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Diabetic Blueberry Cheesecake with Pecans
Sugar, Gluten and Grain Free
As a diabetic, I am always looking for easy recipes that will give me something sweet, creamy and crunchy without raising my blood sugar. I also try to add healthier ingredients to make the treat even better. I am also gluten sensitive and grain intolerant so this meets all of my dietary needs besides being delicious.
About the Fat
In this recipe, I have chosen cream cheese with 1/3 less fat. This adds up to a much lower calorie count than the full fat kind. I do agree with the concept that your body needs some fat, though, so I don't limit it completely.
I also know that fat slows down the uptake of sugar. In this recipe, the only sugar is the naturally occurring sweetness of the blueberries. The fat helps control the sugar uptake even with these blueberries which are a good, low source of natural sugar.
Sweetener
I use organic stevia powdered extract that has nothing else added to it. It is more expensive, than other stevia products, but they have additives included to bulk up the stevia and make the same size container cheaper. I just want the sweetness of the stevia not anything else.
Chia Seeds for Thickening
I have started using Chia Seeds for thickening of different foods I make. I like it much better in this recipe than Knox gelatin and you don't have to dissolve it in hot water. You just add it to the food, and it picks up moisture from the food resulting in the thickening. It also is healthy, containing omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, antioxidant and calcium.
Healthy Fats
Pecans are another healthy addition to this recipe. They add more healthy fats to the recipe to further slow down the uptake of the natural sugar of the fruit. You can leave out the nuts if you don't tolerate them, but I just love the crunch and flavor they add to the blueberry cheesecake.
No Cooking
Ingredients
- 2 cups Unsweetened Blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 Tbs. Chia Seeds, Thickens the mixture and firms it up once refrigerated
- 8 oz. package Cream Cheese, I use the "1/3 Less Fat" variety
- 3 Servings Pure Stevia Extract Powder, or Sweeten to Taste. I get Trader Joe's Organic Stevia
- 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 1/8 th | |
| Calories | 154 |
| Calories from Fat | 108 |
| % Daily Value * | |
| Fat 12 g | 18% |
| Saturated fat 5 g | 25% |
| Unsaturated fat 7 g | |
| Carbohydrates 9 g | 3% |
| Sugar 5 g | |
| Fiber 3 g | 12% |
| Protein 7 g | 14% |
| Cholesterol 420 mg | 140% |
| Sodium 110 mg | 5% |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. | |
How Much do You Think You'll Enjoy This?
- Place softened cream cheese into a large mixing bowl and slowly cream it. Hopefully you have a stand mixer so you can prepare the blueberries while it is creaming.
- Place 1 cup of the room temperature blueberries into a blender (I have a Nutribullet) along with the 2 Tbs. of Chia seeds and blend to form a puree. If the blueberries are frozen, place the 1 cup of them in the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds to soften them before blending. Save the other cup of blueberries to stir into the finished mixture.
- Add the stevia or sweetener of your choice and stir in to the creamy mixture. I use 3 or 4 servings of the Trader Joe's Stevia, but you can use any amount that suits your taste.
- Stir in the remaining blueberries and the chopped pecans.
- Scoop the mixture into a 5 x 7 baking dish or something that holds 3 cups and allows the mixture to be spread out to about a 1 inch thickness.
- Cut into 8 equal parts and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 or 3 days if you can make it last that long.
Peach Cheese Cake
It is summer here right now and all the wonderful fresh fruits are coming in. I always have such a hard time resisting buying too many at the farmer's market each week, but yesterday I splurged. I bought a quart of yellow peaches, a quart of white peaches, a quart of red apricots, and a quart of red pears.
Today I'm trying to figure out what to do with them all. I found 3 peaches that were at the peak of ripeness so I ate one, and pureed one with 2 Tbs. of chia seeds, and stirred it into the softened cream cheese and stevia. The third one I cut up into small cubes and folded it into the cream cheese mixture. I added a half cup of chopped pecans and then did a taste test.
"Yum" is all that I can say. Peaches and cream cheese; definitely something I'll do again. I might have to give the apricots a try if they start ripening too much. That is what is so great about this recipe. It is totally adaptable to whatever fruit you have on hand.
