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 carb!
Gluten Free & Keto Cheesecake Brownies
Suuuper 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 a couple options here. Xylitol (and recently allulose!) has become my top choice (no aftertaste, best and chewier texture), Lakanto (barely any aftertaste, and many of you also love the Golden version), and powdered Swerve (some cooling sensation, but still great).
The good thing about using allulose vs xylitol is that you get the goodies (no aftertaste and awesome texture), without the baddies (no gastric discomfort, zero GI and pet-friendly)). In fact, it’s a natural sugar not even a sugar alcohol!
If using erythritol in any form, because it needs a little extra help to dissolve than xylitol (and they vary so much from brand to brand because of different fillers and so on!), you’ll want to be sure to use a powdered form. If you only have granular on hand, don’t sweat it, and simply blend it in your (very dry!) bullet or blender until powdered. Easy-peasy!
And one more thing to keep in mind, is that a few of you who have used erythritol (Swerve in particular) report back periodically that your batter ends up thick. This seems to be improved by microwaving rather than using a water bath, and using powdered rather than regular. Though there seems to be no hard rule here. Doesn’t seem to affect much the taste in the end, so just spread the batter rather than pour it in. But if you’re finding your brownies feel too thick, simply add in an extra egg (just don’t over-whisk or they could become more cakey).
Fun fact: it might also be my taste buds here, but I’ve noticed that stevia-based sweeteners (such as Pyure) don’t work so great when chocolate is involved as the aftertaste is accentuated. So I cannot recommend enough that you don’t use stevia-based sweeteners here if you’re also sensitive to it (make a hot chocolate with, that’s how you’ll know!).
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
I’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 and a toothpick inserted comes out moist (but not drenching).
I even prefer to slightly undercook them and chill them in the fridge before cutting. That’s the secret for extra fudgy brownies.
I’ve also noticed that when using powdered erythritol rather than xylitol (my favorite), you also need to decrease the baking time by about 5 minutes as they cook faster.
You’ll also want to use eggs at room temp. Reason being that if your cocoa/butter mixture is not hot enough (and your eggs are very cold), they’ll solidify the butter and your batter will be too thick (doesn’t affect the end results, just annoying to spoon rather than pour!).
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 allulose xylitol or erythritol (I 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 allulose xylitol or erythritol (I 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). And if using erythritol, and your batter ends up too thick, you may want to add an extra egg. Just be sure not to over-whisk, or your brownies could end up more cakey rather than fudgy.
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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).
Could I swap out stevia as the sweetener? I just happen to have that one on hand and not the others.
Hi
I really want to make your recipes but I cant find Xylitol in Australia 🙁 I have stevia, natvia, and coconut sugar. I am not sure if I can use coconut sugar for the recipes. I would appreciate if you help me with this.
Hi there Mahshid! I wouldn’t use coconut sugar if keto, but it’s my understanding that you guys do get erythritol? xo!
Made these yesterday to take to a party tonight. As there are dogs in the family I used Swerve confectioners, which isn’t my favourite. However I have to say they are absolutely delicious! The batter went weird at first but once I added the second egg everything smoothed out. Thanks Paola for all the great recipes. Your bread recipe is going in the oven soon. Love the fact that I can actually make a sandwich with it.
The Cheesecake Brownie recipe calls for cream, but cream isn’t listed in ingredients. I opted to add an ounce at a time, and 3 oz seemed to work. They’re still cooling, but smell wonderful. Next time I definitely would grind the Xylitol, since it didn’t ‘melt’ in the microwave. I’m hoping the grittiness doesn’t come out in the final product, because I spent too much time trying to dissolve the sugar (Xylitol). With that said, I love gnom-gnom.com and have made and enjoyed many of the Keto recipes.
I thought I bought xylitol, but after my first run at the Brownie mixing I realized it was erythritol. I found that if you added a few TBSP of water it helped the swerve to dissolve, and made SUCH a creamy addictive batter. I am waiting for them to come out of the oven, but I never licked a spoon so clean in my life!
These were absolutely amazing. I used Erythritol, heated in the microwave about 1.5 minutes, and added about a 1/4 cup of whipping cream to the batter as it was a touch too thick (as the recipe said Erythritol would). The consistency was amazing. No crystallization, perfect dark chocolate flavor, you couldn’t even tell it was sugar-free. It was a huge hit with the family!
Super awesome to hear Ashley!! And thank you for sharing in detail xo!!
What serving size is the nutrition facts based off of?
I love these! My sister asks me to make them for her every time she comes round as well!
I just have one problem each time I have made them. When I make the cheesecake part, it starts off looking like the picture and then I add an egg and it goes so runny that I have to pour it and kind of mix the top brownie part in to stop it from sinking. I was wondering if anyone has any advice for that? Should I try it without the egg? Or does anyone in the UK have a brand of cream cheese that has worked for them (I used Philedelphia, which is quite soft already)?
Did you use the brick Philadelphia cream cheese? I’d imagine the whipped cream cheese wouldn’t work well.
I’ve used the one that comes in a tub, I don’t think it says anything about it being whipped.
I’ll have to look out for a brick version anyway just to try it!
Ahhhhhh. That’s what happened. The tub is too soft. Try to find the brick. It’s dense. Good luck! 🙂
I love these! My sister asks me to make them for her every time she comes round as well!
I just have one problem each time I have made them. When I make the cheesecake part, it starts off looking like the picture and then I add an egg and it goes so runny that I have to pour it and kind of mix the top brownie part in to stop it from sinking. I was wondering if anyone has any advice for that? Should I try it without the egg? Or does anyone in the UK have a brand of cream cheese that has worked for them (I used Philedelphia, which is quite soft already)?
Ok, I am so confused on the carbs for these sweeteners.. for most of the ones you suggested they are around 4 carbs per tsp. And your recipe calls for 1/4 cup for one part of the the recipe and then 2/3 cup for the other. That’s 44 teaspoons.. times that by 4 carbs = ‘s 176 carbs for the entire recipe… divide that by 16 servings and that’s 11 carbs per brownie.. and that just for the sweetner. Can you please help me understand how you ended up with your numbers? This has been driving me crazy.. not just with this recipe, but with others.. (Keto ice cream 😢)
They’re sugar alcohols Melissa, not regular carbs so it’s common practice to substract as you do fiber. Not crazy at all 😉
Ok! Thank you so much! Now, I can’t wait to try these out!
I made these for a dinner party last night. Really yummy, however, next time I would use the cup of Swerve in the Brownie as most thought they weren’t sweet enough. The Cheesecake portion was fine with less Swerve.
Hi Sally! Yup! The full cup is for a ‘traditional sweetness’, but you’ll find that most Keto peeps will find that super sweet after a while… just a heads up 😉 xo!
Just made this recipe and tweaked it for lactation booster purpose, yum! (I find it sweet still even with the brewer’s yeast addition to the recipe, with the minimum sugar mentioned). Thanks!!
What adjustments need to be made to the recipe if I’m baking at altitude?
Do you have a suggestion for making these without any sweetener? I love chocolate and cream cheese and these sound amazing but I am trying to move away from any sweetners.
BEST CHEESECAKE BROWNIES EVER KETO OR NOT!!!! TY!!!!
Don’t do this recipe. I tried 2 times and followed it thoroughly. I am an experienced baker too. The eggs were room temp and I cooled the chocolate mixture. No matter what I did, it solidified. Don’t do this recipe. I did everything right, every measurement right, every technique right and got brownies that did not work. Would give this 0 stars if I could.
Hi Claire! Please don’t take this the wrong way, but keto baking is not like regular baking at all because you’re taking out gluten and sugar from the equation (ie you’ll soon learn that the same rules don’t apply). The situation here is that you used an Erythritol based sweetener rather than xylitol or allulose, so your batter ended up thick. This doesn’t affect the end result much in the end, but doesn’t make pretty swirls. Xo!
Claire Paola is too polite. Your comment was uncalled for. If you read any of the comments before you made this you would know that this recipe is awesome to most of us! If you don’t like something just move on. I have made this several times and love it, as have many many others!
I have literally made this recipe at least 10 times in the past 3.5 months. It turns out delicious every time. I use xylitol and sometimes the batter is a little thick so I just put it back over a pot of boiling water for a few minutes and that makes a huge difference. Even when it seems thicker it always tastes amazing!
I made these and they came out great! I used Swerve, and the batter did seize up a little, but I added a few tablespoons of hot water while whisking and it helped with a smoother, more pourable consistency.
OMG YUM!! Made these last night and they are amazing. I had one for breakfast.. 😀 I put them in the oven for 15 minutes, took them out, they looked done but I did the toothpick test and the toothpick can out really wet. I put them back in the oven for 5 minutes, took them out, redid the toothpick test and they were done! Left them in the pan and in the fridge overnight and they are pure perfection. Thank you!!!
I made this splendid dessert for one of my Keto friends, and even enjoyed it myself. Amazing job!
Wonderful to hear Carly!
I wanted to comment but wasn’t sure how where to write it.
Made these yesterday & it was truly amazing & so delicious! It was so easy to make & will be making often. This is now our favorite dessert! Thank You for Creating Such a Wonderful Recipe!!!
Ok I’m struuuuuggling with this recipe!! I want it to be good but i just keep failing. My brownie batter is so thick and grainy and I used erythritol sweetener. I have Lakanto but am wondering if I should powder it first to help with the grittiness??? Please help!! (Ps I just nakethe chocolate cookies and they were amazing!)
Have you tried powdered erythritol? Or just throwing the erythritol in a blender or food processor to make it into a powder? I have tried baking with granule erythritol and have found it does not dissolve well, resulting in a gritty texture.
Absolutely LOVED these. I am not a baker to begin with and my husband thinks these are the best desserts I have ever made! 😉 Made it to exact specifications and it turned out wonderful in 23 minutes. My oven normally cooks quicker than what most recipes suggest, but not in this case. After the pan cooled down I put it in the freezer to finish setting and then cut them into squares and back into the fridge. I used Swerve, I am not sure how much of a difference that can make. Thank you for this recipe, can’t wait to make them again!
I’ve made these several times and they are always delicious!
Okay so after reading all the comments and your advice I had one extra room temperature egg out and some almond milk. Here’s what I did. Followed the recipe exactly although I do have a keto palette and cut the sweetner (Swerve) by half on the brownies but left it at about 60 for the cream cheese. I did not do a waterbath, but anticipated clumping so I melted the butter fully on its own in the microwave and then put the sweve in the bowl and mixed it fully, then I did the cocoa and eggs and got it fully smooth and poured it into the almond flour with just like a sprinkly (maybe a teaspoon out of being nervous of almond milk) but It blended just fine, the extra egg wasnt needed and I put in my oven for about 15-17 minutes. It looks like your picture but I will have to report back on the taste! Thanks for the recipe!Happy New Year!
So, taste is great, however baked for double the time, burnt around the edges.
Stuck in freezer for 30 min prior to cutting. The middle never set. Half was like molten fudge. Not sure what I did wrong. Got 12 nice pieces, threw the whole middle away.
OMG, these are AMAZING, Paola! Thank you so much for the perfect recipe and clear instructions, they turned out just like your picture and didn’t taste sugar free at all.
I made these for a holiday party. As such, I doubled the recipe for a 9×13 glass pan, which I sprayed with avocado oil and lined in parchment. I used half xylitol, half erythritol, powdered in my magic bullet. I also used Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese (neufchatel); it has the same carb count as the original bricks, just fewer calories.
Weighing ingredients right into the bowl was really helpful. I even forgot to double the butter, cocoa powder and sweeteners until I had added a couple of eggs (mine were extra large, which may have balanced out the erythritol use), so I did another half with those ingredients in a second small bowl in the microwave then added that to the larger bowl and continued, and it still turned out perfectly.
This is a beautiful dessert that would make a lovely “cake” for a special occasion in a springform pan, maybe garnished with some whipped cream and berries. I’ll definitely make it again and share it with my friends and family members who are interested in health.
OMG, these are AMAZING, Paola! Thank you so much for the perfect recipe and clear instructions, they turned out just like your picture and didn’t taste sugar free at all.
I made these for a holiday party. As such, I doubled the recipe for a 9×13 glass pan, which I sprayed with avocado oil and lined in parchment. I used half xylitol, half erythritol, powdered in my magic bullet. Weighing the dry ingredients right into the bowl was really helpful. I forgot to double the butter, cocoa powder and sweeteners until I had added a couple of eggs (mine were extra large, which may have balanced out the erythritol use), so I did another half with those ingredients in a second small bowl in the microwave then added that to the larger bowl and continued, and it still turned out perfectly.
This is a beautiful dessert that would make a lovely “cake” for a special occasion in a springform pan, maybe garnished with some whipped cream and berries. I’ll definitely make it again and share it with my friends and family members who are interested in health.
If making this into a cheesecake in a springform…what are the cooking times and does the baking temp change?
I can never seem to get this to come out looking so smooth and creamy after melting the butter and adding the eggs. I’m using Swerve (will use Monkfruit next). Any suggestions? Then everything just sticks on my whisk…. 🙁
Try adding one more egg (the batter seems to get particularly thick with Swerve)… I used xylitol xo!
Thank you, I will try that! It is delicious though and get comments all the time on them.
These look absolutely amazing! I can’t wait to make them. Thanks!!
Omg! I had such a craving for brownies and these came out so good! That cream cheese part I could eat all day! Keto baking can be such a challenge so thanks for this!
I used swerve and they turned out well, though my batter was a little thick. I will add an extra egg next time as per another commenter. Brownies are something I have missed occasionally since starting keto and this definitely filled that void.