I don’t know about you, but I love cheesecake. I would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if I could! Ya know what makes it even better? A healthy version you can eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Amazing!!! RIGHT?
Table of Contents
Healthy Low Carb Cheesecake?
We all have that one guilty pleasure dessert, mine just so happens to be cheesecake. Unfortunately, almost all of the best versions are EXTREMELY high in carbs and sugar content, but that never stopped me from eating it. Then, about two hours later I would rage bolus (get really ticked off because my blood sugar was stuck too high and bolus too much) which started the never ending blood sugar swing. Not very much fun to deal with just because I ate something I loved.
Of course my family decided we can do better. So we did! We tried SOOO many different recipes which was awesome [Maybe this is it??] and awful [This is definitely not it!!]. After trying many different recipes ranging from extremely hard (like several from America’s Test Kitchen) to the simple stuff from Youtube, we found one that worked for me! We finally hacked one that tasted really good with a lower carb and sugar values.
Why were we obsessed with cheesecake?
As long as I can remember my family has always loved it. You could say we are connoisseurs, especially my dad! For any special occasion, my dad would ask for a New York Style Cheesecake. [His personal favorite comes from California Dreaming] Whether it was for his birthday or Father’s Day or even a surprise on Valentine’s Day, that man was getting a cheesecake. So, it really is no surprise that my sister and I grew up loving the rich, creamy dessert.
I remember sitting on the counter “helping” my mom when I was maybe 4 years old as she made one for his birthday. I was no stranger to the complex recipe, and it was super complicated! Once I was older and a little more independence, it was one of my favorite things to make! Unfortunately, after diabetes it was not the best thing for my blood sugar… the sweet and condensed milk, added sugar, full-fat cream cheese, and the short bread cookies we used didn’t work for me any more. {Reminder, I know that shortbread sounds awful to use, but we are in the South. We really like butter!}
And here’s where the challenge started. Many different recipes failed to meet the requirements we had. We decided that it needed to be sweet and creamy-not gritty. A melt-in-your-mouth texture was a must-have. The crust needed to be sweet and firm while kinda soft, but it definitely needed to not taste like chemicals or that weird fake vanilla flavor that can happen with sugar substitutes. None of those recipes checked all of the boxes, so we combined everything we liked from all the recipes we had tried and created our MOTHER RECIPE for all things cheesecake!!!!!
We loved altering the pans and the baking times to create different versions. This way the cheesecake recipe can be used in many different ways! Like cheese cake bars, mini cakes, REALLY big cakes, or regular sized cakes! Did I mention they’re great for snacking? Well they are! I love keeping these on hand for a little pick me up for in a pinch.
How awesome are these pretty, swirly little cheesecake bites for a quick pick me up? Literally!
Classic Sour Cream Low Carb Cheesecake
Equipment
- Aluminum foil
- Parchment paper or cooking spray
- 9 inch springform pan Cupcake pan or 9×13 cake pan may be used. Remember to use cupcake liners or extra parchment paper.
- Stand mixer or handheld mixer and large bowl
- Small microwavable bowl to make crust
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup protein powder Plain, cookie dough, or vanilla flavored
- 4 tbsp salted butter, melted
- 3 8-ounce packages Neufchatel or low fat cream cheese, softened 24 ounces total
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 12 tbsp egg whites Carton is fine to use if you don't want to waste 12 yolks! Use 4 eggs if you want to create a higher fat version.
- 1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup lite sour cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350.
- Prepare the spring form pan: Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Then, from the outside, wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan to prevent leaks.
- Melt butter in microwave safe bowl.4 tbsp salted butter, melted
- Combine melted butter with graham cracker crumbs, almond flour and protein powder and stir with a fork until it forms large crumbles. Add more melted butter if needed3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup protein powder
- Press cookie mixture into the bottom of the springform pan and up the sides as far as possible. The mixture should not completely cover the sides.
- In the mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy.3 8-ounce packages Neufchatel or low fat cream cheese, softened
- Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk until mixture is smooth.1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- Add eggs, then sourcream, Greek yogurt, and vanilla. mix until the batter is smooth.12 tbsp egg whites, 1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup lite sour cream, 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 55 minutes until edges are lightly browned and center is set but slightly soft.
- Cool and chill completely before serving. We leave it out of the oven to cool for an hour and then chill it overnight covered with plastic wrap.
- Garnish as desired, but we love it plain!
Notes
- Any low fat ingredients can be replaced with full fat versions to make this cake more keto friendly.
- To reduce carbs even further, only use half of the measurements for the crust and cover only the bottom of the pan. As written, the recipe makes a nice thin crust that resembles a cookie, but it also works just as well in a thinner layer.
- For best results, chill overnight. It only gets better!
Nutrition
Welp! There ya have it folks! We found another melt-in-your-mouth cheesecake in our family travels, so (even though nobody asked), this is MY favorite place to get a cheese cake! 😛
The next best place to get cheesecake when you want to wreck your blood sugar !
Have a good dayyyyyy!
~Milly
Did you like this recipe? If so why not try out another!
So good! Didn’t affect my T1’s blood sugar levels much at all!
Wonderful! We’re so glad it worked well for you, too!