Keto Cheesecake (the best ever! perfect texture)

This Keto Cheesecake has the creamiest filling and a delicious crisp graham cracker-like crust! It freezes fantastically, so you can make it now and defrost for the holidays.

For Thanksgiving, I posted this Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake. Reviews have been great! I felt motivated by that, so here’s another keto cheesecake.

And this one is even better. Not because there’s anything wrong with the pumpkin version, but in my opinion, pumpkin can’t compete with a classic cheesecake filling.

This filling is so perfectly creamy, strikingly rich and tastes just like regular cheesecake filling. If you’re keto and want to bring something to impress friends and family, this is it!

I made a whole bunch of these cheesecakes while I was finalizing the recipe, most of which I gave away.

I’m so happy to report that nobody knew this cheesecake was keto.

You can taste the sweetener in the crust if you eat it alone, but you can’t taste it in the filling at all. I have no idea how this is possible.

Like I said in the pumpkin version, it’s like cream cheese does something magical to keto sweeteners to make them palatable to people who usually don’t like them (that would be me!).

Ingredients

Usual cheesecake ingredients here, plus almond flour + coconut flours for the crust and keto sweetener.

For the crust

  • Almond flour – another type of nut flour could work, but I don’t think any are as finely ground as almond flour. So I wouldn’t recommend experimenting as the crust would likely be greasy.

  • Pecans or walnuts – these are always best toasted, but there’s no need to do so here as the nuts get toasted while pre-baking the crust.

  • Coconut flour – I realize it’s only a small amount, but there’s no sub for it. You have to use coconut flour.

  • Butter – I haven’t tried this cheesecake with coconut oil or anything else in place of the butter. I thought it’s already full of dairy, so it’s best to go with butter, which will give you a better flavor than coconut oil.

    I know that coconut oil would not be a direct sub. I would use 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons of refined coconut oil + 1 teaspoon of water.

    This is because oil is 100% fat and butter is only 80-82%. If you add extra fat to a crust recipe, you’ll have a mess in your oven.

  • Keto sweetener – you have three options here! See below for more info.

  • Cinnamon + salt

For the cheesecake filling

  • Cream cheese – you need to use regular full-fat cream cheese if you want your cheesecake to be rich and creamy. Reduced fat could work, but I’m not sure, and fat-free would not work.

  • Keto sweetener – read the following section for your options.

  • Sour cream – this makes the cheesecake incredibly creamy! I haven’t tried Greek yogurt or anything else in its place, so I can’t say what effect it’d have.

  • Eggs – I don’t recommend trying an egg sub here. I’m quite sure it wouldn’t work.

  • Vanilla and salt

Sweetener options

This is what I’ve tested this recipe with:

  • Lakanto Powdered Monkfruit Sweetener – I normally can’t stand the taste of Lakanto, but for some reason, I can’t understand, it’s just amazing in this recipe.

    This is my first choice of sweetener for this recipe. The crust is crisper when using it in comparison to the two options below.


  • Homemade Gentle Sweet copycat (listed below) – this is the same blend of keto sweeteners as in all of my other keto desserts.

    It’s a mix of xylitol, erythritol and stevia powder. It’s the only keto sweetener that I haven’t thought tasted absolutely terrible (with the exception of powdered Lakanto in my two cheesecake recipes). I actually love this blend in the recipes I’ve posted with it so far!

  • Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet

  • If you’re not keto – I’ve also made this cheesecake with 3/4 cup granulated sugar in the filling. For the crust, I used 5 tablespoons granulated sugar.

I haven’t tried granulated Lakanto, so I’m unsure if it’d work. If you’d like to try that, I recommend using 3/4 cup Golden Lakanto for the filling and using 5 tablespoons for the crust.

Large batch Gentle Sweet copycat recipe

  • 1 pound (453 grams) xylitol = 2 1/4 cups
  • 12 ounces (340 grams) erythritol = 1 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons
  • 2 teaspoons pure stevia powder

This blend isn’t a 1:1 sub for granulated sugar. When I use this, I use about 2/3 of the amount of granulated sugar called for. In today’s recipe, I used a bit more. Sometimes I use a bit less.

Or perhaps a little less. It depends on the recipe.

Once you have that mixed up, you can make these other delicious low-carb desserts:

If you don’t want to make a big batch, this is what you need for just this cheesecake (for the crust + filling):

  • 94 grams xylitol
  • 70 grams erythritol
  • a teeny bit more than 3/32 teaspoon stevia. Yes, it’s a ridiculous measurement, and it’s not exact, and stevia has such a powerful taste, so I highly recommend using the above big batch for 100% accuracy.

How to make it

You need to use a food processor to get the nuts uniform in size. If you use a high-speed blender, you won’t achieve that. I have tried.

So you dump everything into the bowl of a food processor, and process until you don’t have any more large chunks of butter. You shouldn’t process too long, or it’ll become clumpy and bake up differently. It also won’t be as crisp!

If using powdered Lakanto, your mixture should look a lot drier than what you see in these photos (the videographer overprocessed it). It should look almost like dry powder. You can pat that powder straight into the pan!

It works perfectly fine. I really recommend using powdered Lakanto if you have some or can get your hands on some.

If using the other two sweetener options, your crust mixture will look quite a bit wetter and clumpier, just like the photos. And that’s okay!

Now press the crust into the prepared springform pan. The crust will go up a bit more than halfway up the sides.

It shouldn’t be pressed up so high that the crust becomes super thin because then it would be difficult to cut your finished cheesecake. You want the filling to fit in the crust, so it also shouldn’t be too low up the sides of the pan.

Now it’s ready to bake the crust! I’ve made this crust so many times, and the crust held its shape perfectly each time.

However, ingredients can vary from brand to brand. If your crust slumps a bit during baking, just push it back up with a spoon. It’s okay if it’s ugly. You won’t see it under the cheesecake filling.

While the crust is partially cooling, prepare the filling.

Beat the cream cheese and sweetener until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, sugar and sour cream.

Add the sour cream, and then add the eggs, one at a time, being careful not to overbeat. Overbeating can create cracks in the cheesecake during baking.

Pour this batter into the baked and partially cooled crust.

Look at how perfectly it came out! No cracks at all.

As long as you don’t overbeat the eggs, you should have similar results. If you don’t, it’s okay. A few are totally normal.

Just cover them up with berries or whatever topping you’d like!

What’s the crust like?

The crust is really similar to a graham cracker crust, but it doesn’t really taste like a graham cracker crust.

It’s just similar.

I’ve tried loads of other paleo, grain-free and keto “graham cracker crusts” and absolutely none of them really taste like the real thing. The reviewers of the recipes I tried were happy with the results, but I never was.

They were missing crispness! And that’s what the pecans or walnuts in this recipe are for. You just can’t omit them.

Does it get soggy like all other keto pie crusts?

The crust stays strangely crisp – crisper than any other grain-free crust I’ve tried (and I’ve probably tried about 60 since I started baking grain-free recipes!).

I’ve only posted a few recipes with baked pie crusts for this very reason. I’m very picky about pie crusts!

What’s incredibly stupid is that I spent about 7 years attempting to find the perfect grain-free pie crust. I tried all the top-ranked ones.

Then I realized I already have a fantastic crust recipe. The one in my Mini Caramel Pecan Tarts! For some odd reason, I thought that that crust recipe couldn’t be made in a pie pan.

I’m very much a cookie pie crust kind of gal, and while this pie crust isn’t a cookie crust, it’s got the equivalent of 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in it. So it’s at least sweet and not bland!

Great make-ahead dessert

Like every other baked cheesecake recipe, this is best made a day ahead of serving. It’s much less stressful to prepare it ahead of time, with hours to spare.

You can also make it in the morning and serve it about 8 hours later.

But honestly, it’s so much easier to make it the day before. Then you don’t have to worry about it firming up quickly enough before cutting it.

How to freeze it

You can even make this cheesecake today and put the whole thing in the freezer until the night before Christmas, Valentine’s Day or whenever you’d like to serve this. Then you let it thaw in the fridge overnight, so it’s ready to go!

You could also take the cheesecake out in the morning and let it thaw at room temperature. But from a food safety view, putting it in the fridge is safer.

What I find remarkable is that the crust doesn’t get soggy. It stays dry and crisp. Especially if you use Powdered Lakanto!

Live outside of the US?

You can just skip this section if you live in the US or Canada! This recipe was tested multiple times with US ingredients, so be rest assured that this recipe will work.

It was also tested several times with European ingredients and this is what I did.

Cream cheese

The filling was, as expected, a bit creamier with the US cream cheese than when using European Philadelphia brand (and every other brand of cream cheese). The stuff here (I live in Germany) is more watery and not as creamy.

So if you live outside of the US or Canada and have the type of cream cheese in little tubs which is meant to be spread on toast, this is what you have to do:

For 8 ounces (225 grams) of cream cheese, buy a 300-gram package of cream cheese. The stuff at Aldi, Lidl, etc. works just as well as Philadelphia brand. Put it in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth, and squeeze out the liquid until you have 225 grams of cream cheese.

So for this recipe, you need to buy 900 grams of cream cheese and squeeze out the liquid until you have 680 grams of cream cheese left.

The cheesecake is still amazing and creamy! What you see in the photos is European cream cheese, using the above trick.

If you think this is crazy and couldn’t be bothered to get rid of the excess liquid, I wouldn’t recommend this recipe. The baking time will be totally different and you’re likely to over – or under-bake your cheesecake. I know this because I have done this many, many times and want to save you the trouble.

Butter

I usually find that using European butter with its 82% fat is a disaster in crust recipes. It’s yet another reason why I rarely post pies recipes, cheesecakes and other things with baked butter-based crusts.

But it works pretty much the same in this crust. If using European butter, just use 65 grams of butter instead of 70, and add 1 teaspoon of water.

Nutritional info

The following information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. I’m not a nutritionist nor a dietician. This information comes from online calculators. Although I do everything to attempt to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Be aware that varying factors such as product types or brands used can change nutritional information in any recipe.

Here’s the label for 1/18th of the cheesecake, excluding berries and using powdered Lakanto.

Net carbs = 5.04 grams per slice. Net carbs = total carbs – fiber – sugar alcohols. There are 11.68 grams of sugar alcohol per slice, and that’s how I came up with that number.

Questions about this keto cheesecake?

  • Can I make this as a pie?

    The filling is definitely enough for two pie pans, but I have no idea how much crust you’d need to make. I also have no idea of the right baking time. So I wouldn’t recommend trying it unless you feel like experimenting a bit.

  • Do I have to use coconut flour?

    Yes. It’s “only” 4 teaspoons but without it, the crust is a greasy mess. There’s no sub for it.

  • Can I use something else instead of butter?

    Since this cheesecake is full of dairy anyway, I haven’t tried this recipe with coconut oil or anything else in place of the butter. You’d probably need to use 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons of refined coconut oil + 1 teaspoon of water. But it’s just a guess.

  • Can I use X type of sweetener?

    What I list in the ingredients is what I’ve tried this recipe with. If you want to experiment, you need something that’s equal to 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

  • Can I use low-fat cream cheese?

    No, it needs to be full-fat to have the right texture. Reduced fat could work, but I’m not sure.

  • How do I make this cheesecake eggless?

    Egg subs unfortunately don’t work in baked cheesecakes. I do have an Eggless Cheesecake Recipe, but it isn’t low-carb.

  • How do I make this vegan?

    There’s the whole egg issue mentioned above and all of the cream cheese and butter to deal with. I do not recommend wasting your time and ingredients trying to make this vegan.

That’s it! If you try this keto cheesecake, I’d love to hear about it! Please leave a comment or snap a pic and tag #texanerin, so I can be sure to see it!

Keto Cheesecake

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Rated 5.0 by 13 readers
Keto Cheesecake (the best ever! perfect texture)
  • Prep Time:
  • Cook Time:
  • Ready in:
  • Yield: 18 slices

Ingredients

    Crust ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups (125 grams) almond flour
  • 1 cup (110 grams) pecans or walnuts
  • 4 teaspoons (12 grams) coconut flour
  • 5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup (40 grams) powdered Lakanto or 3 tablespoons (36 grams) THM Gentle Sweet (homemade version listed in post)
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Filling ingredients:

  • 24 ounces cream cheese (680 grams), at room temperature1
  • 1 1/3 cups (170 grams) powdered Lakanto or 2/3 cup (128 grams) THM Gentle Sweet
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (173 grams) sour cream, room temperature
  • 3 large (50 grams each, out of shell) eggs, room temperature

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Place a round of parchment paper on the bottom of a 9" springform pan and grease the sides with butter.
  2. Place all the crust ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with an S-blade. Process on high until combined. If using powdered Lakanto, your mixture will resemble a powder. The pecans should only be about 1/8" in size or a bit smaller but they shouldn't be chopped super small.
  3. Press into the greased springform pan. The crust will go up a bit more than halfway up the sides. It shouldn't be pressed up so high that the crust is super thin. You want the filling to fit in the crust, so it also shouldn't be too low.
  4. Bake for 8 minutes or until it appears dry, not glossy.
  5. Remove from the oven, use a spoon to smooth it out if it doesn't look perfect (little holes, cracks, whatever) and let it sit on a cooling rack for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling.
  6. In a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sweetener until fluffy.
  7. Add the vanilla, salt and sour cream and beat on low until combined.
  8. Add in the eggs, one by one, until combined. Be sure not to overmix.
  9. Pour this into the crust which has cooled for 15 minutes.
  10. Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 40-50 minutes (I did 45). When you tap the pan, it won't be totally set but won't be so jiggly that it looks uncooked.
  11. Remove from the oven and let come to room temperature, about 2 hours, before chilling for 8+ hours.
  12. Refrigerate for 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze the whole cheesecake and then let it thaw overnight in the fridge.

Notes

  1. To make something similar to US cream cheese, for 8 ounces (225 grams) of cream cheese, buy a 300-gram package of European cheese cream (the stuff at Aldi, Lidl, etc. works just as well as Philadelphia), put it in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth, and squeeze out the liquid until you have 225 grams of cream cheese. So for this recipe, buy 900 grams of cream cheese, and squeeze out the liquid until you have 680 grams of cream cheese left.
  • If using THM Gentle Sweet or the homemade version, note that xylitol can be deadly for dogs. Do not give xylitol or this cheesecake to dogs.

Recipe by  | www.texanerin.com

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24 comments on “Keto Cheesecake (the best ever! perfect texture)” — Add one!

5 comments are awaiting moderation!

  • Roberta says
    October 24, 2022 @ 5:55 pm

    Hi there! This recipe looks amazing however, there is no mention of what size springform pan it makes? Is it 8, 10, 12 inch…? TIA 😊

    Reply
    • Erin replies to Roberta
      October 24, 2022 @ 8:00 pm

      Hello and thank you! The size is mentioned in Step 1. :) You need a 9″ springform.

      Reply
  • Holly
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    July 28, 2022 @ 9:32 pm

    Hi Erin, how do you think this cheesecake would be without the cinnamon in the crust? I love cinnamon but I can’t use it right now. I’m not sure about adding something in its place because I don’t want to interfere or overpower what I think will be a very subtle creamy filling. (YUM!)

    I know you put each ingredient in your recipes for a reason and everything always seems to work in harmony. So I wanted to get your thoughts on this.

    I pray your baby (probably a toddler by now) is doing better.

    PS- The low carb chocolate pudding I asked you about turned out amazing again of course!

    Reply
    • Holly
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      replies to Holly
      July 29, 2022 @ 10:12 pm

      Just made it so we’ll see. Dairy is a rarity for us but I figured since it’s low carb I would just do it this one time :-) I’m sure it’ll be okay w/out the cinnamon.

      Reply
    • Erin replies to Holly
      August 2, 2022 @ 12:41 pm

      Hi Holly! Sorry I didn’t get to reply quickly enough. You caught me on a bad day. I fell down the stairs that morning. 🤦‍♀️😆 After not leaving the apartment for a week due to being sick (and still am, but at least okay enough to be at the computer now). I’m on a roll! 😄 I think omitting the cinnamon would be okay. How was it? I hope it was tasty! My son will turn 5 in 3 months. Crazy how time flies! And awesome that the pudding came out well. Thanks for letting me know!

      Reply
  • Joanne Foster
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    December 21, 2021 @ 12:44 am

    Can you add lemon juice if so what would you change.
    I havent made this cheesecake yet will be baking it on Christmas Eve & we just love Lemon Cheesecakes.
    My hubby has a very sensitive tummy & cant tolerate the sugars so this is an ideal recipe for him.

    Hope you can help

    Reply
    • Erin replies to Joanne Foster
      December 21, 2021 @ 7:46 pm

      I would recommend finding a keto lemon cheesecake or perhaps topping this one with keto lemon curd? I made this recipe so many times to get it just perfect. I honestly have no idea how much lemon juice and what other changes you’d need to make without trying it myself. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful! I do think the lemon curd idea is a good one, though. :)

      Reply
      • Joanne Foster replies to Erin
        December 23, 2021 @ 2:12 am

        Thank you for your reply love your eecipes

        Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Australia

        Reply
        • Erin replies to Joanne Foster
          December 23, 2021 @ 7:02 am

          You’re welcome! And I’m glad to hear that you like them. :) Merry Christmas to you from Germany!

  • Moop Brown
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    December 13, 2021 @ 3:12 pm

    This cheesecake recipe looks super tasty and I’m looking forward to making this one as I’m always looking for more keto recipes to try!

    Reply
  • Amy Liu Dong
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    December 10, 2021 @ 1:00 pm

    This keto cheesecake looks so pretty and delicious.
    I will definitely be making this at home. Thank you!

    Reply
  • Liz
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    December 9, 2021 @ 10:22 pm

    This cheesecake looks so pretty! I love a good cheesecake recipe! One can never go wrong!

    Reply
  • Cathleen
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    December 9, 2021 @ 7:14 pm

    Wow, this cheesecake is beautiful!!!I am always too scared to make cheesecake, but you break it down and make it seem so much more manageable!!

    Reply
  • Dennis Littley
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    says
    December 9, 2021 @ 6:25 pm

    this was such a delicious cheesecake, no one knew it was keto!!

    Reply
  • Allyssa
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    says
    December 9, 2021 @ 1:43 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this amazing cheesecake recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!

    Reply
  • veenaazmanov
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    December 9, 2021 @ 12:40 pm

    Picture perfect presentation. Made with all the healthy combination. Cheese looks yummy too.

    Reply
  • Jenny
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    December 8, 2021 @ 8:00 pm

    This keto cheesecake is gorgeous! I love that it is keto, so happy I can enjoy such a delicious dessert and still follow my way of eating. Your recipe goes into the collection of our all-time favorites.

    Reply
  • Charlotte Moore says
    December 6, 2021 @ 7:41 pm

    It is very creamy looking and such a pretty presentation. I have made several cheesecakes using Lakanto sweetener and they have been good. I also use it in other things in small amounts. I will sprinkle a little stevia in at times too. Too much stevia is bitter to me. I also make them without a crust. Our son doesn’t like crust. I don’t either really.

    Reply
  • Lisa
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    December 6, 2021 @ 8:50 am

    I love that you’re delving a little more into Keto recipes despite your dislike of the sweeteners and this Cheesecake is just beautiful!💞 There are still certain keto sweetener recipes that I don’t like because the taste is too obvious, but like you discovered with the Cheesecake, sometimes you can’t really tell. I’ve also gotten used to them more and have a better idea what will be good and not just passable. I’m not fond of passable desserts, as I know you aren’t either. I’m Diabetic so if I want a dessert, these sweeteners are what I have to use. Most other sugar alcohols raise my Glucose significantly, especially the Tapioca fiber ones, Isomalt and many others. I can use Stevia, Erythritol and Bocha Sweet with zero issues and Allulose in smaller amounts. Since I’m in the US I use Erythritol based sweeteners almost exclusively, whether granular, powdered or brown sugar alternative. The brands I like the best and have had consistently good results with, are Truvia Complete, Swerve or Lakanto. I’ve tried many others and found them to be frustrating and a waste of money.

    Xylitol doesn’t agree with my gut and it can kill your pets quite easily, so I just never use it. The reason your crust stays crisper is because of the Erythritol, it can get hard and crunchy when it cools. Although I like them, Lakanto has somewhat misleading wording on their packaging because it’s about 95% Erythritol and miniscule amounts of Monk Fruit. Monk Fruit is extremely sweet, like Stevia and there’s absolutely no way to use pure Monk Fruit sweetener in baked goods, it has no bulking power, it’s also crazy expensive. I found one credible source (lots of fakes out there) that carries pure Monk Fruit, it’s a tiny 1 or 2oz jar for nearly $50.

    Sweeteners like Xylitol, Allulose and Bocha Sweet aren’t great for crusts or for anything you want to have some crispness. On their own they make everything soft, which is great if you want to keep ice cream scoopable rather than the iceberg block it turns into with Erythritol. Replacing 1/3 to 1/2 of the Erythritol with one of the above does the trick. These also work great in any syrups, Pastry Cream, Lemon Curd, caramel or chocolate sauces, etc as they prevent the Erythritol from recrystalizing as it cools.

    I’ve learned most of this from keto bloggers, especially Carolyn Ketchum, and my own experience using different products. Can’t wait to see what else you come up with😊.

    Reply
    • Erin replies to Lisa
      December 6, 2021 @ 12:22 pm

      Thanks for all your tips! :) That’s all really interesting, especially about why the crust was crisper with powdered Lakanto!

      I ordered Swerve, tons of Lakanto and Sukrin from the US and UK but really, really do not like them. Except Lakanto in my 2 keto cheesecake recipes. 😂 I’ve tried loads of keto desserts from other bloggers and I couldn’t eat the results, although the reviews were positive. I’m not sure if I’m the problem or what the deal is.

      I have a question for you if you don’t mind and have the time – what’s the deal with chocolate? I’ve tried lots of my chocolate recipes with the THM copycat, fully expecting to love them, like I have with everything else I’ve used it in, and they’re inedible. :/ The cooling effect of the xylitol becomes very obvious. I’m stumped! I suppose the answer is to reduce/omit the xylitol? This is in baked and raw recipes.

      Keto baking is still quite a mystery to me, but the recipes I post have been remade at least 8+ times (I am so paranoid and want everything to be perfect 😁) and I have one more person test the recipe before posting, so people reading this… you can rest assured my keto recipes work and are super delicious. ;)

      Thanks again for your feedback!

      Reply
      • Lisa
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        replies to Erin
        December 6, 2021 @ 8:46 pm

        Hi Erin, I don’t think it’s just you at all, so don’t feel bad. I’ve used these regularly for the last 7 yrs and even recipes I’ve made repeatedly with the exact same ingredients and brands, sometimes taste; take a bite, spit it out immediately, terrible. I then re-read the ingredients/amounts to see if I omitted something, added too much etc. Even something as innocent as a warmer day can make cookies morph from delicious on one occasion, to thoroughly disgusting on another. It’s worse than having a high maintenance friend you really don’t like, but can’t get rid of, haha.

        I’ve also tried A LOT of lovely looking keto recipes that had tons of rave reviews and I loathed the finished product. There’s a lot to be said about personal preference and I’m never going to be one of those people that can, or will just eat whatever is put in front of me. If I’m investing the money, time and effort and using my limited, daily portion of carbs, it had better taste pretty awesome. It can be simple, it just has to taste great, I’m not getting fat on food I hate. Since these ingredients are quite costly and very finicky, I don’t get lazy about directions or take liberties like I might with conventional baking products. I used to make Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies at the time. Depending on which butter or shortening I used, or whether I was a bit shy of brown sugar, the cookies could be different every time, but we still liked them and ate them all. Even overdone cookies could be salvaged with a large enough glass of milk. I think that combo would kill me today though.

        Chocolate in its various forms can be a weird beast with these sweeteners, many report that Stevia makes it taste very bitter. I’m fine with a little Stevia in Chocolate when balanced with powdered Swerve, but if I make it too sweet it’s hard to correct by just adding more Chocolate. Since THM sweetener has Stevia, that could be the culprit, also adding just a tad over or under on the sweetener can make it horrible. Erythritol has a huge cooling effect, maybe even more than Xylitol, but Xylitol on its own doesn’t work that great in numerous applications. One way I get around the Erythritol cooling effect is to use Lakanto Golden, it has a maple like flavor which dampens the cooling a tad. That flavor profile wouldn’t work in everything but it works anywhere you’d normally use brown sugar (add a bit of moisture if needed), maple or coconut sugar. I don’t know if it comes in a powdered form so I just blitz it in the blender or coffee grinder if I want it powdered. I can buy a huge 3 lb bag for the cheapest price on Netrition.com & I always check to see if Amazon beats them beforehand.

        You might enjoy a Chocolate Cheesecake made with powdered Lakanto or Swerve, a very small amount of Allulose replacing 2-3 Tbsp of Swerve might make it taste more like sugar. This is just a guess though. However, if too much is used the Cheesecake won’t set properly, it will just stay gooey and undercooked. The baked Cheesecakes taste far superior to the no bake in my opinion, especially with these alt sweeteners. I’m just starting to try Allulose in more recipes because many report it tastes just like sugar (it doesn’t really to me, but it’s kinda, pretty close and has less or zero cooling effect). A lot of bloggers mistakenly say all these sweeteners are completely interchangeable, which isn’t true at all. They might all be sweet but their chemical structure is different. If anyone has a modicum of chemistry knowledge, you know that one alteration of that structure can make an enormous difference. Even White Cane Sugar behaves differently and adds a different flavor profile than Brown Cane Sugar, even though they originated in the same plant and have the same chemical structure.

        I mentioned Carolyn Ketchum before and I know she knows who you are because I recall her mentioning you once or twice. High praise by the way even if I can’t recall what she said. It inspired me to look you up and even though I wasn’t strictly Paleo I tried your Chocolate chip cookie recipe and used 3 tablespoons of Coconut sugar and the rest was Swerve. Those were the first keto-ish Chocolate chip cookies that I not only liked, but loved! I digress. Carolyn, like you, is a very science minded, high standard baker and likes to know the ‘why & how’ of her ingredients behaviour. This helps her achieve the taste and texture she’s looking for. I’ve made more of her recipes than any other keto recipe creator, a few I didn’t care for, but that’s just taste/texture preference. The only fails I’ve had can be attributed to a mistake on my part or using a brand that really didn’t give good results with her recipe. Her site and books have a wealth of info that could be very useful, I think you have incredible talent and so much to offer to low carbers. What’s interesting to me is being able to see how so many of you recipe developers have used such ingenuity and imagination with finicky, difficult ingredients and like an Renaissance Artist create works of delectable art. You then have the generous and gracious heart to share with those of us whose art work resembles that of the preschoolers precious finger paintings. Which is adorable when you’re 4, but not so much when you’re 54. Lol

        Sorry for the length, last week my daughter accused me of making her the “lucky” recipient of the worlds longest recorded text. I replied; “I bet I can break my record. Challenge accepted!” She wasn’t amused😂

        P.S. Last tip. Truvia has a white sugar and brown sugar Erythritol blend(can’t recall the exact name, but you can find it on their website) that works great because it caramelizes a bit more normally, making baked goods taste/perform better. If you’re just looking to cut your sugar or carb intake, but aren’t Diabetic or dieting, this might be a happy balance for those who dislike alternative sweeteners. Be advised though, you can still taste the difference, it’s just not as pronounced.

        Reply
        • Erin replies to Lisa
          December 15, 2021 @ 1:56 pm

          Hi Lisa!

          Sorry for my slow reply. Where I view and reply to comments isn’t showing your comment for whatever reason, but I knew I got a reply because it was in my email, but I just realized I can come directly to the post and reply here. It’s been a hard 2 years and my brain may be a bit fried. 🤦‍♀️

          Thanks for the tip on chocolate! I’ve tried Lakanto Golden in many chocolate recipes and just hate it. I guess I need to find the right combination for me!

          But it makes me wonder, if I like something, will other people hate it? Haha. Everyone in my family has so far agreed that all the terrible keto recipes I’ve made have been terrible and all that ones that I love… they love, too. But we’re not a very big sample size!

          I 100% agree with you on keto sweets needing to taste awesome and not just passable. I’m not keto, and don’t really think they’re great for the gut (something I have an issue with), so if I willingly eat something keto, it has to taste almost 100% normal.

          Allulose isn’t available yet in Germany, but when it is, I’ll get some and experiment! Thanks for the tip.

          And yes, Carolyn and I used to be in some blogging groups together! (she left them to be in keto-only groups – there’s no drama here :)) I bought Swerve because of her posts about it but I just don’t like anything with it. I’ll have to check out her books!

          Thanks also for the tip on Truvia! The people who are wanting me to post sugar-free recipes all seem to be keto so I’ll have to stick the other sweeteners.

          Thanks again for being so generous with your time to help me! :)

  • Vicki Morgan says
    December 5, 2021 @ 4:41 pm

    I think it is pretty important to put a warning on this recipe that it could be deadly for your dog if they get into it. Xylitol is a poison for dogs because it causes a rapid release of insulin in their bodies and it can kill them if it is not treated immediately by a vet. If people are using your home made sweetener mix they need to make sure their pets don’t get any of the food that is made by it. Cheese cake is something that dogs might be attracted to because of the dairy in it. Perhaps you can find a way to put a gentle reminder on the recipe to caution folks. I am not expecting you to post this comment…just asking that you include a one sentence reminder in your post that xylitol is deadly for dogs.

    Reply
    • Erin replies to Vicki Morgan
      December 6, 2021 @ 12:08 pm

      I added a warning to the notes of the recipe so that if someone prints the recipes, it’s there. Very, very few people read the actual post so this is the safest place.

      Reply

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