Breakfast Cheesecake – Cinnamon Swirl

At a glance

What stands out: That’s right, cheesecake for breakfast. Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt take the place of cream cheese but you’ll hardly be able to tell the difference. You’ll love the swirl of cinnamon.

How long it takes: 10 minutes to prep, 45 minutes to bake
Equipment you’ll need: blender or food processor, square baking dish, parchment paper
Servings: 9

Say No To Boring Breakfasts

We get bored with breakfast. Actually, as we type this, we're at a darling little cafe near our home. We told myself we didn’t have time to eat breakfast before we ran out the door with the kids, but the truth is that we probably just wanted to eat here and not at home.

Maybe it’s the bowl of mixed fruit and berries when all we have at home are bananas. Maybe it’s the fresh flowers on every table. Perhaps it’s the hot coffee, when ours is always cold at home. We also can’t get enough of their crispy toasted multigrain toast. And then there’s the bacon…

Even though we get bored with breakfast, it remains one of our favorite meals. We try to keep breakfast items stocked like egg white casserole, baked oatmeal, and chocolate protein pancakes (we keep those babies in the freezer!). These frittata muffins are popular at breakfast, too. Lately, we've been loving cottage cheese eggs, which are higher in protein than regular scrambled eggs but just as straightforward to mix.

Dessert For Breakfast

This breakfast cheesecake is another breakfast winner. We would say it tastes like eating dessert for breakfast but it depends on what kind of desserts you like. We don’t like sweet treats and this cinnamon swirl cheesecake is not heavily sweetened (although you could easily add more sugar to the recipe). Topped with fresh fruit, a slice of cottage cheese cheesecake is absolutely reliable for breakfast, or dessert!

A Lighter Cheesecake Recipe

It isn’t made with cream cheese. Unlike classic cheesecake with lots of cream cheese, this breakfast cheesecake is made with a combination of cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. After a speedy whirl in your blender, you won’t even be able to tell it’s not traditional cream cheese filling.

This cheesecake is better for you. This cottage cheese-based cheesecake only has 165 calories per serving with 10 grams of protein, which makes it a protein-packed breakfast choice that will keep you full all morning. There isn’t a lot of added sugar. The crust is a crunchy combination of good-for-you rolled oats and chia seeds, making a reliable contrast to the smooth filling.

Serve it for breakfast or dessert. There’s absolutely no reason why this cheesecake couldn’t be served for dessert as a healthier alternative to classic cheesecake. You may want to increase the sugar a bit (see the tip below).

Straightforward to enhance. We like to jazz this lighter cheesecake up with a pretty cinnamon swirl which is both decorative and tasty. Feel free to add your own touches with other flavors.

Straightforward Recipe Variations

Make it sweeter. If you have more of a sweet tooth, we'd recommend adding 2 to 4 tablespoons of coconut sugar or brown sugar to the filling.

Shortcut idea: If you don’t want to mess with the cinnamon swirl (we’re all about speedy and straightforward here!), just add the swirl ingredients right to the cheesecake mixture. All the flavor and none of the fuss!

Add different enhancements. Try adding a dash of nutmeg or ginger. Apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice work well. Add a swirl of your favorite jam.

Experiment with toppings. We love fresh fruit or fruit sauces. A drizzle of chocolate syrup is memorable, too, and appeals to kids.

Make individual cheesecakes. Try our mini mocha cheesecakes which are also made with cottage cheese.

Make Ahead & Storage Tips

This is the type of recipe that you definitely want to make ahead because it would take too long to make for an early morning breakfast. It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to a week and can be frozen, too. Simply thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

• Yield: 9
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 45 minutes
• Total: 55 minutes

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 ¼ cups rolled oats (see note)
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 teaspoons coconut sugar, or to taste (brown sugar can be substituted)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons milk

Filling:

• 1 container (16-ounce) reduced-fat cottage cheese (we use large curd)
• ⅓ cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt (full fat or 2% is fine, too)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

Swirl:

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 8- or 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine crust ingredients: rolled oats, chia seeds, 2 teaspoons coconut sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, melted butter, and milk. Press firmly into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake crust for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Reduce oven heat to 325°F.
4. In a blender or food processor, blend cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. Pour filling into the baked crust.
5. In a small bowl (or zip-top bag), mix swirl ingredients: 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Drizzle over filling and then run a knife or toothpick through it to create a swirl.
6. Return cheesecake to oven and bake for 45 minutes or until it's no longer jiggly in center.
7. Cool completely before slicing into 9 squares. Refrigerate in airtight container for up to a week. Serve as is, or with fresh fruit or a fruit sauce.

Notes

Oats: Rolled oats may be labeled as old-fashioned oats. If you happen to have speedy cooking oats in the house, they’ll work fine. Steel cut oats (Irish oats) or instant oatmeal will not work.

Make it sweeter: If you’d like a sweeter cheesecake, especially if you’re serving this as a dessert, you may want to increase the sugar in the crust and add a few tablespoons of sugar to the filling.