Slim Cherry Cheesecake Ice Cream Bites

I have a lot of ricotta in my fridge (well, two full containers, which is no small amount…) and knew I could go one of two routes: Eggplant rollatini, an herbed cheese spread, a spinach dip…or create a dessert. In this house? Sweet almost always wins over savory.

Keeping with our theme of slimmed down treats, I started thinking about ways I could quickly turn this into a guilt-free indulgence, spinning my wheels about no-bake cheesecakes etc. Then, it dawned on me. Why not create a churn-free, frozen treat you can pop in your mouth when you want something after dinner that’s fun to eat, yet basically nothing in calorie content that would be an amazing go-to recipe as the months get warmer and…come up for air...Can you see where I’m going with this?!

This flavor has just enough of each element that you can sense everything on your tongue, without feeling as though your taste buds are being overpowered. It’s fluffy and airy from the Cool Whip, has a richness from ricotta and a naturally tart, complimentary element from dark cherries. And it seriously tastes like ice cream!

As usual, this only requires a few items on your grocery list, and is easy prep and clean up. IF you cannot wait long enough to freeze these, you CAN turn this into a dip instead. It’s a fantastic creamy snack straight from the bowl, and delicious served with graham crackers (chocolate ones would be amazing with this!) or fresh fruit. But freeze some if you can. Your waist and your family will thank you.

Ingredients:

*Makes about 1 cup of dip and about 48 bites*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Based upon my calculations, each frozen bite has only about 10 calories and less than half a gram of fat!

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese (you can substitute nonfat if desired)

1/2 cup frozen dark sweet cherries

1/2 cup nonfat Cool Whip

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Defrost cherries in microwave for about one minute.

Place ricotta in the bottom of your food processor bowl.

Add cherries.

Spoon in Cool Whip.

Pour in vanilla extract.

Blend together.

Fill your ice cube trays with about 1 teaspoon of mixture. I used my heart shaped one. Cute, right?!

Freeze for about an hour.

Eat and enjoy as pop-in-your-mouth treats or a dessert dip!