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This New York-style cheesecake is made with a combination of cottage cheese and cream cheese, blended together for a creamy and delicious low-calorie dessert! No one will even know!
Cottage Cheese Cheesecake
Since cottage cheese is having a moment, why not make a cottage cheese cheesecake?! I played around with this recipe, and my husband Tommy, who loves cheesecake, gave it two thumbs up! It’s delicious with a velvety smooth texture and is great on its own or with fresh fruit. If you’re not on board with cottage cheese, don’t worry, I have plenty of recipes without out like this No-Bake Cheesecake, Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake Squares, and Lemon Cheesecake Yogurt Cups.
Why This Cheesecake with Cotttage Cheese Recipe Works
- Healthier Dessert: The low-fat cottage cheese combined with cream cheese gives this cheesecake more protein than most other recipes. Plus, one slice has only 159 calories and 15 grams of carbs.
- Easy: While you’ll need to pull out your food processor and blender to make this cheesecake recipe, it’s a really easy one to whip up. Pulse the crust ingredients and blend the batter, then pop it in the oven!
- Perfect for Entertaining: Since cheesecakes must chill in the fridge, this dessert is excellent for making the day before a party, so you can check one more thing off your to-do list.
Cheesecake Ingredients
- Cheesecake Crust: Graham crackers, monk fruit or sugar, and cold whipped butter create a buttery, sweet base.
- Cheese: I used cream cheese and 2% cottage cheese for a velvety cheesecake with lots of protein.
- Lemon Zest: You’ll need one medium-sized lemon to get one teaspoon of zest.
- Eggs: Use two large eggs.
- Sweetener: Monk fruit or granulated sugar will work.
- Flour: You only need two tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
- Vanilla Extract enhances the cake’s flavor.
- Topping: Top your cheesecake with fresh fruit, like berries or figs.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Cheesecake
- Make the Graham Cracker Crust: Pulse the graham crackers, sugar, and butter in a food processor. Add a tablespoon of water and pulse a few more times until it has a coarse meal texture. Press the crust into a parchment-lined spring form pan.
- Make the Cheesecake Batter: Blend the cream cheese, cottage cheese, and lemon zest in a blender until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, sugar, and flour.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the pan and bake it for 45 minutes at 350°F until the cake is set.
- Let the cheesecake cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate it for at least four hours or as long as overnight before cutting.
Variations
- Crust: Swap graham crackers for chocolate graham crackers or vanilla wafer cookies.
- Fruit: Substitute a fruit compote for fresh fruit.
- Cheesecake Toppings: Instead of fruit, drizzle chocolate or caramel over the cake.
Storage
Refrigerate cheesecake in an airtight container for up to five days.
More Cottage Cheese Recipes You’ll Love
- Pineapple Chia with Cottage Cheese
- Berry Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl
- Cottage Cheese Egg and Sausage Frittata
- Greek Cottage Cheese Bowl
- Roasted Strawberry Protein Cheese
Cottage Cheese Cheesecake Recipe
This low-calorie New York-style cheesecake is made with a combination of cottage cheese and cream cheese, blended together for a creamy and delicious dessert! No one will even know!
Yield: 12 servings
Serving Size: 1 /12th slice
Equipment
- 9-inch spring form pan
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 6 sheets graham crackers, 3.5 oz total*
- 2 tablespoons monk fruit sweetener, or use granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cold whipped butter
For the cheesecake:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, I like Philadelphia
- 2 1/3 cups 2 % cottage cheese
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, not packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup monk fruit , or sugar
- 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- optional fruit, for topping
Instructions
- Line a 9-inch spring form pan with parchment paper on the bottom. Spray the sides of the pan with cooking spray.
- Preheat oven to 350°F
To make the crust:
- Place graham crackers, sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse a few times. Add 1 tbsp water and pulse a few more times until it has a texture of coarse meal.
- Gently press the crust into the lined pan. Set aside.
To make the cheesecake filling:
- In a blender add the cream cheese, cottage cheese and lemon zest and blend together until it is really smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix.
- Add the vanilla extract, sugar and flour into the cottage cheese mixture and pulse until blended.
- Pour the cheesecake batter into the pan. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, until the cheesecake is set.
- Let it cool on a rack, then place in fridge for at least 4 hours or as long as overnight.
- Top with fresh berries if using (or topping of your choice) and cut into 12 slices.
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Nutrition
Serving: 1 /12th slice, Calories: 159 kcal, Carbohydrates: 15 g, Protein: 6.5 g, Fat: 10.5 g, Saturated Fat: 6 g, Cholesterol: 60 mg, Sodium: 243 mg, Fiber: 0.5 g, Sugar: 3 g
Could I make this without the crust ?
Sure
Can your freeze this?
Why don’t you Bake the crust before pouring in the filling? When I poured the filling in some of the graham cracker floated into the filling.
Excited to try. I’d like to do cupcake size. Should I just follow baking instructions of the lemon chesecake cups? Not sure if the cottage cheese makes a difference.
Yes should be the same
Can this crust be put into a 9 inch pie plate rather than the spring form pan?
My mom used to make this type of cheese cake 50 years ago. It was delicious and you couldn’t tell it had cottage cheese. Thank you for your recipes.
This cheesecake looks delicious!! I’m new to your site and am wondering if you discuss sugar substitutes anywhere on your site. I looked up monk fruit sweetener and found variations—with/without Erythritol, liquid/powder form. I also read that monk fruit is 10x sweeter than sugar……if so, do we need to adjust how much we use if we choose monk fruit over sugar? Sorry for so many questions but would love to learn as we continue trying to eat healthier than we did last year!
I buy the one with Erythritol which is 1 to 1 replacement for sugar.
Can just egg whites be used?
Could I use a premade graham cracker crust in a pie shell instead of the homemade in a springform? If so would I need to adjust the time or temp?
Can’t wait to make this cheesecake. Just one question. Full fat or reduced fat cream cheese.
Barbara, I’m on weight watchers and I clicked on the ww link to see how many ww points it is for me. It shows the points and the ingredients, and on that it shows she used original full fat Philadelphia cream cheese.
Having never made a cheese cake in my life, I need to know when to remove the final product from the springform pan. Before I put it in the frig to chill or when I want to serve it?
Just before serving.
Two questions: (1) Can you make this in a regular or deep dish pie plate? I don’t have a springform pan, and (2) the picture shows a pretty generous slice of cheesecake, but the recipe says 12 servings which seems like it would be a much smaller slice?
Sure, and I am not sure how the photographer shot it she usually matches my serving size.