Raspberry Extract=Da Bomb!

It's "Desserts Under 200 Calories" Month!

This might be one of my favorite months yet. Yeah, yeah, I know I don't have too many blogging months under my belt YET, but these easy, light desserts should do the trick for some people like myself who are trying to stay slim for the summer months.

Don't Forget!! If you want to see any of the recipes I use and tweek for ANY of the desserts featured in my blog posts, don't hesitate to ask! I just don't feel like posting every single full recipe within each blog.

Anywho, this past Sunday was White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars day. These "bars" were around 172 calories a piece and include one of your favorite summer time flavors--Raspberry.

What I Changed: First off, I split the recipe in half because it originally made 32 "bars." Since I'm making all of these desserts every Sunday mostly for my blog and to share my experiences, I don't need to make the full recipe of really anything. I also changed up the presentation of these so-called "bars." Instead of using a 13x9 inch rectangular pan to bake the cheesecake in, I used cupcake pans! I decided to make mini cheesecakes instead! I've seen this done before and they just look so cute! Not to mention they are the perfect size to satisfy that sweet tooth. The recipe also called for 1/4 cup raspberry puree extracted from thawed, frozen raspberries. I just couldn't seem to squeeze the juice out of the raspberries (maybe they weren't fully thawed) so I thought, what the heck, I'll just leave it out and add a bit more raspberry extract. And this is exactly what I did! I also used 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese and light sour cream :)

The recipe actually made only 12 mini cheesecakes which was the perfect amount. They are already gone!

What I Would Change Next Time: MAKE EXTRA CHEESECAKE BATTER IF YOU'RE CUTTING THE RECIPE IN HALF! Each mini cheesecake could have used an extra dollop of batter on top of the crust. I also think I pressed a bit too much crust in some of the minis but since the crust was completely homemade and delish, no one complained.

Note: There really wasn't a need for the 2 baking squares of melted white chocolate. You could barely taste it! (I guess that's why they chose to leave out that part in the actual title of the recipe!) I tasted the batter about 5 times while adding the extract because I wanted to make sure there was enough and not TOO much flavor. Once baked, you could definitely taste the tangy, raspberry flavor and it wasn't a big deal that I left out the frozen raspberry puree.

These mini cheesecakes are easy to make and actually keep for a while. You can store them in an airtight container for up to a week or freeze them for later use! I might just make these for the fundraiser that I will have my own booth at in August! Wooooo thanks to Select Mortgage Solutions (you better not cancel this time!)

Cheers! And don't forget to check back in after the 4th to see pictures of my Independence Day Angel Food Cake!