Apple pie meets rich cheesecake in these delicious Keto Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars. Creamy filling with apples and cinnamon and a delicious crumb topping.
Meet my new favorite fall dessert recipe: delicious keto apple cheesecake bars!
I am pretty good at knowing how my creations will come out, but this one far exceeded my expectations. And trust me, my expectations are pretty high when it comes to one of my keto dessert recipes.
Just picture it: tender almond flour crust, creamy cheesecake filling, chopped sweetened apples, and a cinnamon crumb crust.
It’s like two of your favorite desserts, apple pie and cheesecake, in one delicious package!
But apples aren’t keto!
Okay, I can hear about half of you totally freaking out and dismissing this recipe because apples aren’t very keto.
Chill, my lovely low carb friends. The amount of apple I use here is only 1 ½ cups, or about 1 ½ medium apples. When divided into 16 servings, it comes out to about 2g carbs per serving.
And each cheesecake has only 6.4g total grams per serving. That’s pretty doable for a keto dessert recipe! And you get real apple flavor to enjoy in a low carb, sugar free dessert.
Now, if you really don’t want to use apple, that’s fine. You can try something like Chayote squash in its place. I have never cooked with it, but I hear that the texture is similar to apple. I would add some apple extract to the chayote mixture, to get a more authentic flavor.
How to make keto apple cheesecake
You may find the long ingredient list and instructions for these apple pie cheesecake bars a little daunting. Don’t be intimidated! While they do have a lot of different parts, they are quite easy to make.
And the resulting apple pie flavor is phenomenal! Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Make your apple filling first, and let it cool. You want it to be room temperature before pouring over the cheesecake.
- Remember, if you really don’t want to use apples, you can use something like chayote squash with a little apple extract.
- You may notice I don’t grease my pan. I have some really good nonstick bakeware and I find that greasing it can make the crust soggy. However, if your pans aren’t really nonstick, a light coating of avocado oil or coconut oil spray can help.
- USE A METAL PAN! Glass or ceramic pans don’t conduct heat as efficiently so your cheesecake takes much longer to bake through the center, but the sides can get overdone.
- Make sure your cream cheese is properly softened before beating it. If it’s still a bit too firm, or your house is a bit chilly, try warming it in the microwave for 15 seconds or so. Well softened cream cheese will mix better, without lumps.
- Make sure your other ingredients, like eggs, are also at room temperature. Adding cold eggs to nicely softened cream cheese means you will get lumps in your cheesecake. And nobody likes lumpy cheesecake!
- The crumb topping on this cheesecake can make it a bit harder to tell when it’s done. I recommend giving the pan a good shake to see how jiggly it still is. You want the very center to still have a bit of jiggle but the rest should seem set.
- Patience, my hungry friends! You need to let these keto apple cheesecake bars cool completely to room temperature, and the chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, before they are ready to be eaten.
How to store Keto Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars
Like any cheesecake-based recipe, these delicious bars are best stored in the fridge and can last up to a week. I recommend placing them in an airtight container to retain the best flavor.
They could also be frozen for several months. For freezing, I would cut into bars once they are cool and flash freeze them first. This means placing on a tray or cookie sheet with space between each one, and letting them freeze solid.
Once they are solid, you can wrap each one up individually, or place them all together in an airtight container. Let frozen cheesecake bars thaw completely before serving.
More delicious keto cheesecake bars
- Keto Lemon Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Pecan Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars
Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Apple Filling
- 1 ½ cups chopped, peeled apple (about 1 ½ medium apples)
- 3 tablespoon BochaSweet or allulose (can use Swerve but it may recrystallize)
- 2 tablespoon water
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ⅔ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon apple extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumb Topping
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup Swerve Brown
- 2 tablespoon coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon butter, melted
Instructions
Apple Filling
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the apple, sweetener, water, and cinnamon and bring to a simmer. Cook about 5 minutes, until the apples are tender.
- Remove from heat and let cool while preparing the cheesecake bars.
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the dough begins to clump together.
- Press firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9-inch square metal non-stick baking pan (if your pan is not very good nonstick, you may want to grease it). Bake 10 minutes.
- Remove and let cool while preparing the rest of the cheesecake. Reduce the oven temperature to 300F.
Cheesecake Filling
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the sweetener until well combined.
- Beat the eggs in one at a time, scraping down the beaters and the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the extracts until the mixture is smooth.
- Pour the cheesecake filling over the cooled crust, then top with the apples, spreading them out for even coverage. Drizzle any liquid from the apples overtop as well.
Crumb Topping
- In another medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Sprinkle evenly over the cheesecake filling and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still jiggles slightly.
- Remove and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate to firm up, at least 2 hours.
peachy says
Going to try this with chayote instead of apples and that should reduce the carbs quite a bit and still have the same taste and texture.
diana says
i was positive i left a comment on this recipe somewhere but just in case.. this most definitely is one that is printed, pinned and bookmarked.. it is a must have on the rotation dessert!
Carolyn says
Thanks so much!
Denlee Joy Gramonte says
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for the recipe! Can I use any cream cheese? I don’t have full fat cream cheese. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Full fat just means it’s not “lite” cream cheese.
Pamela Waddell says
This recipe is superb! I am not doing Keto but have an allergy to white flour, so this was a dream recipe. But, as we all know, the proof is in the pudding. I was able to find all the ingredients at my local grocery store (except the apple extract which I chose to leave out anyway…too many personal issues with other fruit extracts tasting artificial to me…). That being said, I just upped the Vanilla extract amount and added 1/4 tsp. caramel sweetener. This was a very fulfilling recipe to make, as I have a known history of making a killer chocolate chip cheesecake but it has ingredients I can’t have any more, nor have I had the occassion to make it in some time. This was such a great replacement! And, well worth it. I brought it for Christmas dinner and everyone loved it!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Mimi says
This was the bomb!! I needed to do something with all our apples and this fits the ticket. Thank you for always reading my mind Carolyn!
Maggie says
I made your IP Lemon Cheesecake…it is wonderful and so easy. Can I make this apple cheesecake in the IP. 35 mins on high, natural release.
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried it… but have fun experimenting!
Julie says
Definitely a new fave for holidays. I put a handful of course chopped pecans in the apple filling and another handful of course chopped pecans in the brown sugar topping. Thank you for a great recipe!
Michele says
Is there a substitute for the apple extract? I made muffins in the past with apple extract (different brand than you recommended) and it tasted so artificial. I could buy the other brand but wondering if just using vanilla might work or maybe caramel?
Carolyn says
Sure! It won’t have as much apple flavor, obviously…
Terri says
These are awesome, I was nervous about making them since there’s a few steps and I’m lazy! They really weren’t hard at all and they’re delicious!
Jeanie Miller says
Love this so much!
My hubs and I are both low carb for life and maintaining our losses for years now. So the real apples are indeed a treat. I also use the coyotes for subbing when I make a pie.
I have made this several times now and plan on doubling the recipe to make it in a springform pan for Christmas dinner which for our family means dessert at the end of an afternoon of just appetizers.
Thanks again for a fabulous recipe and Happy Holidays
Cindy P says
This is an amazing dessert! You can never go wrong with any of Carolyn’s recipes, but this one is by far, my favorite! I make this specifically for cutting into bars and freezing. Thank you for another incredible treat–because of you i never feel deprived on keto
Jeanie M says
So good I’m making it again for the holidays! I’m going to double the recipe and use a med springform.
I had to use the Swerve as The recommended sweeteners just don’t agree with me.
I didn’t notice any crystalizing.
Hanks for another winner!