No-Bake Banana Cream Cheesecakes

April 5, 2013 by

No-Bake Banana Cream Cheesecakes

While I love a good baked cheesecake, I am a horrible baker. I’ve told you guys this before. I fully admit this. I have a brand spanking new cheesecake pan sitting in my cupboard just waiting for me to work up enough guts to make a baked cheesecake. The no-bake cheesecake is basically fool-proof. Therefore I love it. I have made pumpkin cheesecakes and Irish Cream cheesecakes. The base for these little no-bake cheesecakes is the same: cream cheese and Cool Whip. From there, you can do whatever you want! For these no-bake banana cream cheesecakes, I used instant banana cream pudding. So easy!

No-Bake Banana Cream Cheesecakes

I will tell you that the banana flavor in this recipe is not overwhelming. If you want a stronger banana flavor, you can add a layer of sliced bananas in between the graham cracker crust and the filling or on top for garnish. Though I have never tried it, you can also consider using banana extract (you can buy imitation or natural versions of this on Amazon). I also noticed that these did not set quite as much as my other no-bake cheesecake recipes. This is probably due to the pudding, but believe me, these little guys are so scrumptious!

No-Bake Banana Cream Cheesecakes

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No-Bake Banana Cream Cheesecakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: about 6 servings (will depend on the size of your serving bowls)

Calories per serving: 280 calories (without topping)

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (divided; you can also use crushed Nilla Wafers)
  • 3 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 8-ounce package reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 .9-ounce package JELL-O fat free sugar free banana cream instant pudding
  • 1 1/3 cup skim milk
  • 1 8-ounce tub Lite Cool Whip
    • For garnish (all optional):
  • Cool Whip (or any whipped cream/topping)
  • nuts
  • graham cracker crumbs
  • sliced banana

Instructions

  1. Divide the graham cracker crumbs evenly amongst your individual serving bowls (I used 6). Carefully drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs in each bowl. This will help the crumbs set. Stick the bowls into the freezer.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the instant pudding mix and milk. Let set for about 5 minutes.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and pudding. Fold in the Cool Whip until well-combined.
  4. Remove the bowls from the freezer. Spoon or pipe the filling evenly into each serving bowl. Place the bowls into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I like to do mine overnight).
  5. Garnish with extra Cool Whip and any other desired garnishes.

Notes

Feel free to play around with the regular, reduced fat, fat free, and sugar free versions of the Cool Whip, pudding, and the cream cheese. Keep in mind that if you use all fat free products, the cheesecakes may not set as well (however, they still taste good!).

My serving bowls are from Pier 1 Imports

http://eat-drink-love.com/2013/04/no-bake-banana-cream-cheesecakes/

No-Bake Banana Cream Cheesecakes
Filed Under: Desserts, Low-Fat, Low-Sugar/Sugar-Free · Tagged With: , , , , , 16 Comments

No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 19, 2012 by

I’ve got one more Thanksgiving post for you guys! No doubt your oven is going to be working overtime this week. Between the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and who knows what else, oven space is often limited. And for those of you with double ovens, I am totally jealous, bt dubs.

How about a little dessert that comes together in less than 20 minutes and requires no baking? Yeah, that’s what I thought you would say! These little cheesecakes are rich and full of pumpkin flavor.  They can also be made the night before. In fact, I recommend you make them the night before. I’m all about making things the night before!

The perfect ending to your meal before all that tryptophan kicks in!

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No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: about 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 (8-ounce) block reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (8-ounce) container light whipped topping thawed
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
    • Toppings:
  • whipped topping (optional)
  • nuts (optional)
  • caramel (optional)
  • graham cracker crumbs (optional)

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Divide the graham cracker crumbs evenly amongst individual serving bowls or ramekins and press down to make a crust. Drizzle some of the butter over the crumbs in each dish. Place the bowls in the freezer.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, whipped topping, pumpkin puree, and the pumpkin pie spice until well-combined.
  3. Remove the bowls from the freezer. Pipe or spoon the filling into each bowl. Add additional whipped topping and other desired toppings. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Notes

Depending on the size of your serving bowls, you made need to add more or less of the graham cracker crumbs.

You may have noticed that I didn't add any sugar to this recipe. I felt like I didn't really need it since the Cool whip and graham cracker crumbs were already sweet. If you want it to be sweeter though, feel free to mix in a bit of sugar!

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/11/no-bake-pumpkin-cheesecake/
Filed Under: Desserts · Tagged With: , , , , 29 Comments

Chewy Granola Bars

May 22, 2012 by

After making my own protein bars last month, I have been really wanting to have a go at making some homemade granola bars. Yesterday was the first part of my dissertation defense. And yes, I passed! Yay! Now to just finish my analyses and writing the results up, and then one more final defense and I will be D.O.N.E.! So anyway, when you do a defense, it’s wise to bring some snacks for your committee members. A hungry committee member is not a good thing, folks. My defense was at 10am so I didn’t want to bring anything that was too sweet. Homemade granola bars it was!

I loooooove these bars! Like, I am never going to buy them again. I love that these bars do not contain any added sugar or corn syrup. They are also no-bake! Gotta always love that!

Unfortunately because I was busy prepping for my defense the day before, I didn’t get around to making these until late and wanted to slice them up before bed so I didn’t have to worry about it in the morning. So, I attempted to cut my bars after about 3 hours and I think that was too soon as some kind of fell apart. Doh! So, I recommend letting them set for a good 4 hours or overnight before slicing them up.

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Chewy Granola Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 10-15 bars (depending on pan size)

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup oat flour or almond flour
  • 1 cup quick oats
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries, raisins, pomegranate (whatever dried fruit you want!)
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds
  • 2 tbs. sesame seeds (or chia seeds)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs. honey
  • 3 tbs. coconut oil
  • 1/3 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. almond extract
  • 1/8 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
  • Other add-ins: other nuts, mini chocolate chips, etc.

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, dried fruit, sesame seeds, and any other add-ins.
  2. Add the coconut oil, honey, vanilla and almond extract, and salt in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium heat until the mixture begins to foam. Remove from the heat and pour into the bowl with the dry mixture. Mix well to coat all of the ingredients.
  3. Prepare a baking dish that is no larger than a 9x13 baking dish or a half-sheet pan with saran wrap. Make sure to leave some of the wrap hanging over the sides. Press the mixture into the dish and spread evenly. Cover with additional saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
  4. Remove the bars by lifting them out of the pan with the excess saran wrap. Cut into bars. I wrapped mine in some saran wrap for an easy take-and-go snack. Store left over bars in the refrigerator.

Notes

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/05/chewy-granola-bars/
Filed Under: Breakfast, Low-Fat, Low-Sugar/Sugar-Free, Snacks · Tagged With: , , , , , 31 Comments

Irish Cream No-Bake Cheesecake

March 12, 2012 by

Bailey's Irish Cream No-Bake Cheesecake

Good morning! Things are looking pretty different around here, huh?! Eat. Drink. Love. just got an awesome makeover! I’m so excited about the new look and I hope you guys like it!

First, I want to give a major shout out to Lacey from Little Miss Nerd Girl for doing such a great job on my blog design! I totally recommend her to any of you other bloggers out there that are looking to give your blogs a little facelift!

There are still a few kinks to work out and I will be working on those over the next week so bear with me! Aside from the new design, some new features that have been added are email subscriptions (don’t know why I didn’t have that before, sorry!!), and for every post starting today and on, you will now see a print button attached to each recipe that you can just print out my recipes instead of the whole page!

Ok, now onto this Bailey’s Irish Cream No-Bake Cheesecake deliciousness…

I have one thing to say about this…O.M.F.G.!!! Yes, it’s that good. This Irish cream cheesecake is rich, boozy, creamy, and decadent. In fact, it was so rich, I couldn’t even finish my little bowl and it made me sad because boy did I want to!

Make it for St. Patty’s Day, make it for a Friday night, I don’t really care, just make it!! And make it NOW!

Bailey's Irish Cream No-Bake Cheesecake

Print
Irish Cream No-Bake Cheesecake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

  • 12 Oreo cookies, cream removed
  • 3 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 (8-ounce) block reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (8-ounce) container light whipped topping thawed
  • 1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
    • Topping
  • whipped topping (optional)
  • nuts (optional)
  • caramel (optional)
  • sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

  1. Place the Oreos into a food processor and crush into crumbs. Or you can also place them in a freezer bag and crush with a rolling pin. Divide the crumbs evenly amongst individual serving dishes and push the crumbs down to form a crust. Spoon a little bit of the melted butter over the crumbs in each dish. Try to cover as much of the crumbs as possible.
  2. Place the chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Stir in the vanilla and Bailey's. Fold in the whipped topping until well-blended.
  3. Pipe or spoon the mixture evenly amongst the serving dishes. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.
  4. Add toppings, if desired.

Notes

You can adjust the fat in this recipe by using regular, reduced fat, or fat-free cream cheese. Same goes for the whipped topping!

Recipe adapted from: My Baking Addiction

http://eat-drink-love.com/2012/03/irish-cream-no-bake-cheesecake/

Bailey's Irish Cream No-Bake Cheesecake
Filed Under: Desserts, Low-Fat · Tagged With: , , , , , , 91 Comments