Creamy dreamy low carb vanilla cheesecake with delicious swirls of sugar-free Nutella. The ultimate healthy chocolate hazelnut dessert recipe.
It really is true what they say, that it’s the thought that counts. Even in our hyper-commercial, acquisition-driven society, where we all desire the next best thing in clothes, shoes, phones, and cars, this sweet little adage still means something. It means a lot, actually. So much that when your sweet 10 year old son spends some of his hard-earned money on a few bars of soap for your birthday, they instantly become your most treasured possessions. I couldn’t love those lavender-scented bars of soap more if they were strands of pure gold studded with diamonds and rubies. Given that I wear little jewelry as it is, the soaps are infinitely more personal and useful. Nice job, son!
And I know just how much thought he put into it, as he started thinking about my birthday a few days in advance and asking his father if he could buy me something. I think he was at a loss of what to get for me and he doesn’t have a lot of opportunity to hit the store in search of the perfect birthday present. But he kept his eyes open for his chance and when I sent him over to Whole Foods for a brick of cream cheese, he snuck a few of his own dollars into his pocket. I was actually getting worried and wondering what was taking him so long when he trudged up the driveway with one of his hands hiding something in the flap of his jacket that he wouldn’t let me see. I was so touched, it honestly wouldn’t have mattered what he had purchased.
With that kind of start to my day, my birthday was a guaranteed success. And it finished just as successfully, with a fire on a chilly day, a few thoughtful presents, some great take-out barbecue and this glorious low carb Nutella Swirl Cheesecake. Did I mention that it was glorious? Yes, it was an absolutely glory of a cheesecake. My sugar-free chocolate hazelnut spread came out unbelievably smooth this time, and I credit my Blendtec with that. You can get it pretty smooth in food processors or less high-powered blenders but it takes a lot more work and a lot more scraping down the sides and mixing it up and re-blending. Trust me, I’ve made my share of sugar-free Nutella in my day!
This truly is a must-make recipe for chocolate hazelnut lovers. The crust is made with hazelnut meal and the filling is so creamy and delicious, with big swirls of homemade Nutella. I can hardly wait to make it again! If you aren’t in the mood to make your own Nutella, consider this sugar-free Nuti-Light Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.
Nutella Swirl Cheesecake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cup hazelnut meal
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 tablespoon butter melted
Filling:
- 3 packages cream cheese 24 ounces, softened
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ½ cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup heavy cream room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup homemade sugar-free Nutella OR Nuti-Light
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat oven to 325F. In the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan, combine hazelnut meal, cocoa powder and sweetener. Stir in melted butter until well combined. Press crumb mixture firmly and evenly into bottom of pan.
- Bake 10 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool while working on the filling.
Filling:
- Reduce oven temperature to 300F.
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sweetener until well combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl and beaters as needed.
- Beat in heavy cream and vanilla until mixture is smooth and well combined.
- Brush the sides of the pan with melted butter or spray with coconut oil spray.
- Pour half the cheesecake batter over the cooled crust and drizzle with half of the Nutella. Swirl with a knife. Repeat with remaining batter and remaining Nutella.
- Bake cheesecake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minute, until filling is mostly set but just jiggles slightly in the center.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely in the pan. Run a sharp knife around the edge and release the sides. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours.
Notes
Saturated fatty acids: 12.20g
Total fat: 29.37g
Calories from fat: 264
Cholesterol: 94mg
Carbohydrate: 6.09g
Total dietary fiber: 2.40g
Protein: 6.59g
Sodium: 171mg
Sally says
I’m supposed to bring a turtle cheesecake (low carb) for Thanksgiving dinner. Could I make this with your caramel swirled through instead of the Nutella? I’m also going crustless. Would I need to make any changes?
Carolyn says
For crustless, you need to make sure you line the bottom with parchment. It may also cook a little faster. I think the caramel may get lost if you swirl it in. I would pour it over top with the pecans and then drizzle the whole thing in chocolate.
Anu says
Thank you! This is soooo delicious. I am an unabashed chocaholic so next time I will add more Nutella (your recipe of course) and perhaps also use a Bain Marie in the oven to bake to see if it helps prevent the cheesecake cracking once it cools. I only have a fan forced oven and cannot switch off the fan, and I suspect this isn’t ideal for cheesecakes. I think I will also try whisking by hand rather than electric beaters, perhaps I had too much air in the filling so I could see tiny bubbles throughout even after it had baked and cooled. My springform pan was throwing a fit so I had some leakage of the filling so this had to go in the oven quickly with the baking tin resting on a baking tray. Doesn’t matter though, my cheesecake wasn’t exactly the looker but the taste is A-okay!
Ashley says
This was sooo good. Unfortunately after I made my “nutella”, I found out I was allergic 🙁 so I replaced all the hazelnuts and used almond flour and peanut butter as the swirl.
Thanks for always having amazing recipes!!
Carolyn says
Oh no! I am so sorry about the allergy.
Sammie says
Made this with NutiLight, OMG, this is fabulous! I put whole hazelnuts into my food processor instead of using hazelnut meal, kept my crumbs a bit more coarse to keep my crust a teeny bit more crunchy. Might have added a touch more “nutella ” than called for but other than that, I followed the recipe. Thanks for an amazing recipe, this cheesecake is excellent!
Carolyn says
sounds wonderful to me!