It's my Birthday and my favorite dessert is anything chocolate and peanut butter. And if I ever ate cheesecake it was always from Cheesecake Factory so I added as many elements as I could to make a low carb Cheesecake Factory type cheesecake. Because Peanut butter and chocolate have carbs that add up quickly I had to do a much simpler cheesecake, but still delicious.
Cheesecake is one of the easiest things to make keto because most of the ingredients are keto, butter, eggs, cream cheese, and sour cream. The crust has many different options, you can just use ground nuts with a little bit of butter and sweetener or any keto cookie smashed up and mixed with a little melted butter. For this cheesecake I had some of my Nilla Wafer cookies left over, so I smashed them up and added butter to them for the crust- https://youtu.be/adbkdzIx55o , this recipe is much lower in carbs than my keto graham cracker recipe. For this cheesecake I would use the lowest carb option you like because peanut butter and keto chocolate can be high in carbs in large amounts.
The filling is super easy, the hardest thing is having the ingredients all at room temperature. I achieve this most of the time by turning my oven on when I start the crust and placing my ingredients on the stove top as close to the edge as possible. You can also microwave the cream cheese at a low power for 30 seconds or less (out of the wrapper of course) until soft and soak the eggs in warm water. This makes the blending faster but isn't crucial if using the food processor method because no matter what the cream cheese will get whipped and fluffy eventually in the food processor. You can use any sweetener you like, just keep in mind if you use any sweetener that isn't a 1:1 with regular sugar you may need to adjust the amounts. Pure stevia and monkfruit are much sweeter than ones blended with erythritol and sucralose is much sweeter also. It's important for the sweetener to get fully dissolved in the mix so that you don't get recrystallization on the top of the cheesecake once it cools.
The only little trick to this cheesecake besides blending the crap out of the cream cheese and sweetener until no longer grainy, is once baked and still slightly jiggly in the middle, turning off the oven and cracking the door to ensure there is no shock in temperature to the cheesecake. That plus not overbaking will help prevent cracking in the top of the cheesecake. But if that happens, with this cheesecake you will just need a little extra ganache to fill in the cracks on top of the cheesecake. This recipe is best made the day before it is need so that you don't have to rush the cooling and chilling process.
The decorating of this particular cheesecake is completely up to you. I added a few elements from the Cheesecake Factory Reese's cheesecake because the cheesecake itself is just peanut butter. I made a chocolate ganache to spread over the top, which I have a video talking about all the things I've learned about keto chocolate- https://youtu.be/nY2L72Y8Ghk, it's definitely more tricky than regular because all keto chocolates are made differently. I let it firm up a bit then frosted the cheesecake with it, you can also do a poured ganache which I did in an older video, but you may need more ganache since the cheesecake edges are raised a little you would need more to fill up the center before it started to flow over the edges- https://youtu.be/ZaL9N-L7p78. I also made a peanut butter buttercream frosting to decorate the cheesecake. I made a quarter batch of my buttercream frosting-https://youtu.be/xQQasWnk_sM and added 2 Tbs. of peanut butter and a little more powdered sweetener to get the right consistency. It was just enough for a piped border around the top and bottom of the cheesecake. Last decorating element was keto peanut butter cups, you can use any brand you prefer. I also have an old video making keto peanut butter cups- https://youtu.be/EH9k4_Mp7JI, if you want to make your own to decorate. There are many other options to decorate, like a stabilized chocolate whipped cream- https://youtu.be/KAcoVoEGjMk, just add some cocoa powder and a little extra sweetener for chocolate. Can also do a whipped ganache frosting, which is delicious and melts in your mouth- https://youtu.be/m_ARvy8lGOg.
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Cheesecake Crust:
100g/1+1/4 Cups Crispy Keto Cookie Crumbs
2-5 Tbs. Melted butter (different cookies absorb different amounts of butter)
1-2 Tbs. Sweetener (if you like things sweeter)
Instructions:
Before beginning pull out the ingredients for the filling, if it's cold in you house, place the cream cheese on the stove top to soften while you make the crust
Preheat oven to 350 degree and parchment the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan, place on a baking pan, can use small or larger but the bake times will vary
Crumble the cookies in a bag with a rolling pin or in a food processor, add sweetener if using, place into a bowl
Melt butter and add slowly until the crumbs begin to stick together when pressed between fingers
Add all the crumbs to the pan and push them around to get an even layer on the bottom then begin to press down forming an even packed crust
Bake for 5-10 minutes, it will all depend on the ingredients in your cookies how fast the crust browns, you want it golden brown around the edges
While that bakes start on the filling, once crust is done baking set aside while you finish the filling
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Batter
2-8oz Block of Full Fat Cream Cheese (softened)(Philadelphia is the best)
96-144g/1/2-3/4 Cup 1:1 Erythritol Sweetener (can use a small amount of pure stevia or monkfruit instead)
1 Tbs. Vanilla Extract (can use any you like)
8oz./1 Cup Sour Cream
128g/about 1/2 Cup- Natural Peanut Butter
2 Large Eggs
Instructions:
Blend the cream cheese and sweetener together until light, fluffy and all the sweetener is dissolved, scraping down several times. The easiest way is to blend in a food processor but can do it with a hand mixer as well
Once all the sweetener is dissolved add in the extract, blend and scrape down the sides and along the bottom, add the sour cream and peanut butter and blend well
Scrap down the sides and along the bottom and blend again adding the eggs one at a time will the food processor is running
Scrap down one more time making sure there are no lumps of cream cheese stuck under the blade and blend one more time
Pour the filling into the crust, shake and tap on the counter to make sure it is all settled and even
Bake at 350 for 25-27 minute or until it is set around the edges and a little jiggly in the middle, turn off the oven and crack the door and set a timer for 1 hour
After an hour place the cheesecake on the counter to cool to room temperature, then place in the fridge for 4-6 hours or overnight, cover after an hour in the fridge
To remove from the pan, have a container of hot water and soak an off set spatula for a few seconds then wipe off the excess water and gently run the spatula around the outside of the cheesecake, rewarming a few times as you go until it is all released from the pan
Unclip the springform pan and transfer the cheesecake onto a serving platter to decorate
What I made to decorate: Tutorial- https://youtu.be/xnMehBGBisM
Ganache
4oz. Baked Believe Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
4oz. Heavy Cream
Stevia to sweeten (optional)
Heat the cream until steaming and pour over the chocolate chips, let sit for 5 minutes then whisk. If all the chips aren't melted, microwave for 10 seconds at 50% power until it's smooth and thick. Let thicken the frost the cheesecake all over the top and sides.
Peanut Butter Buttercream
4oz./112g/1 Stick Salted Butter (softened)
2 Tbs./32g Natural Peanut Butter
75g/1/2 Cup +2 Tbs. Powdered Sweetener
Pure or liquid stevia to taste
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Instructions:
Whip the butter and peanut butter until well mixed together and smooth
Add the powdered sweetener and whip while adding the vanilla extract, scraping down several times to make sure all the butter is getting whipped up evenly
Whip until it is light and fluffy, taste for sweetness and add stevia to reach desired sweetness
I used 8 Choczero Peanut butter cups to decorate along with 1 Tbs. of peanut butter warmed with a half tablespoon of butter to drizzle over the top.
Macro with everything I used, for 1/12th of my cheesecake
430 Calories
41g Fat
31g Total Carbs
9g Fiber
18g Sugar Alcohol
4g Net Carbs
10g Protein
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