No-Bake Greek Yogurt Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

I'm beginning to think my motto should be all the flavor, none of the guilt. Okay, maybe some of the guilt! It's no secret that I like sweets. And it's not a coincidence that my protagonist, Sophie Winston, often wears clothes with elastic waistbands. In THE DIVA FROSTS A CUPCAKE, she promises herself she'll go on a diet, but only after eating her way through an eight-course cupcake banquet.

The other day, my mom and I were in a waiting room and she passed me a magazine with a recipe for a pie made with Greek yogurt. A great idea. It's naturally thick and creamy. Apparently, it's prime time for blueberries in Chile, so my grocery store had them at bargain prices. You see where I'm going with this -- a blueberry cheesecake pie made with Greek yogurt and counting calories. The added benefit is that it's a no-bake pie.

I do recall that the recipe in the magazine used plain yogurt, but I happened to have 0% fat Stonyfield Oikos with strawberries in the fridge. Why not use that? They've already added some sugar and the strawberries would go well with the blueberries.

I started by cutting some calories in the no-bake crust. Admittedly not many but by cutting back the amount of butter, we saved 200 calories. I added 2 tablespoons of calorie-free water to compensate and it turned out great! Easier to work with than my usual 6 tablespoons of butter recipe. I kicked in 1/2 cup of uncooked oatmeal, too, for a little fiber.

The biggest calorie boost came from the cream cheese. If you used Neufchatel or reduced calorie cream cheese, you could save even more. Calories are in parenthesis in the recipe.

If you are using the KitchenAid food processor with the extra mini-bowl, you can make the crust in the big bowl, and the filling in the mini bowl. I assume this could just as easily be done in a blender.

No-Bake Greek Yogurt Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

Crust
9 sheets honey graham crackers (585)
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal (150)
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt
4 tablespoons butter, melted (400)
2 tablespoons water

In a food processor pulse first 4 ingredients until fine. While running, pour in the melted butter followed by the water. Press into a 9.5-inch pie plate. Refrigerate.

Total calories 1,135
8 slices = 141.5 per slice

Filling
2 1/2 6-ounce packages fresh blueberries (200)

2 tablespoons lemon (17)
2 tablespoons water
1 packet unflavored gelatin (30)

2 Stonyfield Oikos 0% Fat Strawberry Greek Yogurt (220)
6 ounces cream cheese(600)
1/4 cup sugar (193.5)


Wash the blueberries and pick over them. Dump them on a double layer of paper towels and dab gently to dry.


Combine the lemon and water in a small pot and sprinkle with gelatine. Let stand.

Using a food processor, combine the yogurt, cream cheese, and sugar until completely mixed.

Heat the gelatine mixture gently over low heat, stirring to dissolve completely. With the food processor running, pour the dissolved gelatine into the yogurt/cream cheese mixture. Process about a minute or until well combined.

Spread the fresh blue berries on the crust, reserving about 1/5 for the top.

Pour the yogurt mixture over top of the blueberries and spread to the edges. Arrange the remaining blueberries on top. Refrigerate until set, at least three hours or overnight.

Total calories 1,260.5
8 slices = 157.56

Combined calories for recipe 2,395.5
8 slices = 300 calories per slice

Eeek! Not quite as low cal as I'd have liked. Still, not as bad as some things. It has a nice fresh taste, though, and isn't cloyingly sweet. What can I say? We all wanted seconds. I'm pretty sure that seconds have half the calories. Right?