Wednesday Baking | Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
Every Wednesday (ok, most Wednesdays!) I share a baking recipe. And lots of pictures of said baking recipe. I don't call this Wednesday Baking because I bake solely on Wednesdays...no, my oven gets a workout much more frequently than once a week! Wednesday just happens to be the day I share baking recipes with you. All the past baking posts are archived in the Wednesday Baking category, which can also be found in a tab underneath my blog header.
Today's recipe comes from an old 90s Pillsbury cookbook, titled Healthy Baking. Personally, I think a more appropriate title for the book would have been "Low-Fat Baking" because Chocolate Cheesecake is never really healthy. Broccoli can be healthy, oatmeal can be healthy, oranges can be healthy, but cheesecake? Not so much.
It is yummy, though, and if you want cheesecake that comes with a slightly lower calorie bill, this one can work for you. It can also be made in a higher-calorie version, of course, as substituting full-fat products is rarely disastrous.
Now, the original recipe had a very pathetic crust which basically involved putting dry crumbs into a pie plate and then spraying them with non-stick cooking spray to hold them together.
In my die-hard low-fat days, I actually did that, but I have since decided a cheesecake deserves a more proper crust. So, I now mix butter into my crumbs before patting them into the pie plate.
The filling has an unusual ingredient...ricotta cheese. I've used fat-free (which might not actually be food!), part-skim, and whole milk ricotta, and I can't say there was a vast difference in the end product.
Undoctored ricotta isn't nearly creamy enough for a cheesecake, though, so you'll need to run it through a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, never fear...I'm including blender directions at the bottom of this post. If you don't have a food processor OR a blender, though, this is probably not the recipe for you.
Don't skimp on this step...the ricotta needs to be quite smooth so that the cheesecake has the proper texture.
Next, add cream cheese (softened), cocoa powder, and sugar to the food processor bowl.
Process this mixture until it's smooth.
Once you add the egg, you have to be careful not to overmix, so make sure the cream cheese is nicely incorporated before proceeding.
Add the milk, vanilla, and egg (s). I've made this with two egg whites, one egg, and two eggs so far, and I think that the single egg works the best, with the 2 egg white option coming in at a close second. 2 eggs works, but the resulting cheesecake is a little bit softer.
Process this mixture until it's smooth.
Pour it into the prepared crust.
And bake in a preheated 325 ° F oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the edges are firm.
Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the door cracked at least 4 inches open. I think this step is to help prevent cracking...I completely forgot about it when I made this particular cheesecake, and as you can see, it did indeed crack.
Cracks are only a visual concern, though, so don't feel blue if yours happens to crack.
When the cheesecake finishes baking, it'll be puffy, but as it cools, it'll flatten out a lot, which is good...you want your cheesecake to be dense (at least, I do! Fluffy cheesecake is just not my thing.).
Let the cheesecake cool completely on the counter and then refrigerate it for several hours before serving.
The recipe suggests topping this with fruit, but I'm not a huge fan of a fruit and chocolate combo, so we usually enjoy our cheesecake unadorned. You can certainly dress it up with fruit or whipped cream if you'd like, though.
Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
Printable Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe
Crust
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons melted butter
Filling
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese (fat-free, light, or regular)
1 cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (fat-free, light, or regular)
1 egg or 2 egg whites
⅓ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter, and press into a 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.
In a food processor, blend ricotta cheese until smooth. Add sugar, cocoa powder, and cream cheese; process until smooth. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, and process just until blended.
Pour filling mixture into crust and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the edges are firm (center will be soft). Turn oven off and let cheesecake stand in oven for 30 minutes with the oven door cracked open at least 4 inches.
Remove cheesecake from oven; cool to room temperature on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
Blender directions: Puree ricotta in a blender in two batches, adding half of the milk with each batch. Transfer the smooth ricotta to a mixer bowl and proceed with the recipe, using a standard mixer.
This looks delish! Do you think this recipe could work in a springform pan, meaning is there enough filling? Or would it be shallow? I definitely want to try this, cheesecake is a favorite in our household! Another question, you said that this is low-fat? Could you include the nutritional information? I'm on a 1200 calorie diet, so I'm curious on if I should save this recipe for my free day. 🙂 Thanks!
Let's see...made with light ricotta, light cream cheese, egg whites, and a butter-less crust, a 16th of the pie has 170 calories and 5 grams of fat.
Of course, the 1/2 cup of butter in the crust adds some calories and fat, but you can just divide that into 16 to find out how much it adds.
Wow! Now I'm sold. My usual cheesecake recipe has 400+ calories per slice. Thanks for the info! 🙂
yummie.... this looks great.. I am going to give my shot at this... maybe for thanksgiving!
Its chocolate, how bad can it really be?? 🙂
Looks like you need some fresh raspberries and a drizzle of raspberry sauce on top! We like cheesecake but don't eat it very often -not only is it a little fattening, but sometimes the prep work is labor intensive. But this recipe makes it look so easy. Thanks.
Yes, this is SUPER easy. Prep time is probably 15 minutes, and that's if you stop to take pictures of every step. 😉
If you leave a pan on the bottom shelf of your oven with water in it while it bakes, it will not crack.
Ohh, I vaguely remember hearing about that somewhere. I'll have to try it.
This does look easy. Similar question as Cassie (but I don't have a springform pan) - so you really can use a 9-inch pie pan? And it turns out yummy? YAY!
Yep, this recipe is made for a pie pan, so you should be in good shape!
Here are some ideas to smooth the ricotta without food processor or blender:
- smoosh it though a sieve with a rubber spatula
- use a ricer, following up with a sieve if necessary
- use a hand or standing miver, probably will need to sieve after
- the o-o-o-ld fashioned way: beat it forever with a large spoon, squishing it against the side of the bowl as you can
and the old reliable - forbid your children to do it.
Sacre bleu! Cheesecake is NOT a health food?? Heresy!
Looks YUMMY! 🙂
I never ask for this, but I need prayers. A close coworker of mine passed away this morning, and I feel I know the readers of this blog, and for once I'm comfortable asking, so I need prayers... prayers for my coworkers, his family, his two adorable little girls...
I'm so sorry, Molly! We'll add them to our prayer list.
thanks for sharing this recipe! I love cheesecake and love to bake, but i dont have a springform pan (and don't really have room to store one even if i found a great price haha) so this version sounds perfect! looking forward to trying it out soon!
This will be my goal for christmas, im such a sucker for chocolate and i was just looking for an easy chocolate one last night and loc cal even better the only problem will be keeping the other half from eating it all. Oh! and the food processor, sigh!!
This looks SOOOO good! Thanks for posting this recipe. I will definitely make it for Thanksgiving!!
Looks delicious! It's full of dairy products, so that must count for something....right?
And you could always top it with whipped cream for that extra bit of dairy. lol
Oh goodness! I know what I'm making this weekend!
The boyfriend is visiting from out of town and he likes chocolate more than me (or he claims to, I'm not sure if it's possible)!
Do you think I could use one of those pre-made graham cracker crusts? I think they are the same size as a normal pie plate... You know, for those days when I'm feeling lazy AND need chocolate cheesecake 🙂
I think that would work just fine. I've never tried one myself, but I can't imagine they'd affect the recipe a lot!
*groan* I'll gain fifteen pounds if I make that!!!
oh wow, this looks so delicious! i'm not normally a huge cheesecake fan but if you mix chocolate in there i'm sold, yum!
Thanks yum I am making that tonight.
Chocolate cheesecake is my all-time favorite, but I am also very conscientious about my calorie intake. It's great to finally find a low calorie dessert that I can savor without breaking my calorie budget! Thanks for the recipe!
OMgoodness!!!! I made this pie last night and was half expecting faux cheesecake flavor. I'm dying! It's so good! Kudos to you! It's going on my thanksgiving menu! along with your crustless pumpkin pie! It's going to be great!
Susi, too funny!!! I too am making the crustless pumpkin pie and chocolate cheesecake for Thanksgiving too!!
This looks so yummy - I'm definatly going to try it but I have just one question. Being in the UK we don't have Grahan crackers, do you know if digestive biscuits would work? Thanks.
Funny - cheesecake isn't healthy. What a silly thing to say! I make a caramel cheesecake that's got ricotta and sour cream. I love it because it's so light tasting. Some love their cheesecake rich and thick but I definitely like mine more on the light, melt in your mouth side. Thanks for showing this off.
i finally made this after my processor smoked and i got a new one for Christmas. wow, it is good and all my family liked it; a keeper. I don't think I processed ricotta enough so I'll do it longer next time and make 2. Mine wasn't quite as thick and rich looking as yours; i'm going to keep trying and I'm wondering if it would freeze like cheesecake does??? I always wonder about freezing-it's in my blood. Thanks for the recipe
This looks great. I've made a few ricotta cheesecakes lately and we all really like them. Thanks for posting a chocolate version. I'll try this soon.
I made this wonderful recipe on a Sunday afternoon. The mixture tasted divine as well as the Digestive biscuit base. Once baked and chilled, it was a hit was the whole family. Definitely one for the family baking archive. Many thanks :))
I don't have ricotta on hand. Can I use cottage cheese?
I think that would work, as long as it's not a very wet style of cottage cheese. Just make sure to blend it up really well.