Pumpkin Cinnamon Cheesecake

With so many healthy and nutritious ingredients, this pie style cheesecake could almost be part of the main course, though I prefer to save it for an after dinner treat in our house as I enjoy the dessert and tea ritual at the end of a meal (the boys love to make tea every evening and are now old enough to hold the kettle of hot water after it has boiled; they are growing up).

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Cheesecake

Ingredients

1 medium pie pumpkin, acorn squash or butternut squash
1 quart whole milk yogurt, strained overnight or up to 24 hours (discard whey)
½ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt

Instructions

Fill the bottom of a baking dish with a little less than ¼ inch of water
Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds, and place face down in baking dish
Roast pumpkin in the oven for 45-55 minutes until soft
Allow pumpkin to cool and scrape flesh into a bowl, then measure out 2 cups
In a cuisinart, combine 2 cups pumpkin, strained yogurt (minus the whey which was strained out), agave, vanilla and lemon juice and process until smooth, about 1-2 minutes
Process in cinnamon and salt
Pour batter into a 9-inch tart pan
Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes, until firm
Remove from oven, cool and serve.

Yield: 8

Notes

A Sweet Life reminds you that agave nectar is a sugar. The less you use, the better.

*photo provided courtesy of elanaspantry.com