Cheesecake is definitely one of my favorite desserts out there, but if you’ve ever tried to make your own, you know how difficult it is.
My go-to solution when recipes are really difficult to master?
Make them no-bake!
If you’ve ever made my Cheesecake Bites or Oreo Cheesecake Bites, this recipe is going to look quite familiar to you. But instead of bites, we’re making ourselves some mini cheesecakes.
Each mini cheesecake is 520 calories and has 51g of protein!
And trust me, this no-bake protein cheesecake is very decadent. I have a huge appetite, but I had 2 slices of a mini cheesecake and felt perfectly satisfied.
So, if you’re thinking that 500 calories is a lot of calories for a dessert, don’t you worry. Slice these up and you’ll be surprised at how far one slice will take you.
Each slice will have just under 130 calories and about 13g of protein, so we can have our (cheese)cake and eat it, too.
Magic Spoon Cereal: our secret ingredient
For this recipe, I decided to use Magic Spoon’s Fruity Cereal to make the crust.
What is Magic Spoon? Only the best “healthy” cereal out there.
Each cup of cereal has 150 calories, 4g net carbs, and a whopping 13g of protein!
If you follow me on Instagram, or you’ve seen any of my protein snack reviews on Youtube, you know that I’m a very tough critic when it comes to protein snacks. Especially when it comes to protein cereal.
Frankly, most of them out there are pretty bad.
I truly love Magic Spoon. As an avid cereal lover (check out my cereal protein bars for proof) they get my stamp of approval.
I won’t try to sell you on them, but you should trust me. Their Fruity Cereal tastes spot-on identical to Froot Loops, and I’m in love with it. Their original formula was not nearly this good, but since they re-released it, it’s incredible.
I convinced my best friend, who is the pickiest eater on the planet (Hi, Kyle) to buy some to try for himself. For me, that was the ultimate test…
Test passed with flying colors.
Since the flavor is so similar, I decided to use it for this Fruity Cereal No-Bake Cheesecake.
If you don’t have Magic Spoon, or you don’t want to buy any, don’t worry! You can follow this recipe exactly as-is but use Fruity Pebbles, Froot Loops, or any other fruity cereal you’d like!
While the final nutrition won’t be as appealing if you go with a regular cereal, the taste will still be off the charts.
Since I love Magic Spoon so much and knew I’d be recommending it a bunch, I signed up as an affiliate for ’em. If you want to give Magic Spoon a try, you can use the code CHEATDAY to save $5 on your order!
How to make high-protein cheesecake crust
The crust for our Fruity Cereal No-Bake Protein Cheesecake is a simple combination of cereal and light butter, along with a splash of milk.
The “light butter” I use is Country Crock- it’s simply a buttery spread. Any spread will work great here, or you can even use regular butter. We just want to use some form of butter/buttery spread to keep the crust nice and soft.
Add your ingredients to a blender or food processor along with a splash of milk, then blend on high until it all comes together.
Depending on the type of butter you use, you may need an extra splash of milk for it to come together.
Note that it’s going to end up being kind of greenish-yellow. That’s just the nature of the cereal we’re using! If you use Fruity Pebbles, there’s much more color in them (from the food dyes they are using) so you’re going to end up with much brighter colors.
Scoop the fruity cereal crust out and into 2 mini springform pans.
I didn’t spray these and it worked out just fine, but you can spray them if you’re worried!
Press the crust down to cover the bottom of each pan, and your crust is ready to go!
Making the No-Bake Protein Cheesecake Filling
For our filling, we’re going to combining the following ingredients:
- A whey/casein blend of vanilla protein powder (I use PEScience brand)
- An 8oz package of fat-free or reduced-fat cream cheese
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 30g powdered sugar substitute, or regular powdered sugar
- 54g Cool Whip (the frozen stuff)
If you have a food processor or high-speed blender, we can just toss everything in there all together.
If you need to use a hand-mixer, you’re going to want to let the cream cheese and cool whip sit out at room temperature for a bit to make the mixing easier.
Blend on high for about a minute until you have a silky smooth cheesecake mixture…
Scoop the no-bake protein cheesecake filling into your mini springform pans, then smooth out the tops as much as possible.
It certainly doesn’t need to be perfect.
Again, I did not spray my pans, but I was able to remove the springform pans no problem once the no-bake cheesecake was fully set.
With these pans, the outside snaps open, making it very easy to slide the cheesecakes right out.
Crush some additional cereal up (I just used my hands for this part) and sprinkle over the top, then cover with some foil. Add to the freezer for about 4 hours, then they’re ready to go!
This Fruity Cereal No-Bake Protein Cheesecake can actually set in the fridge if you prefer a softer cheesecake. Just add to the fridge for 4 hours and it will be ready to go!
I much prefer it out of the freezer because it eats much more like an authentic cheesecake to me.
If you use fat-free cream cheese, your no-bake cheesecake will freeze pretty solid, but it will soften up in just 5-10 minutes once you remove it.
If you use cream cheese with some fat in it, your cheesecake should be good to go right out of the freezer!
If you like this recipe, I’ve got some others you’re gonna love…
Whether you’re a cheesecake lover, cereal addict, or both, I’ve got quite a few recipes I know you’re going to love.
- Protein Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes
- Cheesecake Stuffed Pumpkin Cookies
- Protein Oreo Cheesecake Bites
- High-Protein Puppy Chow
- Homemade Protein Cereal Bars
Fruity Cereal No-Bake Protein Cheesecake
These mini no-bake protein cheesecakes are packed with fruity cereal flavor, and each cheesecake is only 520 calories with a huge 50g of protein!
Ingredients
For Fruity Cereal Crust
- 76g (2 Cups) Fruity Magic Spoon Cereal - Code "CheatDay" will save you $5!
- 28g Light Butter (I use Country Crock)
- 1-2 Tbsp Milk of Choice
Cheesecake Filling
- 62g (2 Scoops) Vanilla Whey/Casein Blend Protein Powder
- 8oz (1 Package) Fat-Free or Reduced-Fat Cream Cheese
- 2 Tsps Vanilla Extract
- 30g Powdered Sugar Substitute (Regular powdered sugar works great too)
- 54g Lite Cool Whip (any cool whip will work)
- 10g (1/4 Cup) Fruity Cereal for Topping
Instructions
- In a food processor or high-speed blender, add your cereal and butter. Add a splash of milk (about 1 tablespoon) and blend on high until it comes together. If it's too crumbly, add one more tablespoon of milk.
- Scoop the mixture out and into 2 separate mini springform pans. There's no need to spray the pans, but you're more than welcome to if you want to. Use your hands to press the crust down to cover the entire bottom of each pan.
- Rinse your blender/food processor, then add all of your ingredients for your cheesecake filling (minus the cereal for topping). Blend on high for about one minute, or until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Use a silicone spatula or spoon to add the cheesecake filling to your two mini springform pans. Smooth it out as much as possible.
- Crush up some additional cereal (I just used my hands for this) and sprinkle on top of each cheesecake, then cover with some foil or plastic wrap.
- Add to the freezer for about 4 hours for the cheesecake to solidify. If you prefer a softer cheesecake, you can let this set in the fridge instead and it will still come out great! Just give it a full 4 hours either way.
- These cheesecakes will keep very well in the freezer, but you may find that it freezes pretty solid. If it does, simply leave it out at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes before digging in, and it will soften up plenty for ya.
Notes
- I used Magic Spoon cereal here because I love it, and obviously because I wanted more protein in this one! You can use any cereal you want here, so don't worry about it if you don't want to /can't buy this one specifically.
- The crust and filling can both be made without a food processor. The crust will come together great if you just crush the cereal with your hands and then mix with the butter & milk. For the filling, you'll want to let the cool whip & cream cheese soften at room temperature before mixing by hand.
- I used a protein powder that is a blend of whey AND casein protein. I cannot recommend it enough! Many people like to use 100% whey protein, but I can't promise your result will be the same. Whey is very sticky, and the addition of the casein protein creates a much more smooth and thick final product.
- If you don't have springform pans, you can turn these into Cheesecake Bites.
- You certainly do not have to use fat-free cream cheese, it's just the most favorable for me nutritionally. If you use a reduced-fat or full-fat cream cheese, your cheesecake won't freeze quite as solid and you may actually enjoy it more, it will just come with more calories!
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Nutrition Information
Yield 2 Serving Size One 4" Mini CheesecakeAmount Per Serving Calories 520Total Fat 19gCarbohydrates 54gSugar Alcohols 27gProtein 51g
