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4.40
/5
55 minutes mins
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By: Rachel GurkPosted: 06/09/2017
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Breakfast Cheesecake! That’s right, cheesecake for breakfast. Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt take theplace of cream cheese – but you’ll hardly be able to tell the difference! You’ll love the swirl of cinnamon.
I get bored with breakfast. Actually, as I type this, I’m at a darling little cafe in a quaint burg neighboring the town we live in. I told myself I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before I ran out the door with the kids, but the truth is that I probably just wanted to eat here and not at home.
Maybe it’s the bowl of mixed fruit and berries when all I have at home are bananas. Or maybe it’s the fresh flowers on every table. Or perhaps, it’s the hot coffee, when mine is always cold at home. I also can’t get enough of their crispy toasted multigrain toast — flecked with plenty of sesame seeds, something not found in our house due to N’s allergy. And then there’s the bacon….duh.
Today I asked for fruit instead of the home fries. You know, trying to be healthy. The waitress forgot so I ended up with both. Happy accident, as I sit and eat both. Oh well, I tried.
Even though I get bored with breakfast, it remains one of my favorite meals. It’s also one of my favorite meals to enjoy at a restaurant, which is probably why I am where I am right now. The best bet for me, if I’m trying to avoid eating out, is having something ready to go at home. I’ve talked about this many times, which is why I try to keep things stocked like egg white casserole, baked oatmeal, and chocolate protein pancakes (I keep those babies in the freezer!). These turkey sausage and broccoli egg white frittata muffins are popular here too.
This breakfast cheesecake became another winner. I would say it tastes like eating dessert for breakfast, but it depends on what kind of desserts you like. My sweet tooth is fading day by day, so I don’t like super sweet treats. This cinnamon swirl cheesecake is not overly sweet, but I found that with some fresh fruit, it was absolutely perfect for me. If you’re not used to eating things that aren’t sweet, I’d recommend adding 2-4 tablespoons of coconut or brown sugar to the filling.
Speaking of the filling, it’s made with a combination of cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. After a quick whirl in your blender, you won’t even be able to tell it’s not traditional cream cheese filling. The cottage cheese makes it a protein-packed breakfast that will keep you full all morning. The crust is a crunchy combination of oats and chia seeds that are a perfect contrast to the smooth filling. I wanted to jazz these up with a pretty cinnamon swirl, but if you guys don’t want to mess with that (we’re all about quick and easy here!), just add that swirl mixture to the filling of the breakfast cheesecake when you’re mixing it up. Easy peasy and you still get all that great cinnamon flavor.
Here are a fewmore sneaky ways to utilize cottage cheese:
- Chocolate Protein Pancakes
- Peach, Banana, Honey and Cottage Cheese Smoothie
- Healthy Southwestern Black Bean Dip
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cottage Cheese Pancakes
- Mocha Protein Shake Recipe
- Pita Flatbread with Asparagus and Herbed Cottage Cheese
- No-Knead Cottage Cheese Dill Bread from Foodie with Family
- Slow Cooker Egg Casserole with Sausage, Peppers, Cottage Cheese, and Cheddar from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Recipe
Get the Recipe: Breakfast Cheesecake - Cinnamon Swirl
4.40 from 83 votesPrep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 45 minutes mins
Total Time: 55 minutes mins
9 servings
Print Rate Recipe
Breakfast Cheesecake! That's right, cheesecake for breakfast. Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt in place of cream cheese - but you'll hardly be able to tell the difference! You'll love the swirl of cinnamon.
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons milk
Filling:
- 1 (16-ounce) container reduced-fat cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Swirl:
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 8- or 9-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, combine crust ingredients (rolled oats, chia seeds, coconut sugar, cinnamon, melted butter and milk). Press into prepared baking dish.
Bake crust for 10 minutes, remove from oven and reduce oven heat to 325°F.
In a blender or food processor, blend filling ingredients (cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla, and eggs) until smooth.
Pour filling into the baked crust. In a small bowl (or zip-top bag), mix swirl ingredients (maple syrup, cinnamon). Drizzle over filling and then run a knife or toothpick through it to create a swirl.
Return to oven and bake for 45 minutes or until no longer jiggly in center.
Cool completely before slicing into 9 squares.
Store in airtight container in fridge for up to a week.
Notes
If you're not used to eating things that aren't super sweet, I'd recommend adding 2-4 tablespoons of coconut or brown sugar to the filling.
Delicious served with fresh fruit or a fruit sauce.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving (1 of 9), Calories: 140kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 50mg, Sodium: 82mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 7g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Author: Rachel Gurk
Verdict: I love this breakfast cheesecake, especially with some fresh fruit! It was a really filling and satisfying breakfast.
Husband’s take: He ate it but did say he’d like it better if it was sweeter. I intentionally made it low in sugar because I don’t like a lot of sugar (especially at breakfast) — so I ate most of this.
Changes I would make: None are necessary, but please read recipe notes regarding sugar if you have a sweet tooth! I might add a touch of nutmeg to this next time I make it because I just love nutmeg.
Difficulty: Easy – moderate.
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Reader Interactions
Leave a Review
Salena says
Have made this SO many times – it’s on high rotation in our house.
Today I picked up “pistachio, cardamom and cinnamon sugar” at the spice shop and
OMG.
Next.
Level.ps – yes it freezes fine.
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Rachel Gurk says
Oh yum, that sounds amazing!
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Salena says
See AlsoVegan Buttermilk Biscuits Reciperealised I forgot to mention that I sprinkled the pistachio cardamom sugar on top, in place of the maple cinnamon swirl haha
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Rachel Gurk says
Oh yum!
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Sheridan says
Love this reciepe! I will say the crust is necessary. I tried making it crustless and it was not very good.
My question is….have you tried freezing this? How does it freeze?
Thanks!
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Rachel Gurk says
I haven’t tried freezing it, let me know if you give it a try. My only worry is that it would change texturally and the crust would get soggy.
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Salena says
it freezes fine!
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Rachel Gurk says
Good to know, thank you!
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Ameera says
I love how easy this recipe is to customize! I made mine using flavored Greek yogurt, and reduced the sugar a little bit since flavored yogurt is sweetened. I didn’t have maple syrup on hand for the swirl, so I used honey. It all works! The crust on mine came out just the right texture and held together well. No complaints! I’ll definitly be making this “cheesecake” and variations of it in future.Reply
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you like it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
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Rhiannon says
This was easy and fast but I definitely would make some changes next time. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and I wanted to use less or no real maple syrup to save calories. I subbed some sugar free syrup and a little monkfruit sweetener plus a dash of Torani cinnamon & brown sugar syrup. That was so good!
The crust had the texture of a crumble topping and completely fell apart. I could tell it would when I pressed it into the pan and it did even when cooled. :( Next time I would make it in the food processor and possibly reduce the chia seeds, maybe add a little almond flour, I’m not sure.Either way it came together fast and easy. The texture of the cheesecake is sooooo smooth and feels decadent. I love the cinnamon swirl. My 15 year old with a major sweet tooth loved it and we will be experimenting and making this again!
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Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing your adaptations!
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Nicole says
I made this and really enjoy the flavor, having a little trouble with the cheesecake texture. I made it with small curd cottage cheese (which is what I buy by default) and I couldn’t get it smooth like cream cheese— do you think large curd cottage cheese would help get a smoother texture? Or is there a brand you prefer? It’s just a little grainy the way I made it, but not enough to stop me from living my Golden Girls moment every morning hahah.
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Rachel Gurk says
I usually use large curd but it could also depend on your blender/food processor? Try blending it a little more, maybe?
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Kellie mace says
Update I did make one change. I put dry crust in a blender pulsed it a few times this made the pieces smaller and it was not as crumbly. When I added the butter once it cooled off the crust holds together nicely. Supper yummy
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Rachel Gurk says
That’s a great idea, thanks for sharing!
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Kellie says
I made this the other day. I did add the extra sugar to the filling it is slightly sweet but not overly so. It is filling and yummy I also made mine in a pie pan. I passed this recipie to two friends . I loved this recipes easy to make and yummyReply
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked it – thanks for leaving a review, it really means a lot to me!
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Kathryn says
This is SO GOOD!!! we didn’t let it cool completely and it was still delicious!! I couldn’t use the yogurt so I added a splash of milk and a brick of cream cheese, and added more cottage cheese, to fill out a 9X13 pan. I added a little stevia. I baked almost an hour. Thank you so much! I will make this again. My sons loved it!
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Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
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Brooke says
I made this as a dessert tonight. It was delicious! I don’t like things too sweet so I wouldn’t change a thing with the cheese part.
However my crust did not set well. Next time I will cook the crust longer and maybe at a higher temp and make sure its nice and crispy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Rachel Gurk says
The crust is on the crumbly side, but it should hold together pretty well still. I’m glad you liked it, though!
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