These gluten free and keto cheesecake brownies are the best of both worlds! An incredibly fudgy low carb brownie is paired with tangy swirls of creamy cheesecake. The best part? Just 1.5g net carbs!
Gluten Free & Keto Cheesecake Brownies 🍫
Supper Fudgy!
You’ve already met our suuuper fudgy keto brownies right?! They’re intensely chocolatey, fudgy, lightly chewy and good… like really good. Fact is, it’s the most popular recipe in the entire site, so that’s gotta tell you something!
Though, in all honesty, I would’ve never guessed it when I first hit publish. And don’t get me wrong, I love the recipe. I mean, it’s been my go-to brownie recipe for years now (and one of my favorite keto chocolate treats by far). But it’s sky-rocketing popularity still managed to wow me! So thank you guys for enjoying, sharing, and recommending it!
Now, amongst many of your requests, perhaps the most popular has been to adapt it into a sugar-free cheesecake brownie version. So wish granted peeps!
Got more requests? Send them along, I always love to hear (and hopefully grant!) them.
The Chocolate 🍫
Cocoa brownies are generally regarded as second best to their ‘molten chocolate bar’ counterparts, given that they’re generally more cake-like than fudgy. But that’s most definitely not the case here, as these are some of the fudgiest brownies you’ll ever make.
Albeit ‘healthier‘, as you can control the chocolate and fat input completely, so no added refined sugars, preservatives etc. And of course, cocoa powder is much less expensive than chocolate bars (particularly keto ones!). So think of these keto brownies as wallet-friendly too.
Cocoa or cacao? Both work great, just know that quality really matters here. Our favorite will forever be the Dutch-processed alkaline cocoa Valrhona, known to be one of (if not the) best cocoas in the world. But feel free to use a raw cacao powder (arguably more nutritional perks here), though keep in mind that your brownies will be lighter in color and more reddish in hue. Both are well and good, as long as they’re unsweetened.
The Flours
This recipe uses almond flour only (💥💃🎆!!). Yup, that’s it! Having said that, you can always sub half of the almond for hazelnut flour (think Nutella), if you wanna spiff things up a notch or give them a little twist.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds.
The Sweetener 🍯
You’ve got options here. Think xylitol (no aftertaste and chewier texture), Lakanto (barely any aftertaste), and Swerve (some cooling sensation). Xylitol takes (much) longer to dry out though so your brownies will be extra delicate (think gooey) right after baking, so just keep that in mind.
Fun fact: it might also be our taste buds here, but we’ve noticed that stevia-based sweeteners (such as Pyure) don’t work so great when chocolate is involved as the aftertaste is accentuated. So we cannot recommend enough that you don’t use stevia-based sweeteners here.
Oh, and if just paleo or gluten free (or not restricted by sugars), simply sub 1-to-1 with coconut or regular sugar.
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup (or kitty!) around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
A Couple (Very Simple!) Rules
We’ll start with the most important one: do not over-bake the brownies! Timing might just be the most important rule when making any type of brownie, so you don’t end up with a dry and crumbly mess. Keep an eye out for them, and take them out once the center is set but still jiggly.
We even prefer to slightly undercook them and chill them in the fridge before cutting. That’s the secret for extra fudgy brownies.
Otherwise, you need to be sure that your eggs are properly at room temperature. If they’re not, they’ll solidify the butter and the batter will become rock-hard as soon as you add the almond flour.
The Recipe Video 📽
Gluten Free, Low Carb & Keto Cheesecake Brownies
These gluten free and keto cheesecake brownies are the best of both worlds! An incredibly fudgy low carb brownie is paired with tangy swirls of creamy cheesecake. The best part? Just 1.5g net carbs!
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cupsfor an instant conversion.
Ingredients
For cheesecake layer
- 227 g cream cheese softened
- 50-70 g xylitol we do 1/4 cup*
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For keto brownie layer
- 130 g unsalted grass-fed butter
- 140-210 g xylitol we do 2/3 cup*
- 80 g cocoa powder **
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs at room temperature***
- 70 g almond flour
Serving suggestions
Instructions
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See recipe video for guidance!
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Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 350°F/180°C. Line with parchment paper the bottom and sides of a 8x8-inch baking pan. Set aside.
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Make the cheesecake layer first. Add cream cheese and sweetener to a bowl and cream using an electric mixer (faster and easier) or whisk until creamy and smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until fully combined. Set aside.
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Add butter, sweetener, cocoa powder and salt to a medium heatproof bowl. Melt over a water bath whisking constantly (or use the microwave). You'll want to heat it up until most of the sweetener has melted and the mixture is well incorporated. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
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Add one egg at a time, whisking well after each one until completely incorporated. The texture should appear smooth, with all the sweetener dissolving into the mixture. Add the almond flour, whisking vigorously until fully blended (about a minute).
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Pour 2/3 of the mixture into prepared pan, followed by the cheesecake layer. Add the remaining brownie batter in 4 dollops (see pictures in post for reference), and swirl the two batters together using a knife.
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Bake for 15-25 minutes (we do 23), or until the center is just set and still jiggly. This really does vary (a lot!!) from oven to oven (think convection etc), so give them a check from minute 15 the first time around.
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Allow to cool completely on a rack. Lift brownies using the edges of the parchment paper and cut into desired size (we do 16!). To get extra clean edges, place in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to cutting.
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Store in the fridge for 3 days and freeze for up to 3 months (they freeze great!).
Recipe Notes
*The lower quantities are for more keto-adapted palates, while the larger ones will get you more 'traditional' sweetness. Please see section on sweeteners for deets and possible substitutions. Just keep in mind that stevia doesn't work (at all!) for these!
**If measuring the cocoa with tablespoons rather than grams, be mindful of how you scoop as you can end up with a lot more cocoa powder than needed. Drop the cocoa powder into the tablespoon and level it, rather than scooping it out of the bag with the tablespoon (which can lead to overpacked tablespoons!).
***Must use eggs at room temp. Reason being that if you add cold eggs, you'll solidify the batter and won't be able to mix the flours properly.
Please note that we always subtract sugar alcohols from total carbs to calculate net carbs (as is customary).
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Got no requests really, you seem to magically hit my cravings spot on!! 😉
Lol!! That’s seriously awesome to hear 😉 xo!
I can’t find the section on sweeteners with possible substitutions? Could you please give me the link? Thank you!! btw I love your recipes!! 🙂
Hi Sandra! So happy you’re loving the recipes! And simply scroll up the post and there’s a section titled The Sweetener (there’s one in every post) xo!
Hi, yes I saw it, but are the quatities the same then? Thank you!
Yup! Xylitol, Lakanto and Swerve are all 1-to-1 to sugar. I’ll put in parenthesis when quantities change (such as with Pyure, but that one doesn’t work well here) xo!
WOW!! These were delicious!! And my kids loved them too! The older one even said that these were like none of the other ‘yucky healthy sweets mummy’s been making’. Couldn’t stop laughing! THANK YOU!
Oh lol Alleana!! I think that’s the best compliment these brownies could’ve received! Cracking up too- thanks for sharing! 🙂
Soo… really want to try these newish to keto and see a lot of recipes with cream cheese.. I have a hate for cheese I can only really eat cheap pizza cheese… do you taste the cream cheese or is it just kinda hidden
Hi Adrianna! I mean, these are cheesecake brownies… so you can definitely taste the cheese part! If you don’t really like cheese I would suggest you make the regular version without the cream cheese xo 😉
Hi – So excited to try these! I was wondering, have you ever tried substituting butter with lard, or if you know if that would work with this recipe? Thanks!!
Hi Connie! I really don’t think you want to use lard in these, I haven’t tried though xo!
The brown sugar substitute that Sukrin make would be great in these
Definitely! Just keep in mind that it has malt extract (so not Celiac friendly) xo!
Hello new to the keto lifestyle and I soooooooo want to try making these. I’ve yet to have any dessert since I’ve been doing keto 🙁 this calls for almond flour (which saddens me because MOST keto recipes call for it) but I have a allergy to nuts. You can’t substitute for coconut flour?
Hi LaToya! Unfortunately coconut flour isn’t a great sub here, but have you tried sunflower seed flour? Many readers who are allergic to nuts use it 😉 xo!
These are amazing. I took a picture of them. To show how beautiful they are. My kids are in love with these, plus I can give them to my diabetic son with no worries. Love your recipes 😁
LOl that’s amazing Bekah! So happy to hear you and your kids loved these so much! Thank you for sharing with us 😉 xo!
So good! Thank you! What’s the serving size though? Roughly…
SO happy you liked them Grace! Serving size was calculated per brownie (assuming you cut it up into 16 pieces!) xo!
I love this recipe! However I made it for my husband to move away from the regular sugar. He didn’t like this at all. Didn’t have the sweet kick that other keto brownies have. I used the xylitol. Would monk fruit be better or is it the same? Also did I do something wrong in the brownie recipe because it was so sticky I couldn’t get it off my whisk. Thank you in advance. 🙂
Hi Hana! Do you think it could be that they weren’t sweet enough for his taste? If he’s just getting into keto, these are definitely not as sweet as regular brownies. You would need to increase the xylitol to 250g to get the sweetness of regular brownies. The batter is also sticky xo!
Well the cheesecake layer had 70g of sweetener and the brownie had 210g. Which would I increase? He did say he didn’t like the cheesecake mix. Maybe that’s where I’d increase by 40-60g?
Thank you for your reply. Sincerely appreciate it! :))
Ps.. my daughter said she loves it and she has a sweet tooth. It tastes awsm hard frozen.
Maybe you can then just do the brownies without the cheesecake layer? There’s a recipe link to that one on the page. So you would want to increase the xylitol amount between 200-250g. xo!
I’ve been doing Keto for about five weeks. I’ve pretty much skipped the sweeteners in every recipe I’ve made and still really enjoyed everything. This seems to call for quite a bit of sweetener though. Do you think it will be ok without?
Hi Cassie! Yeah this recipe is one where you really don’t want to skip the sweetener unfortunately. Maybe check out the cheesecakes for 1? Those would be OK without (particularly the key lime pie one!) xo!
For nut allergies do you think coconut flour would work?
No, but you can try sunflower seed flour xo!