Cheesecakes don’t have to be guilty pleasures entirely as there are multiple variations on raw cheesecakes of which the bottom is made from nuts instead of graham crackers and parts of cream cheese is replaced with Greek yogurt, just to give you an example.

I’ve spend quite a bit of experimenting in the mornings to create a bowl of blueberry cheesecake oats that’s close to the flavour of a guilty version, but that’s not been an easy task. Some things just can’t be created into a healthy pleasure entirely…

Graham crackers are made of graham flour (type of whole wheat flour), lots of butter, honey, and (brown) sugar. Copying the rich flavour of this cracker is somewhat difficult, but using similar ingredients together with old-fashioned oats is easy and delicious!

Cream cheese is full of saturated fat which makes it not the most healthiest option. Also, there is no real substitute if you really want a cheesecake flavour. If you opt for the low fat option you will see the amount of carbs and protein go up. Decisions, decisions.

I chose 0% Greek yogurt from Fage instead of cream cheese because it has no fat and is full of protein. The only disadvantage of Greek yogurt is that it often has a bit more of a sourish flavour. If you’d like to have that real cream cheese flavour you can chose to combine the two, or even substitute (a part) for ricotta or cottage cheese. Although these 2 cheeses are higher in sodium and fat, but I believe that everything in moderation is perfectly fine. I never exclude anything from my diet, I substitute to healthier options whenever I can, but I don’t like to cut back on flavour entirely thus may also chose for a less healthier option. I make sure that I balance everything during the day/week.

Blueberry cheesecakes are my favourite, but feel free to experiment with raspberries or strawberries instead! To keep it a simple recipe for you in the mornings I tested microwaving the blueberries, but preferably I warm them up in a saucepan with some cornstarch (to protect the sensitive berries from shrinking), brown sugar, and a bit of lemon zest.

By the way, don’t be misled by the pictures as I used a lot more berries, but added them on top later because I wanted you to see all 3 layers 🙂

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE OATS. – serves 1
CHEESECAKE-CRUST
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup milk (or: almond milk)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp brown sugar
pinch of salt
optional: flaxseeds/hempseeds

CHEESECAKE-FILLING
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (or 1/8 Greek yogurt and 1/8 cream/ricotta/cottage cheese)
1/2 tbsp vanille essence
1/2 -1 tbsp honey

BLUEBERRY-TOPPING
1/2 cup blueberries
optional: tsp of sugar
optional: cornstarch
optional: lemon zest

Combine all cheesecake crust ingredients in a sauce pan, heat up until it starts cooking, and then put on low heat for +/- 5 minutes. If instant oats are used this only takes about 1-2 minutes.

In a microwave-able bowl add the blueberries and microwave it on 300 watt (low power) for 3 minutes until the juices of the blueberries have come out. Without cornstarch they will also shrink a little. If you’d like the sauce to be thicker and/or sweeter you’ll have to add some sugar and let it rest (until it’s cold). The lemon zest lightens up and enhances the flavours.

Meanwhile your oats and blueberries are warming up combine the cheesecake filling ingredients in a separate bowl and have a little taste. Sweet enough? If not, just add some extra honey and vanille essence, but don’t overdo it!

Once everything is ready you can fill your breakfast bowl by starting to add your oats. At this point you can also mix some flax or hemp seeds through the oats if you’d like. Then, add the cheesecake filling and pour your blueberry sauce on top.

Enjoy!

x Sam