Pumpkin spice cheesecake bites are no-bake balls of cream cheese, high-protein yogurt and whey, spiced like pumpkin pie and finished with a thin cream cheese icing. The batch makes six, gives you 22g of protein for 280 calories, and needs nothing more than a bowl and an hour and a half in the fridge.
Every autumn the internet goes pumpkin spice and I am, embarrassingly, right there with it. I wanted a small sweet thing to keep in the fridge — the sort you eat one of after dinner, rather than a whole slice of something.
These are essentially cheesecake filling, chilled firm enough to roll. No base, no baking, no water bath, none of the things that make cheesecake a project. The pumpkin spice does the heavy lifting on flavour and the icing makes them look far more effortful than they are.
- Six bites at about 47 calories each, and 22g of protein across the batch
- No baking, no equipment beyond a bowl and a spoon
- They keep 5 days in the fridge and freeze well, so one batch covers a week
Key ingredients
Low-fat cream cheese is the body of these. Going low-fat rather than full-fat is what keeps them light and pushes the protein ratio up — full-fat would nearly double the calories for barely any extra protein. Let it come to room temperature first or it stays lumpy no matter how long you beat it.
High-protein yogurt — Skyr, or a thick Greek — adds tang and protein without loosening the mixture. Use a genuinely thick one. Anything runny and you’ll be adding almond flour all afternoon trying to get it to hold a ball.
Whey protein isolate does two jobs: it takes the protein up, and it thickens the mixture as it hydrates, which is much of why these set firm enough to roll. Vanilla or cinnamon suit this best.
Almond flour is the structure. A tablespoon and a half is usually right, but treat it as a dial rather than a fixed amount — if the mixture won’t hold its shape after chilling, another half tablespoon fixes it.
Pumpkin pie spice is the whole point. If you don’t have a jar, cinnamon with pinches of nutmeg and ginger gets you most of the way there.
Equipment you’ll need
- Mixing bowl for the filling
- Hand mixer or whisk to get the cream cheese smooth
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Spatula for folding in the protein and almond flour
A coaching note
Twenty-two grams of protein across the batch means roughly a third of the calories come from protein, which is what makes these more satisfying than a biscuit of the same size. They’re still a treat rather than a meal — three of them is not lunch. What they’re good for is being the sweet thing that’s already made when you want one, which usually beats whatever gets eaten instead at nine in the evening.
If you like a fridge-set sweet thing, my chocolate banana protein bites are the everyday version, and the high protein tres leches cake bites are what I make when people are coming over.
Alex 🙂
High Protein Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Bites (No Bake)
No-bake cheesecake bites made from low-fat cream cheese, high-protein yogurt and whey, spiced like pumpkin pie and finished with a thin cream cheese icing. Six bites, 22g of protein across the batch, and nothing more complicated than a bowl and time in the fridge.
Ingredients
For the cheesecake bites
For the cream cheese icing
Instructions
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Beat the 60g of cream cheese on its own until completely smooth. Get this right before anything else goes in — lumps at this stage never come out.
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Mix in the yogurt, sugar-free syrup and pumpkin pie spice.
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Keep mixing until the whole thing is smooth and evenly coloured, with no streaks of spice.
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Fold in the whey protein isolate and almond flour. It should come together like a soft cookie dough. If it still looks loose, add another half tablespoon of almond flour.
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Chill for about 30 minutes, then scoop into 6 balls, roughly a tablespoon each, and set them on a lined tray or plate.
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For the icing, beat the 20g of cream cheese with the powdered sweetener and a pinch of salt until smooth. Spread a thin layer over each ball, dust with a little extra spice, and chill for 1 hour to set.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 ServingCalories:47kcalTotal Fat:2.8gSaturated Fat: 1.1gSodium:67mgTotal Carbohydrate:1.8gDietary Fiber: 0.4gSugars: 0.9gProtein:3.7g
Note
- Beat the cream cheese smooth on its own first, at room temperature. This is the step that decides the texture
- Use a genuinely thick yogurt — Skyr or strained Greek. A runny one means endless almond flour
- Almond flour is a dial, not a fixed amount. Add more until the mixture holds a ball
- The 30 minute chill before rolling is not optional; the whey needs time to thicken
- Keeps 5 days in the fridge, or freeze on a tray then bag. Thaw in the fridge overnight
- Nutrition is per bite, calculated with low-fat cream cheese. Full-fat takes the batch from about 280 to 425 calories. Values are estimates and vary by brand
