I've been on the hunt for a cheesecake recipe that I can eat while still following the Banting lifestyle (click here for more info on Banting which is a form of Low Carb High Fat diet). When I came across this Low Carb Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars recipe by All Day I Dream about Food I though there had to be a way to adapt it to some kind of cheesecake recipe. I am super happy to report that it worked! Be warned though, this cheesecake won't last very long at all, because if you're anything like me you'll eat it all in just a few days!

Just a note, after taking it out of the oven I was very upset by how 'uncooked' it looked. I was rather disappointed and felt totally despondent, shoved it in the fridge and forgot about it until the next morning. I'm not sure what kind of magic happens to this cheesecake when it's in the fridge, but the next day it was amazing. So much better than the day I made it. So if you're also disappointed with how yours turns out, have no fear and pop it in the fridge over night.

If you've never baked anything Banting before, you need to keep in mind that you aren't baking traditional sweet treats. As you're not using regular wheat flour and processed sugar, what you make isn't going to taste like what you are used to. I've gotten used to the taste of Banting baked goods and have been just happy to be able to eat treats while still maintaining my figure. I just wanted to mention that as some people get all antsy about Banting baked good because they don't taste like the real thing. Of course they don't silly, but they also have none of the carbs that regular baked goods have and they still taste great and will satisfy your cravings! What's not to like?!

Also, I added some white baking chocolate & dried cranberries to my cheesecake. These are not Banting friendly, so you might want to omit them if you are being very strict with your Banting (go you!).

Ingredients

Crust:

2 cups almond flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter/coconut oil
1/2 cup Xylitol sweetener
1 large egg, room temperature
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Optional extras (1/3 cup of cranberries & 1/3 cup baking chocolate)

Cheesecake Filling:

2 tubs cream cheese (I used the standard 220g round tubs of Philadelphia)
Optional & depending on your tastebuds: 1/4 cup powdered Xylitol (you can make it powdered by blitzing it in a blender)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

This recipe made an awful lot of cookie crust as per the original recipe which was formulated for a base and a layer of cookie dough crumbled over the cheesecake layer. I liked how thick this base was, but you might prefer a thinner base so you could try halving the crust layer ingredients above or use half of your mixture to create a cream cheesecake sandwich by grating the dough on top after your cheesecake layer.

Directions

Crust:

Preheat oven to 180C and grease your dish/pan well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, shredded coconut, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat coconut oil/butter with Xylitol until well-combined and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
Beat together almond flour mixture & butter mixture until the dough comes together, then stir in chocolate and cranberries if using. Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool (it will not be fully baked at this point).

Filling:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sweetener until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
Pour filling over the cooled crust.
Bake 25 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is just a little jiggly in the centre.
Remove from oven and let cool, then refrigerate until set, ideally over night

And there you go.

Remember that your cheese cake WILL taste better the next day, the wait will be worth it, I promise. Please let me know if you do give this a try as I would love to know how it works out for you. Happy baking!

Adapted from LowCarb Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars by All Day I Dream About Food