Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!(: And that the baking ideas were useful. I have been dying to make truffles forever! Especially those cranberry ones. Unfortunately, my mom doesn't want to see another truffle for a while because my neighbor just brought a bunch over and I got her some from See's candy. So truffles will have to wait until Valentines day.

This cheesecake, was maybe one of the best I've made in a while(: Not really any cracks in the top either! I brought this to Christmas and everyone loved it! It's pretty easy too, but next time I'll try to find regular chocolate graham crackers instead of using teddy grahams.

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake

recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

4 ounces chocolate graham crackers

3 tablespoon canola oil

cooking spray

1 1/2 cups cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup Chambord (raspberry liquor)

3 tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

2 (8-ounce) packages block style 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

4 ounces block style fat free cream cheese, softened

1 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg whites

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Wrap outside and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan tightly with a double layer of heavy duty foil.

Place crackers in a food processor; process until finely ground. Drizzle with oil. Pulse until combined. Press mixture into bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Place cranberries, sugar, liquor, and water in a saucepan. Boil. Cook 8 minutes or until cranberries start to pop and mixture is syrupy. Cool 20 minutes. Place mixture in a food processor. Process 1 minute or until smooth.

Combine 1 cup sugar and cheeses in large bowl; Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in yogurt, vanilla, and salt. Add whole eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Place 2 egg whites in a medium bowl; Beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form using clean, dry beaters. Fold beaten egg whites into cream cheese mixture. Pour filling over crust. Spoon cranberry mixture over filling. Swirl together using the tip of a knife. Place spring form pan in a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 2 inches. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes or until center of cheesecake barely moves when pan is touched.

Turn oven off. Cool cheesecake in closed oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Run a knife around outside edge. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Christmas Baking Ideas

It's getting to that time of year again. The neighbors are making fudge and truffles, and I'm starting to bake dessert for Christmas Eve. If you have no idea what to make for Christmas, here's a few yummy ideas(:

Cranberry Orange Truffles
This recipe is on my to make list. Don't they look good? Different from your regular truffles, but probably still delicious.

Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

Yummmm. I'm not really a peppermint kind of person, but these look amazing.

Eggnog Cheesecake

I've tried the Soy Nog and that was really Delicious so I bet this would be even better!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I think Red Velvet is always a favorite.

Easy Sugar Cookies

These cookies don't look that hard to make. So if you're not good with decorating icing like I am, they're perfect!

Gingerbread Cake Pops
These are super cute. And cake pops are always a fun treat to make.

Happy Baking Everyone! And Merry Christmas(: I'll be posting new recipes after Christmas.