This sugar free cheesecake with an almond crust fooled people for years before they found out it had no sugar in it. It is a rich, baked cheesecake on a toasted almond crust, sweetened with Splenda instead of sugar, at about 5 grams of net carb a slice. It was the very first recipe I posted here, and it is still one I am proudest of.
For my first post I was thinking about posting pictures of my design work or my favorite places that I have traveled and then I got hungry and decided to post one of my favorite recipes. I live a low-carb lifestyle. Yes people the word is "lifestyle" not diet. This is a choice I made a few years ago after gaining 40+ pounds. Sure it may not work for everyone, but for the most part it works for me. I have found in my life that I love all things with carbs, but they don't love me. I end up tired and hungry all the time. For that reason I try to stay away from them, but I am human I cheat here and there. This is one of my favorite recipes and is soooo good that it has fooled most people that it is in fact a "low-carb" cheesecake. I like to call it "semi" guilt free because although it is free of sugar and low in carbs it does contain 5 packages of cream cheese! But you know one of the main reasons I chose to live low carb is because when deciding between cheese and bread I will always choose cheese! This recipe is rich and yummy and I hope you love it as much as I do.
An almond crust instead of graham crackers
The crust is where a normal cheesecake loads up on carbs, so this one trades graham crackers for ground roasted almonds and a pinch of cinnamon. Pressed into a greased springform pan, the almonds toast as the cake bakes into a nutty, sturdy base that holds a slice together. No flour and no crumbs means the whole cake stays gluten-free and lands around 5 grams of net carb a slice, most of that from the cream cheese itself. It bakes up dense and tangy in the New York style, not the lighter ricotta cheesecake Italians make or the no-bake kind, which is what lets it hold the crust and slice clean.
Sweeten it sugar-free, your way
My original uses Splenda, and it bakes up smooth and sweet. If you would rather skip it, swap in an equal amount of a powdered keto sweetener like erythritol, monk fruit, or allulose, which drops the carbs a little further. Use the powdered form rather than granular so the filling never turns gritty, the same rule that keeps a cheesecake mousse silky.
Bake it without the cracks
A cracked top is the one thing that trips people up on a baked cheesecake, and it comes down to heat. A few habits keep it smooth:
- Bake low at 320°F and pull the cake while the center still has a slight jiggle; it firms up as it cools.
- Set a pan of water on the rack below to add humidity, which keeps the surface from drying and splitting.
- Let it cool slowly on the counter before its long chill, since a sudden temperature drop is what tears the top.
Give it at least 4 hours in the fridge, though it slices best the next day. For more sweet ways to end a Low Carb meal, try the strawberry cheesecake or a scoop of vanilla custard ice cream, with more low carb desserts to choose from. Cream cheese is the dessert end of my keto cheese guide.
Sources:
USDA FoodData Central, nutrient reference for cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and almonds
Sugarfreechic test kitchen, sugar-free cheesecake and sweetener notes
