MOMS CHEESE PIE

MOM'S CHEESE PIE
Low carb cookie crust, optional (I used Ellie's Peanut Butter Cookies)
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/8 cups granulated Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
Dash salt
3 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Topping (optional)

Topping:
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoon granulated Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crust:
1 1/2 cups Ellie's Peanut Butter Cookie crumbs, about 16 cookies or 5 ounces
6 tablespoons butter

If using a crust, melt the butter in 9 1/2-10" glass pie plate using a microwave. Add the crumbs and mix well, then pat over the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the plate. Press firmly and evenly into the pan. Freeze while preparing the filling.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the Splenda, salt, eggs and vanilla and beat just until well-combined. Pour into the crust and bake at 350?20 minutes. At this point the filling should be pretty much set but not too firm. Remove from the oven and let cool 15 minutes. Meanwhile, raise the oven temperature to 450? Mix the topping ingredients and spread over the pie. Bake 5 minutes. Cool, then chill well before serving.

Makes 8-12 servings
Can be frozen (see note below)

With granular Splenda:
Per 1/8 recipe: 484 Calories; 45g Fat; 11g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 9g Net Carbs
Per 1/12 recipe: 323 Calories; 30g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per 1/8 recipe: 469 Calories; 45g Fat; 11g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs
Per 1/12 recipe: 313 Calories; 30g Fat; 8g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

CHEESECAKE FILLING (whole batch):
With granular Splenda:
1924 Calories; 173g Fat; 53g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 42g Net Carbs
With liquid Splenda:
1816 Calories; 173g Fat; 53g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 15g Net Carbs

TOPPING (whole batch):
With granular Splenda:
517 Calories; 48g Fat; 7g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 14g Net Carbs
With liquid Splenda:
505 Calories; 48g Fat; 7g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 11g Net Carbs

CRUST (whole batch):
1429 Calories; 138g Fat; 30g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 20g Net Carbs

I used a very old recipe that my Mom always used to make, but substituted Splenda for the sugar and low carb cookie crumbs for the graham cracker crust. I was very pleased with the results, although I think there's no real substitute for graham cracker crust. This cheesecake is very creamy and the topping adds a little bit of tartness. You could substitute any low carb cookie crumbs of your choice. Depending on how much butter is in your cookies, you may need to decrease the amount of butter. I'd start with 4 tablespoons and add more if needed.

As you can see, you can save a lot of carbs by using liquid Splenda instead of granulated. Of course you could use the zero carb sweetener of your choice if you don't have liquid Splenda on hand. I probably would not make this recipe using granulated Splenda because the carbs are simply too high for my tastes. You can save a few carbs by leaving off the topping and/or the crust. In any case, this would also be nice with some berries over the top, but be sure to take the extra carbs into consideration. Click the photo to see a close-up.

This can be frozen, but the topping gets a very crackled appearance, the flavor is just as good, and it loses some of its creaminess. It comes out a more like a denser, drier cheesecake after freezing. I thought perhaps the texture change wasn't due to freezing, but to being chilled overnight, so I took a taste of a piece that had never been frozen and it was still just as creamy as it had been the day before.

Also, if you want make this without the topping, you'll probably need to bake it an extra 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to over bake it or you'll end up with a dry cheesecake instead of nice and creamy.

UPDATE: I made this today without a crust and it's still very good. I suggest checking the cheesecake after it has baked 10 minutes. I baked mine 15 minutes (plus the 5 minutes with the topping) and it could have been a little creamier. Although it seemed a little jiggly in the center after 10 minutes, cheesecakes usually firm up as they chill.

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