How Sweet It Is

. . . to want sweet things again!

Hi everyone!  We are at the end of our own version of an epidemic!  Last post had been written in past tense, but that was unfortunately inaccurate.  Today is the first day everyone has been running all over the house, making the normal cacophony of noise our house is known for.  There has also been the random relapse when the person has discovered (gasp!) they still have school, but other than that, no one has been laying on the floor voluntarily.

Up until yesterday, sweet things sounded so terrible.  Breads and salty things were the only things I wanted.  Weird, huh?  But I still wanted to bake something so on Saturday, I dragged myself off the floor long enough to make this mini cheesecake, and while baking it was fun, eating it sounded horrible (tragic.) So I let it sit in the fridge until my tastebuds decided to be normal again.  When I finally tried it, the end result was just as I had hoped: that classic cheesecake creaminess (alliteration: 3 points!) while using Greek yogurt. 

Because I hadn't ever made anything like this and the recipe was my own, I decided to do a mini one in case it didn't turn out right.  So you can take the ingredients and multiply them by 3 to get a normal sized cheesecake.  Because my pan wasn't quite big enough, the inside of my mini cheesecake was a little undercooked.  Kind of like a pudding filled cheesecake.  Not a bad thing after all.  It did firm up after sitting in the fridge.

Chocolate Cheesecake with Greek Yogurt
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life
Yield: 4 servings
Crust:
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Cheesecake:
4 oz. Neufchâtel cream cheese
4 oz. plain Greek yogurt (I used Krogers)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. flour

Crust: Mix dry ingredients and then add to melted butter.  Press into greased 2 cup ramekin.

Cheesecake:  Beat cream cheese and yogurt.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Stir in sugar, cocoa powder, and flour.  Pour over crust.

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes (I baked mine for 40 minutes) in a water bath.

 I was curious to see how smooth it would be and I was not disappointed. 

   Creamy, sweet and chocolatey.  (Aaaanndd a little undercooked in the middle;)
Me and my siblings all thought it tasted just like cheesecake, but Mom thought it had a little bitterness (from the yogurt and cocoa) and was more mousse-like than dense.  After she said it, I did notice it, but it is still very much like cheesecake. 

Me and cheesecake have been best friends forever.  I've had for my birthday (who needs cake?) every year since I was old enough to request it.  My mom makes a killer apple cheesecake with caramel sauce and then we found a mocha chocolate one a couple years ago.  Luke has had it as a birthday "cake" (see a theme?) and we've brought it to several gatherings.  Nathan loves Snickers cheesecake and my dad is happy with plain old vanilla.  I should add coffee to this recipe next time.  In small quantities, it brings out the chocolate flavor and in large quantities, it makes the coffee lover's taste buds sing. 

What's your favorite cheesecake recipe?  I've actually seen one for Green Tea and White Chocolate, but not even I will try that.  (It really doesn't matter because when I clicked on the recipe to see what was in it, all the instructions were in Chinese!)  I'm not a big fan of white chocolate, but I've heard that it and raspberry is delicious.