This Lightened Up Pumpkin Cheesecake is a fun twist on your traditional pumpkin pie. And it’s the perfect dessert for upcoming the holiday season!
It’s no surprise that I’m a BIG fan of all things chocolate, however, I do enjoy other flavors once in a while.
Well, this dessert is a great example of that. I love cheesecake, even though I rarely eat it. And I love anything with a graham cracker crust.
And around the holidays, I bring out the pumpkin recipes. I enjoy making these No-Bake Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Energy Bites
and this Healthy Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread every year.
If you’re looking for a delicious smoothie with pumpkin, check out this Healthy Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Recipe. You’ll likely have all the ingredients on hand!
And if you came here thinking you’d find a more traditional pumpkin pie recipe, check out this Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe. It only needs 5 ingredients!
Ingredients Needed for This Lightened Up Pumpkin Cheesecake
Graham Cracker Crust
- graham crackers
- butter
- brown sugar
- pecans
- cinnamon
- salt
Cheesecake
- Neufchatel cheese
- skim milk
- white sugar
- vanilla flavor instant pudding mix
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- ginger
- canned pumpkin
- lite whipped topping
- chopped pecans or maple pecan granola
I wanted to make a new dessert for this upcoming holiday season and make it a bit healthier. But I also wanted to make one without sacrificing any flavor.
That’s when I came up with this cheesecake recipe. And to add a bit more flavor and crunch to it I topped it with my maple pecan granola.
My youngest kids were home when I was taking pictures of the final product and were dying to try a taste.
So, instead of battling with them to eat their lunch first, I let them try a bite. And then two bites and a few more after that.
They were thrilled and I just waited a little longer to serve them lunch.
The point of this story is that I didn’t make a big deal that this was dessert and that it HAD to be eaten after lunch or dinner.
I don’t want desserts or any sweets to be glorified so much that when they do eat it, they eat too much. All food can fit, and if we want to eat dessert before lunch or dinner, sometimes we will!
Dietitian’s Dish
I lightened up this recipe in a few different ways. I swapped regular cream cheese for Neufchatel cheese, skim milk instead of whole milk and lite whipped topping in place of regular whipped topping.
Now of course this is still dessert and it still needs to be eaten in proper portion sizes. However, it’s a little lighter on saturated fat with the swaps I made.
Lightened Up Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Ingredients
Graham cracker crust
- 1 package graham crackers crushed
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup crushed pecans
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Cheesecake
- 8 ounce neufchatel cheese softened
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon skim milk, divided
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 2 (3.4 ounce) boxes of vanilla flavor instant pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
- 1 (8 ounce) container of lite whipped topping, divided
- Chopped pecans or maple pecan granola for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Crush graham crackers using a food processor or place them in a sealed bag and crush with a rolling pin.
- Melt butter in microwave.
- In a bowl, combine melted butter, crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, crushed pecans, cinnamon and salt. Stir until well combined and add to a 9 x 13 x 2 inch glass baking dish.
- Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.
To Make Cheesecake
- In a large bowl combine neuchatel cheese, 1 tablespoon skim milk and sugar. Mix well until thoroughly blended. Fold in half of the whipped topping.
- Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the cooled graham cracker crust.
- In another large bowl, combine pudding mixes, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, 1 cup skim milk and canned pumpkin. Mix well until combined.
- Spread this pumpkin mix evenly over top of the cream cheese layer in the pan.
- Top with remaining whipped topping and sprinkle with chopped pecans or granola.
- Place in refrigerator about 3 hours to allow it to set before serving.
Notes
Want to learn more about the dairy industry in addition to more delicious recipes and nutrition tidbits? Check out the Milk Means More website or follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Milk Means More. I was compensated for my time but my views and opinion on this post are and will always be my own. I will only partnership with brands that I believe promote or provide products that fit into a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
This Lightened Up Pecan Pumpkin Cheesecake post first appeared on Chocolate Slopes.
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Trish
Friday 13th of November 2015
YUM! This looks so good! I'm drooling. :)
Kristy Hegner
Saturday 14th of November 2015
Thanks Trish!
Kristy Hegner
Friday 13th of November 2015
Thanks Allie!
rachel @ Athletic Avocado
Friday 13th of November 2015
this looks like heaven! Pinned :)
Kristy Hegner
Friday 13th of November 2015
Thanks Rachel! Hope you enjoy!