Monday, December 2, 2013

Almond Cheesecake 2013

This is our Thanksgiving dessert tradition. It is an amazing cheesecake! The almonds create such a rich flavor you won’t believe this is a lower-calorie cheesecake. I posted it last year put forgot to take pictures. So this year I made sure to rectify that situation. I took tons of photos. This is another must try. You will not be sorry.



Almond Cheesecake
Source: 125 Best Cheesecake Recipes by George Geary's

Serves 10 to 12

Crust:                1-1/2 cups almond cookie crumbs
                        3 Tbsp margarine, melted
Filling:               2 (8 oz) packages Neufchatel cheese or light cream cheese,                           softened
                        1 cup lower-fat sour cream
                        1 cup granulated sugar
                        3 eggs
                        3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
                        1/4 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
                        1 tsp vanilla
                        1/4 tsp ground allspice
Decoration:        8 oz lower-fat whipped topping
                        1/4 cup ground almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Use a 9-inch springform pan with 3” sides.

Crust: In a medium bowl, combine almond cookie crumbs and margarine. Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.

Filling: In a large mixer bowl, beat cheese, sour cream and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Fold in flour, almonds, vanilla and allspice. Pour over frozen crust. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until the top is light brown and the center has a slight jiggle to it. Cool on a rack for 2 hours. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before decorating.

Decoration: Top with whipped topping and dust with a sprinkling of ground almonds.

Variation: Spike the almond flavor with 2 Tbsp almond liqueur.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:  Calories 336.1; Total Fat 19.7 g; Saturated Fat 9.2 g; Polyunsaturated Fat 3.1 g; Monounsaturated Fat 6.4 g; Cholesterol 83.0 mg; Sodium 285.1 mg; Potassium 144.7 mg; Total Carbohydrate 31.3 g; Dietary Fiber 0.8 g; Sugars 23.1 g; Protein 8.0 g. 9 WW PointsPlus.

Notes: I used Italian amaretti cookies for the crumbs. Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. This will prevent the cheesecake from cracking. Definitely use the almond liqueur. I used amaretto and added it with the vanilla. This cheesecake can be frozen too. Remove springform ring, wrap in plastic wrap and then foil and place in the freezer. Just allow 24 hours for it to defrost in the refrigerator and wait to decorate just before serving.

NI includes amaretto; however it is calculated with graham crackers not almond cookie. Sparkrecipes did not have a listing for almond cookie.








Linking to:
Mommy On Demand: Create it OR Bake it
Stone Cottage Adventures: Tuesdays with a Twist
Anyonita Nibbles: Tasty Tuesdays
Memories by the Mile: Tuesday Trivia-Illinois and Link Party
Dizzy Busy and Hungry: Wine'd Down Wednesday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Turnips 2 Tangerines: Four Seasons Blog Hop
Love Bakes Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Horrific Knits: Fall Into the Holidays
My Plate of Crumbs: Random Recipe Roundup
Ms. enPlace: See Ya in the Gumbo

15 comments:

  1. Wow! that looks just perfect and also yummy! i am a new g + follower found on the wine'd down blog party and just had to take a peek at this amazing looking cake also i did pin it! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thank You! Deanna Lyn, So happy you came by and thrilled you will be following. Thanks for your sweet comment. Have a great day! Love Wine'd Down Wednesdays!

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  2. Oh. My. Wow. That looks incredible! Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. Thanks Erin! I am so glad you were here. I love visitors. Have a great day!

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  3. Hi Denise,

    I'm a big fan of lower calorie sweets and cakes... This cheesecake looks wonderful. Definitely worth to bake and try :D

    Nice to know you via blogging. Love to learn lots of soup cooking tips from you and here I am being your latest follower :D Hope to hear from you soon.

    Zoe

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  4. Thanks! Zoe, It is so nice to meet you too. I have already been by your blog. I think I could learn a lot about baking from you. I will trade you a soup recipe for that chocolate cake of yours any day. Thanks for following, I will be following you too.

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    1. Hi Denise,

      Nice to hear from you at my blog. I'm following you at Pinterest too :D

      Zoe

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  5. Wow! Looks delicious~ One of my all time favorite cheesecakes:) Your recipe is awesome..thanks for sharing at Four Seasons Blog Hop~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines

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    1. Thanks Lynn! I love Four Season Blog Hop like I love cheesecake. So glad you came by.

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  6. Hi Denise ! I love cheesecakes and I am always looking for low fat alternatives. Your recipe sound delightful. Thank you so much for sharing at Tasty Tuesday. I am featuring you this week. Hope you'll drop by to grab your featured batch.

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    1. Thank you so much, Tanusree! I am honored that you will feature my cheescake. I will be happy to post your feature button. Have a lovely week! You just made mine. Thanks again!

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  7. What a beautiful Cheesecake, it looks sooooo good! Hope you are staying warm and cozy in this cold weather and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  8. I love cheesecake! I can't wait to give this a try! Thanks for coming over to Create it or Bake it. Hope to see you again tomorrow morning!

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  9. Love,love, love cheesecake, so I am pinning this to my dessert board. Thanks for sharing on Tuesdays With a Twist, I'm in Louisiana too!!!

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  10. Great idea to use amaretti as the crust. And or course I like that you added amaretto. Definitely doesn't look like a lower cal cheesecake. It looks like a showstopper.
    Thank you for sharing, Denise.

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