HG's Too-Good Turtle Cheesecake

Today's recipe has nothing to do with hard-shelled reptiles. The turtles that inspired this amazing cheesecake are the gooey, chocolatey, nutty candies that are usually really high in fat and calories. Yes, THOSE turtles. Are you ready for this?

Ingredients:
Cheesecake
16 oz. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or HG Alternative)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 oz. (about 3/4 cup) fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (like the kind by Chobani), room temperature
3 large egg whites or 1/2 cup liquid egg whites, room temperature
2 tbsp. lemon juice, room temperature
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping
1 sheet (4 crackers) chocolate graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup fat-free or light caramel dip (like the kinds by Marzetti)
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" springform cake pan with nonstick spray.

Set out all cheesecake ingredients. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat until smooth, 1 - 2 minutes. Continuing to beat the mixture, gradually add yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, and flour. Beat until thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes.

Evenly pour mixture into the cake pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake until firm, 40 - 45 minutes.

Once cheesecake has completely cooled, evenly top with crushed graham crackers. Drizzle with caramel dip and sprinkle with pecans.

Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Release springform, slice, and dig in!

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Turtle Cheesecake, Average

Cheesecake is typically both very delicious and completely fattening. Same goes for turtles (the candy kind, that is). Put them together, and things get scary. The thought alone makes our blood curdle. Eat too much of the stuff, and you could end up in a girdle, just like your aunt Myrtle. (Alright, enough words that rhyme with turtle.) You get the picture -- a slice of this dessert is bad news. Like, nearly-700-calories-and-more-than-40g-fat bad. Enter our cheesecake. All other cheesecakes better run and hide because this recipe is crazy-delicious and loaded with tasty toppings -- chocolate chips, gooey caramel, nuts, and more. Yet, somehow, it's 100 percent guilt-free. What can we say? When it comes to thinking up delicious low-calorie desserts, our imagination is pretty... fertile. (Sorry!)