This recipe I first made non-keto at work and used a recipe I just found online, it turned out great with no cracking and super easy to throw together. So I'm including the link to the original because it is their recipe, I just made it Keto! And added some extras to make it a little fancier.
The thing that caught my eye with the above mentioned recipe was that it was made in the food processer, which is how I use to make cheesecakes at the bakery I worked at. I totally forgot about it, but it is a great way, especially for keto cheesecakes, to make it because it ensured the sugar is not going to be grainy in your finished cheesecake. Plus it's faster than using a mixer and makes a silky smooth batter.
The trick to good cheesecake is not to overbake, if it is solid all the way threw it is going to crack and may be dry and crumbly instead of smooth and creamy. The recipe above says to leave in the turned off oven for 10 minutes, to not shock the cheesecake to a lower temperature so quickly and that prevents the cracking. This is something that I've always had a problem with mostly because I'm impatient and don't like waiting to shoot the rest of my videos, lol. It's not that big of a problem it just doesn't look as pretty and there are ways to cover it up with whipped cream or a sweetened sour cream icing.
Keto cheesecake can be made with many different crust substitutes, chopped nuts, almond flour, crunchy keto cookies or even no crust at all. The main things to remember is if using a premade keto cookie, is to add only a little bit of butter until you just have a sandy texture and if you are using anything else you may want to add some sweetener to the crust crumbs. I have many cheesecake recipes with different kinds of crusts at YouTube.com/ketoupgrade so check it out if you are looking for different crusts and flavors.
I made some keto candied lemon twists for decoration. I sliced a lemon about an 1/8th inch thick round slices then cut a slit halfway threw to make it a twist at the end. I brought 1 cup of allulose and 1 Cup water to a simmer, then simmered the slices for 10-20 minutes until they were translucent. Once they reached that stage I took them out and placed them onto a silt pat and twisted them to let them dry in that state for 24 hours on the counter. Then used them to decorate the cheesecake.
Keto Lemon Cheesecake Recipe
Keto Crust:
2 Cups Keto crispy vanilla or lemon cookie crumbs (alternatively 2 cups almond flour + 3 Tbs granular keto sweetener)
6 Tbs. Butter (melted and salted) if using a cookie with a lot of butter in it, only use 4 Tbs.
Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
Keto Cheesecake Filling:
2- 8 oz. Blocks Cream Cheese
1 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Granular Monkfruit Sweetener (Can use any keto sweetener)
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Tbs. Lemon Zest
2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
Instructions:
Pull out the cream cheese. sour cream and eggs to come to room temperature and preheat oven to 325 degrees
Zest and juice about 1 medium lemon, can add more or less depending on lemon preference
In a medium bowl place the cookie crumbs or almond flour and sweetener mixture
Pour over the melted butter and mix well
Dump into a 9 inch springform pan and push the crumb firmly into the bottom and about a half an inch up the sides, if you like a thinner crust, if you want a thicker crust, use all the crumbs on the bottom of the pan, for a smaller springform reduce the crumbs to 1 1/2 cup and 2-4 Tbs. butter
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until it starts to get brown
Set aside to let cool and onto the filling
In a food processor whip the cream cheese and granular sweetener until super smooth, scraping down several times to make sure there are no lumps left, can also beat with a hand mixer but have to whip for longer to get the sugar fully combined
Add the sour cream and continue to whip until combined
Add in eggs and incorporate fully then the lemon juice and zest, scraping down several times between additions mix until fully combined
Add to the cooled crust and bake 20-30 minutes until set around the edges and slightly jiggly in the center
Once it has reached that point, turn off the oven and open the oven door and keep ajar with a wooden spoon and let the cheesecake sit in the oven for 10 minutes, this will prevent the cheesecake from cracking
Once the ten minutes are up, remove from the oven and let cool completely at room temperature to prevent cracking then refrigerate for several hours until completely chilled and enjoy!
Can enjoy this cheesecake just as it is, super creamy, lemony and delicious or you can make some strawberry compote. You just dice up some strawberries and sprinkle with your favorite keto sweetener, more or less depending on how sweet the strawberries are at the time. Then just a squeeze of lemon and let chill in the refrigerator for a few hours. Pour on top before serving.
Then if you want to be a little extra, you can make some candied lemon slices to garnish the top. Its pretty simple and then you have a lemon simple syrup left over to sweeten some spring and summer cocktails!
What you need:
Lemons sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup Allulose (won't crystalize as much as monkfruit but can use any keto sweetener)
1 Cup Water
Instructions:
Bring sweetener and water to a simmer in a big sauté pan if doing a decent amount, you want the lemons to be simmering in a single layer in the pan
Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the lemon slices are translucent
Transfer to a silt pat or parchment paper to dry overnight at room temp., you can cut a slit in them before hand so when they come out of the sugar you mold them into a twist to dry
Keep the simple syrup you created in a jar in the refrigerator to reuse for more candied citrus or to sweeten tea or cocktails
If reusing for candies fruit, you may need to add more water to make up for the water that evaporated from the first boil
Use to garnish your slices of cheesecake
Macros for this cheesecake with none of the fancy extra frills and 3 bags of Highkey Vanilla Shortbread Cookies! Cut into 16 pieces-
201 Calories
18.5 g Fat
5.3 g Total Carbs
1.8 g Fiber
3.5 g Net Carbs
5.4 g Protein
My mouth is watering just looking at the lemon twists! Thanks for this great tip!