Gluten-Free Blueberry Greek Yogurt Cheesecake Recipe

Sometime in the past few weeks, I made a cheesecake. I posted pictures on Instagram. And then I went to Blend and got crap from Lauren because I haven’t posted the recipe yet.

WELL, for those of you who were patiently waiting: Here it is. If you weren’t waiting and this is the first you’ve heard of my cheesecake creation? Prepare to be impressed.

I went through a bunch of recipes in search of the perfect Greek yogurt cheesecake recipe. I came across this one from Sarah’s Sweets and a few others that had similar ingredients and directions. After figuring out the basics, I made my own version.

chimes gluten-free greek yogurt cheesecake

ingredients

FOR CRUST (should you choose to make one — if you want to use a pre-made crust, be my guest!):

• 1 12 oz. bag gluten-free shortbread cookies
• (optional) 1/4 c nuts of choice (I used pecans and hazelnuts)
• 2-3 T melted butter
• 1 T brown suger
• – or – forgo the melted butter and brown sugar and use honey or agave nectar (3-4 T) — just need to get the mixture to a consistency to be able to form a crust
• OPTIONAL:
  1 Dagoba lavender blueberry chocolate bar, cut into chunks (next time I would actually process with the shortbread crust)

FOR CHEESECAKE:

• 3 cups of blueberry Greek yogurt (I used Greek Gods, but would prefer Chobani)
• 8 oz. of light cream cheese
• 3 large eggs
• fresh or frozen blueberries (optional — in case your yogurt doesn’t have fruit — mine didn’t)

directions (if you’re using a pre-made crust, skip to number 8):

1. Preheat oven to 325°
2. Open bag of shortbread cookies. Try not to eat a bunch of them or you’ll have to find something else to make your crust with. Crush the cookies into fine crumbs using a food processor or by putting them in a ziplock bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin.
3. Add brown sugar and nuts (if using) and process a bit more.
4. Pour into a bowl and add melted butter (or honey / agave nectar if you choose to do that instead).
5. I like to use a spring-form pan, but you could use a pie dish since this cheesecake isn’t super tall. Press the crust mixture into the pan of your choice. 
6. This part is optional. Cut up the chocolate and put on top of the crust. Again, I want to make this again and put the chocolate IN the crust with the shortbread. Mark really liked how this turned out with the chocolate chunks. I did not. I thought they interrupted the flavor and would have been better incorporated fully into the crust (or melted into the cheesecake mixture?).
7. Put crust aside. 
8. Mix cream cheese and yogurt using a mixer on low or a fork.
9. Beat eggs into mixture. 
10. Pour cheesecake mixture into your pan with your crust.
11. Optional: Drop fresh or frozen blueberries into the pan. I used about 30-35.
12. Bake for 60-80 minutes. I realize that’s kind of a wide range of baking time. Your cheesecake should start to get golden brown around the edges and it won’t be jiggly in the middle anymore when it’s done.
13. The most important part — slice and serve!

The verdict? I’m going to make this again. But next time I’m going to figure out something different for the crust or do a crustless cheesecake. And I’m going to ditch thinking about ditching the chocolate (I know, sad, right?). I am also contemplating using goat cheese instead of light cream cheese. Oh, and I’m going to try this using Chobani’s strawberry yogurt (IF I CAN FIND IT. Dammit Iowa!).

Wish me luck!

What’s your favorite dessert?