Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes

When I was little, my Babci (which means grandmother in Polish), used to make mini cheesecakes topped with cherries.  Not fresh cherries but the kind soaked in sugary syrup.  We loved them and looked forward to our visits with the hope that she would have made these yummy treats. 

For Memorial Day, I was looking for a festive dessert with a healthy kick and I came across these little guys.  They look like the ones Babci used to make but they have Greek yogurt and lowfat cream cheese.

12 Vanilla Wafers, reduced fat
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, I used Organic Valley
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz Lemon Greek Yogurt
2 egg whites
1 tbsp flour
berries of your choice

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer.  Mix in yogurt, egg whites and flour.  Do not overbeat.  Line 12 cupcake liners and place a vanilla wafer in the bottom (they will be smaller than the cupcake liner, which is fine....they are serving as a bit of crust).  Pour your mixture into cupcake liners about 3/4 high. 

Bake for 25 minutes and until center is set.  Cool and then refridgerate for a few hours.  Top with berries.  We used strawberries and raspberries and of course, had to make a few cherry topped cheesecakes for nostalgia purchases! 

What I love about this recipe is that it's very versitle,  you can substitute plain yogurt or strawberry if you aren't fond of lemon.  You can use plain and add lemon zest and a tsp of lemon juice if you don't have lemon yogurt on hand!  Best of all, these little guys only have about 100 calories and 4 grams of fat each!  They are perfect on a warm Summer day!  Throw a blueberry in there and you have a great 4th of July take along!

These were adapted from a recipe over at Skinnytaste!  Which, by the way, is featuring over "fried" pickles with homeade buttermilk ranch dip this week.

Did I mention these work well for the very first weekend of June as well? 

Happy JUNE!