Bariatric Foodie Play with your food
So first let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, these pumpkin cheesecake cups are the gamillionty-seventh cheesecake recipe on this blog. I am not ashamed.
Especially because they are so easy. SO. EASY. Like…they are “you can happen upon this recipe on Thanksgiving morning and still make this” easy. And this recipe makes four cups. So you’re not inundated with pumpkin cheesecake cups. That’s just enough for you to have one, to give two of them away to inevitably nosey passers-by and still have one leftover.
Now I don’t have process pictures for this recipe, but that’s because I demonstrated it on an episode of Bariatric Foodie Live! (if you don’t know what is, it’s our weekly live Facebook show, Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST and if you click that link you can sign up for updates and reminders to watch!)
Here’s the demo in case you want to watch. We talk about some other things during the show but the demo is first.
Since this is pretty easy to put together, I thought I’d just give a few pointers and then get outta your way:
- While I absolutely love BariatricPal Protein One, you can use whatever kind of protein you like. I would suggest a cinnamon-flavored one or vanilla and just bump up the amount of pumpkin pie spice you use. But I’d highly suggest giving Protein One a try (or at least read my review) because…yummmm. (And srsly…you can mix it into things like pumpkin fluff with a SPOON. Do you know how big a deal that is?!? In this recipe it was actually harder to mix in the cream cheese than it was the protein.)
- You don’t have to do these in 1/2 c. servings of fluff. Make them as big or small as you want. It’s all about you! The cups I use came from Dollar Tree – $1 for a pack of 10!
- You also don’t have to use the cereal I use. Or any cereal at all. Usually I use Fiber One as crumb crusts but for Thanksgiving I allow a little indulgence so I used Cinnamon Toast Crunch (well…the dollar store version anyway…) and it works out fine for me. Cook your conscience, Foodies!
- I’d be remiss not to point out that I have a TON of other great holiday recipes, tips and tricks in the Bariatric Foodie Holiday Survival Guide, available on Amazon!
- As always, no, I’m not giving you the nutrition information for this recipe. Here’s why.
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- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!)
- 1 serving Bariatric Pal Protein One Cinnamon Swirl flavor
- 8 oz. low-fat cream cheese softened
- 2 tbsp. low-fat Greek yogurt vanilla flavored
- 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- no-calorie sweetener to taste
- 1/2 c. cereal crushed into crumbs
- 2 tbsp. walnut pieces
- low-calorie whipped topping (optional)
- In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin and protein powder. Beat on medium with a hand mixer until fully combined (you can also just do this with a spoon, but you'll need a mixer for the next part).
- Add cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and pie spice and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, then on high for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
- Set out four cups and place a 1/2 c. serving in each. (NOTE: If you use a smaller amount per cup, you'll need more cups.)
- In a blender whiz together cereal and nuts and put equal amounts of topping on each cup. Top with whipped cream and a bit of cinnamon (if desired) for garnish.
