Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipe Contest Winner Crowned

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Staff Development Coordinator Virginia Exner won the Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipe Contest with her Totally Scrumptious Turtle Cheesecake.

It’s time to take out the roasting pan, dust off the extra table settings and get that guest list ready. Thanksgiving and the winter holidays will be here before you know it. And lucky for you, we’ve got a Pinterest-worthy recipe to delight friends and family at office and dinner parties this joyful season.

Employee Wellness crowned a winner in the Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipe Contest earlier this week.  Numerous employees entered the annual competition. And on Wednesday, eight finalists tied on aprons to throw down in the kitchen.

Staff Development Coordinator Virginia Exner won with her Totally Scrumptious Turtle Cheesecake, which is delectable and healthy. She created a creamy cheesecake with ingredients that won’t tip the scale. It has just 203 calories per serving.

Exner knows her way around a kitchen. Her garden fresh recipe was the cream of the crop in the Summer Slam Salad Cook-Off Contest at the County Operations Center in June.

The Healthy Holiday Dessert Recipe Contest finalists were Kelly Aguilera with ARCC, Marcia Donnelly with Child Welfare Services, Deborah Dyar with Housing and Community Development Services, Sean Hoban with HHSA, Candie James with HHSA, Natalka Lysak with General Services, and Laura Terry with Probation. 

Happy Holidays! Don’t forget to Maintain, Don’t Gain.

Totally Scrumptious Turtle Cheesecake

Makes 8 servings

Prep: 25 minutes     

Cook: 45 minutes

Ingredients

Cheesecake

  • 16 oz. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature

  • 1/2 cup granulated white sugar

  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

  • 6 oz. (about 3/4 cup) fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt, room temperature

  • 1/2 cup liquid egg whites (about 4 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

  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray.

  3. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. With an electric mixer set to medium speed, beat until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.

  4. Continue to beat while gradually adding yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, and flour. Beat until thoroughly mixed, about 2 minutes.

  5. Evenly pour mixture into the cake pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

  6. Bake until firm, 40 to 45 minutes.

  7. Let cool completely. Evenly top with crushed graham crackers. Drizzle with caramel dip and sprinkle with pecans.

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