 grams of protein per slice, and has all the warm holiday gingerbread flavor!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Blend graham crackers in food processor until fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse until a crumbly mixture forms. Spray an 8×5-inch loaf dish with nonstick spray. Press crust evenly into bottom of dish. Bake crust for 10 minutes.
- Clean food processor of crust ingredients. Add cream cheese, cottage cheese, and eggs to food processor. Blend until smooth.
- Add protein powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Blend again. It will be very thick from the casein protein.
- Finally, add sugar free maple syrup and almond milk. Process until completely smooth.
- Once crust is baked, drop heat to 300F. Pour cheesecake into dish over crust. Cover with foil and bake at 300F for about 30 minutes.
- Remove foil from top, and bake for another 20 minutes or so. Center should jiggle and be slightly un-set. It will set up when it chills in fridge.
- Let cheesecake completely cool, then transfer to fridge overnight or for at least 4 hours. Cut into 8 bars and enjoy!
Notes
*Light butter has about 4 grams of fat per tablespoon compared to about 11-12 grams of fat for regular butter or oil. I like that it has the butter flavor but about 1/3 the fat and calories. I can be found in the grocery with all the other butter.
**Must use casein protein. Whey will not bake the same. You can try it, but I am not sure how the texture will turn out. It may be more dry and less creamy than using casein.
Optional topping: Nuts-N-More Gingerbread Protein Peanut Butter
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 195
- Sugar: 6
- Fat: 5
- Carbohydrates: 25
- Protein: 15
Keywords: gingerbread protein cheesecake