Skinny No-Bake Berry Cheesecake

This is the perfect make-ahead dinner party dessert that will leave your guests thinking you stayed up all night making.

This Skinny, No-Bake Berry Cheesecake is light, fluffy and low(er) fat than a normal cheesecake and takes all of around 15 minutes to make.

What You'll need:

• One large bowl
• Hand mixer
• One medium sized bowl
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute (I like to use Ideal)
• 1 package of reduced fat cream cheese
• 1 cup of reduced fat whipping cream
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute
• 1 dash of vanilla extract
• 1 pre-made graham cracker crumb pie crust
• Mixed berries - you can use blueberries, raspberries and strawberries like I did, or branch out and try blackberries or any other fruit that is in season

What You'll Do:

• In your larger bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/4 sugar and fresh lemon juice until fluffy
• In your medium bowl, mix your whipping cream, cinnamon, vanilla and tablespoon of sugar until densely whipped, making firm peaks
• Combine your whipping cream into your cream cheese and beat until combined
• Spoon into your pie shell
• Arrange your chosen fruit on the top however you think beautiful
• Chill for a few hours, cut and serve to adoring guests

This no-bake skinny cheesecake is a crowd pleaser!

The Stewart Score:
Appearance: 2
Taste: 2
Ease: 2
 

Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

I love healthy, low-fat dessert alternatives that actually taste good!
Recently in Chicago, we dined at an amazing restaurant called Baxter's where they served a Chia pudding to die for. Inspired by that, I created the below recipe for a Mango Coconut Chia Pudding I hope you'll love as much as I do.

What You'll Need:

• Large Bowl
• 1/3 cup chia seed
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Frying pan
• 1/2 cup of fresh mango (or frozen mango pieces that have been left to thaw)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

What You'll Do:

• Empty the contents of your light coconut milk into your large mixing bowl
• Gently pour in your chia seeds and stir thouroughly until combined
• Stir in your cinnamon and vanilla
• Cover and let sit in the fridge for a minimum of four hours  
• Heat your frying pan and pour in your coconut, toast until lightly browned (I use a non-stick frying pan and find you don't need any oil to toast the shredded coconut). Once browned, place in a small bowl
• Chop your fresh (or thawed) mango into little, cubed pieces and keep cool in the fridge
• Once the pudding has set, you will notice the tiny chia seeds have now grown in size and the mixture is very gelatinous and thick. The seeds now look more like tapioca
• Portion out the pudding and place your chopped mango and toasted coconut on top
• Serve and enjoy

Super simple, super tasty and super healthy. This Mango Coconut Chia Pudding dessert is a healthy indulgence, perfect for a summertime dinner party.

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: Not going to lie here, it looks a little weird. Sort of like caviar...

Taste: 2

Ease: 2

Low Fat Potato Salad with Dill

BBQ season is here and what is better to go with your steaks, burgers and dogs than potato salad?!

This zingy, crunchy super tasty potato salad with dill will have you totally hooked! And best of all - it is low fat! Say good-bye to drenching your poor little potatoes in mayo and give this recipe a try.

What You'll Need:

• Large pot with lid
• Large bowl and small mixing bowl
• Spatula
• One bag of mixed mini potatoes (I like the bags that come with red, yellow and blue)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 stalks of celery for that crunch
• 4 Tbps of chopped green onion
• 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbps light mayo (I used Miracle Whip)
• 3 Tbps cider vinegar
• 1/4 honey mustard (not the overly sweet kind. I chose a honey, Dijon mustard for a little extra bite)
• 1/2 cup of relish (I used the basic Heinz variety)
• 1 Tbps 'fresh' dill (I used the kind that comes in the tube...classy, I know). You can also use dried dill or dill from a fresh dill plant - up to you and what you have available at the time
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

What You'll Do:

• Fill your large pot halfway with water, sprinkle in your salt, cover and let boil
• Chop your mini potatoes into halves or quarters (depending on the size)
• Once the water has boiled, gently spoon in your potato pieces
• I boiled my potatoes for around 12 minutes, but the key is to not have them go too soft - then your potato salad with be a sad mushy consistency
• Boil them until they are soft enough to stick a fork in without being too soft they break apart
• While boiling, dice your celery into tiny pieces and chop your green onion. Set aside in your smaller mixing bowl
• Combine your fat free Greek yogurt, light mayo, cider viegar, honey mustard, relish, dill and freshly ground pepper into the small mixing bowl
• Using a spatula, stir the contents together until they are evenly distributed. Cover and set in the fridge to stay cool
• Drain your potatoes and allow to cool on your countertop for at least 20 minutes. You don't want to pour the dressing on hot potatoes
• Once cool to the touch, remove your dressing from the fridge and cover the chopped potatoes
• Using your spatula, gently stir to ensure all potatoes are covered evenly
• You can serve this right away or let it sit. You can keep this salad up to three days if you keep it cool - so this dish is great as a make-ahead dish

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5 - Quite pretty with the mixed colours of the potatoes

Taste: 2+

Ease: 1 (You will need about one hour or so to make)

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

I love Earl Grey tea - it has such a soothing, calm taste to it.
It was a friend's birthday, who is also a tea-lover, so I decided to try taking an average sugar cookie recipe and adding some Earl Grey goodness for her present.

The cookies turned out lovely - just enough tea flavour without being overpowering.

I love this recipe as it makes you look so fancy, it is super easy and contains ingredients that area easy to find and most likely already live in your cupboards.

What You'll Need (for around 35 cookies):

• Parchment paper-lined cookie trays
• A food processor
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1Tbps Earl Grey tea (about three normal size bags)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp room-temperature water
• 1/2 cup unsalted room-temperature butter

What You'll Do:

• In your food processor, add in all the dry ingredients
• Pulse until the tea leaves are a fine powder
• Add in your vanilla and water
• Slice your butter into the processor
• Pulse until the mixture has come together into dough
• Divide the dough into two tubes, about 6" long and 1" wide
• Roll the dough up in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes
• Pre-heat your oven to 375C
• Once the dough has chilled, slice the dough into disks, about 1.5cm thick
• Placing them three per row on your sheet, they do not spread, so you can place nearlyhalf the dough on one regular sized cookie sheet
• Bake for ten minutes or until the bottoms start to lightly brown
• Let cool for a few minutes on the trays, then move to a cookie rack
• Enjoy!

This recipe is flawless to double and the dough can last in the fridge for up to three days (just make sure it is wrapped tightly, so it doesn't dry out.
You can also try other flavours of tea, if you are not an Earl Grey tea fan. I have also tried this recipe with Chai Tea and those were delicious, too - I just added in 1 tsp of cinnamon to those, to enhance the flavour.

The STEWART SCORE:
Taste: 2
Appearance: 1.5
Ease: 2

The Perfectly Perfect Chewy Gingersnap Cookie

My favourite cookie is the gingersnap. Not the crunchy kind but the kind that is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. The below recipe makes the perfectly perfect chewy gingersnap cookie. If it was anymore perfect, we'd have to name them Mary Poppins;)

What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• Hand mixer or stand mixer
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 large room-temperature eggs
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 Tbps wet ginger (I like to use the wet ginger in a jar rather than powdered dry ginger. If you do use powdered ginger, cut back the amount to 2 tsp)
• Additional sugar, for rolling

What You'll Do:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
• Line your baking sheets with parchment paper
• In your large bowl and using your hand mixer (or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), beat the sugar and butter on high speed until light and creamy
• Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, mixing after each
• Add the molasses and mix until incorporated (a trick I use to ensure the molasses doesn't stick to my measuring cup is to lightly spray the measuring cup with oil. This way the molasses just slides right out)
• In your smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon
• Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture
• Add in your wet ginger
• Mix on low until combined
• Portion your dough using a tablespoon and roll each amount into a perfect ball
• Roll the dough ball in white sugar
• Place the cookie dough on the prepared sheet pan
• Place the sheet pan in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill
• Bake until puffed and edges are set, 9-10 minutes. You do not want to overcook these beauties!
• Let cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely
• Enjoy!

These are also great for freezing. This recipe yields a large batch, so I like to freeze portions of them. They are also fabulous cookies for Cookie Swaps and holiday hostess gifts.

The STEWART SCORE:

Appearance: 2

Taste: 2+

Ease: 1.5 (they can be time consuming to make them all the same size and shape, but being meticulous on this step leads to the absolutely perfect little cookie)

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

I have always wanted to try making biscotti. I'm a dunker and there is no more an ultimate dunking cookie than the biscotti.
I had some almonds and cranberries in the house, so this is what I came up with - the Cranberry Almond Biscotti.
They turned out lovely and worked out to be perfect holiday party hostess gifts!

 What You'll Need:

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• 1 baking tray
• Hand mixer
• 1 large, sharp knife
• 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose, sifted flour
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 room temperature egg whites
• 2 room temperature medium-sized eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg - optional
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate (for melting over top) - optional
• 1/4 cup flour (for rolling out your dough with)

What You'll Do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 325 F
• Combine all your dry ingredients into your large bowl
• In your small bowl, whisk your egg whites and eggs, vanilla extract and spices until just frothy
• Using your hand mixer at a low to medium speed, add your egg mixture to your dry ingredients and mix until just combined, this will create a large batter ball that will be slightly tacky
• Stir in your almonds and cranberries until evenly distributed in the batter
• On a floured surface, divide your mixed batter into two equal parts
• Pat each half into the shape of a log, ideally a 10-14" log
• Place each batter log onto your baking tray (I cover mine with parchment paper, but this isn't necessary though it does provide easy clean-up!)
• Bake for 30 minutes
• Remove from the oven and let cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the baked batter log is cool enough to handle
• Reduce the oven heat to 300F
• Using our large knife, cut the baked log into 1/2" slices
• Once the oven has cooled, place the cut pieces back onto the baking tray, standing up, and spacing them about 1 inch apart

• Bake for an additional 20 minutes
• While they are finishing being baked, melt your dark chocolate
• Prepare a plastic bag to use to drizzle the melted chocolate onto your biscotti by cutting a small hole in the corner of your bag
• Once the chocolate has melted, spoon it into the bag
• Remove your cookies from the oven and drizzle the melted chocolate on top
• Move your cookies to a cooling rack and let sit and cool

The STEWART SCORE:
Appearance: 1.5
Taste: 2
Ease: 1 (they are not really that hard to make, but cutting them without them crumbling is hard to do at first and they take a while to prepare and dress)

Skinny Spaghetti Squash and Spinach Cheese Bake

I have started following the extremely talented Skinnytaste blog - I love her ideas on how to cut down on fats while still keeping flavour.

I just tried her 'Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese and my mind, let alone my taste buds were blown.

Here is her recipe.

It was amazing and totally the perfect dish on a crisp Fall day.

The only alterations I made was to cut the skim milk back from two cups to just one, and I eliminated the parmesan topping.

Delicious!