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.
Teressa B Pavlas says
Carolyn, before I make this recipe this afternoon I have two quick questions. OK to use pears? I know the carb count will be slightly higher. Second question-I do not have apple extract so would I use vanilla extract instead? It will now be 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. What do you suggest? Thanks in advance! (My father-n-law gave us pears from his pear trees. I want to use them in a keto friendly recipe. 🙂 )
Carolyn says
Yes to both questions, as long as you know the carb count does go up a bit! 🙂
Mary Slivka says
Dream come True Keto Style!!
Definitely want to try these. Is it possible without the crust bottom? Your thoughts lease. ????????????
Carolyn says
You wouldn’t be able to get them out of the pan, I think.
Misty says
Phenomenally delicious! I used zucchini ‘apples’ in lieu of real apples. A definite winner!!!
Abby says
So I made these and they were absolutely delicious. Next time I will add more apple as 1.5 cups for me did not sufficiently cover the 9×9 pan.
I thought I’d followed the directions. It wasn’t until the next day I realized I accidentally confused my jar of allulose with my sugar free powdered French vanilla coffee creamer! Worked out too because later I found an unopened package of vanilla extract that I apparently forgot too, haha. Still came out delicious, though. Will be making again with proper ingredients and more apples!
Laura says
So so good.
Peg says
Since summer fruits are here, I was wondering if this recipe would work with peaches??
Carolyn says
I can’t see why not! They’re lower carb than apples…
Ursula says
I made this Dessert today and it turned out beautifully delicious
I did use chayote instead of the Apples ,they took longer to soften but worked really well in the recipe tasting just like Apples with the addition of the Apple flavoring
This Apple Cheesecake dessert is definitely a showstopper
Thank you Carolyn for another masterpiece
AngelaB says
I just tried a mock apple dessert this week using chayote squash, and it turned out fantastic! I did use the apple extract in the recipe—I think it made all the difference—and I honestly believe it could pass for real apple pie. I’d seen another recipe using yellow squash but there’s no way I could get an apple-like texture from mushy squash.
I’m going to give your recipe a try with chayote, mainly because it’s what I have on hand and I need to use them. I’m already addicted to many of your bars, brownies, blondies and of course cheesecake, so the only problem I might have is stopping at one serving ????
Mary Anna says
This looks amazing. I think I’ll be wild and tweak the amounts to do a ‘regular’ size one (either in my 7” or 9” pan – I’ll do the math tomorrow). Hopefully it’ll be a great Thanksgiving dessert! (And hey, if not, only 3 of us will ever know, lol.)
Christina says
Hi! Do you think I can use golden monk fruit sweetner instead of swerve brown for the crust? Making this for our thanksgiving and I can’t wait. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Yes, that should be fine.
Betsy says
DELICIOUS! So good! I’m going to have a second one now…and maybe a third…hopefully I can wait until tonight for my fourth! 😀 😀 😀
Natalie says
These are so heavenly!! Two of my favorites..apple pie & cheesecake! Love the crumbly topping & all the comforting fall flavors!
Matt Taylor says
These are amazing! I can’t believe they are Keto, so awesome! I love how easy they are to make as well.
Stephanie says
Made this for my mom’s birthday and it was a huge hit. We will definitely be making again for the holidays! I couldn’t find apple extract but just added a little extra vanilla and it was perfect!
Nancy Chouinard says
My husband eats keto for seizures. He’s been keto for 4 years. I think this is one of the best desserts he’s had in years. I skipped the apple extract., it’s not necessary. This recipe is superb. My 19 year old son loved it. He asked me to make a non -keto Version. But that didn’t stop him from eating and enjoying a huge piece! Thank you so much.
Carolyn says
So glad you like it and so glad keto helps your husband!
Donna says
Just took them out of the oven. I didn’t have apple extract so I used almond in it’s place. Ordered Apple extract on amazon last night but it won’t be here till November 3rd. I couldn’t wait that long to try it. Lol
Can’t wait to have some tonight. I know it’s going to be excellent as everything you make that I try is. All your recipes are keepers. I bought your cooking for 2 ebook and just bought the small ceramic pie plate To make the peanut butter pie for 2. Thank you for all you do.
Trish says
OMG worth every carb!!! Thank you for this awesome taste of fall!
Beverly says
Many years ago I created an Apple Pie Cheesecake for my husband. When we went low carb two years ago I reworked it. Instead of apples I use zucchini. It is his favorite dessert!
I am also a homecanned and can Mock Apple Pie Filling. You can’t tell the difference!
Patti says
Would you mind sharing how you make the canned Mock Apple Pie filling please?
Pe says
Thank you for another divine recipe! I used less than 1/2 cup erythritol for the filling and it was perfectly sweet. And I made my crust and topping using brown butter. Believe me, it was a GAME CHANGER…Pure buttery indulgence.
Muniza says
Made it today, had one piece before putting it in the refrigerator mmmmm….goooood!!!