I’m not going to lie. Key lime pie would never be the first dessert I would order at restaurant or if I wanted something to satisfy my sweet tooth. That is, until now. Honestly, these key lime pie protein cheesecakes have changed my palate. Of course, I have my everlasting addiction to chocolate, but these babies are hard to beat.
I wanted to try something new that I had never done before. I figured I’d try a crack at key lime pie. When I was in Florida this winter during Christmas time, my aunt would order key lime pie at almost every restaurant we went. She liked to compare it with other restaurants and see which was her favorite. Well, I tasted it a few times and really found a liking for it.
This recipes is an interesting twist. Rather than just straight up key lime pie, I decided to make a key lime pie protein cheesecake. I love making protein cheesecakes because they are so creamy, tasty, delicious, and packed with protein.
The crust is super simple and delicious with just walnuts, graham crackers, and a little bit of melted coconut oil. For the filling, it gets flavor and protein from key lime Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and some Ascent vanilla casein protein. You could try whey, but I wouldn’t recommend as casein protein absorbs liquid differently and tends to work better in cheesecakes.
Key Lime Pie Protein Cheesecake
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Serves: 6 cheesecakes
These key lime pie protein cheesecakes are not only super creamy and delicious, but they are healthy and packed with protein to make it the perfect guilt-free dessert.
Ingredients
- [b]Crust[/b]
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 4 graham cracker sheets
- 1 tbsp. Melted coconut oil
- [b]Filling[/b]
- 2 containers (150g each) vanilla or key lime Greek yogurt*
- 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 package sugar free cheesecake pudding mix
- 1/2 lime (juice and zest)**
- 1 scoop [url href=”http://bit.ly/MacroChefMCC” target=”_blank”]Ascent vanilla casein[/url]
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. To make crust, add walnuts and graham cracker sheets to a food processor. Pulse until broken up and no large chunks of walnuts, but don’t blend too much that it becomes a flour. Add coconut oil and pulse again until it starts to cling together.
- Press crust into the bottom of a 6-spot jumbo muffin pan. Could also do 8-10 spots in a standard sized muffin pan. Bake for 8 minutes, then remove and let cool.
- Rinse out food processor from remnants of the crust. Add Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, lime juice/zest, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.
- Next, add one egg at a time and pulse until combined. Finally, add cheesecake pudding mix and casein protein. Process again until smooth and combined.
- Evenly distribute batter on top of the prepared crust. Prepare a water bath using a large baking dish filled about an inch with water. Place in water bath and bake for 25-30 minutes. If you are using the jumbo size muffin tin, will need closer to 30 minutes. With the regular size, may need only 25 minutes or slightly less.
Serving size: 1 cheesecake Calories: 215 Fat: 10 Carbohydrates: 20 Sugar: 7 Fiber: 2 Protein: 13
Notes
*Most groceries sell key lime Greek yogurt containers in the dairy section. Vanilla is fine if you can’t find it. Just use a little extra lemon juice and zest to taste. [br]**Can use key lime, but not necessary if you can’t get one.
