Let’s face it, adulting is hard. And sometimes you have to make tough decisions. Like choosing between keto cheesecake or keto chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Really, it’s quite heart-wrenching stuff!
Thank goodness there are delicious mashup desserts like these Keto Cheesecake Bars. This way, you can enjoy all the creamy deliciousness of cheesecake with the buttery sweet flavor of your favorite cookies. This is one of my most popular keto desserts, with good reason!
I got it into my head that I needed to make them again for a party, and while I was at it, I took some new photos. To be honest, I had forgotten just how much I liked them. And they got rave reviews from everyone.
If you like to maximize your sweet treats, check out other mashup recipes like Keto Coffee Cake Cookies or my delectable Keto Brookies. So many wonderful ways to bring two recipes together!
Why we love this recipe
- Easy to make: Cheesecake Bars like these are also wonderful because they’re easier than full scale cakes. And they don’t require a water bath!
- Great flavor: You really do get to get to enjoy two desserts in one!
- Great for parties: This recipe makes 16 delicious bars so you can share with family and friends.
- Freezable: Want to keep them all to yourself? Store them in a covered container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Macros: They look and taste like a high carb dessert but have only 6.1g total carbs per serving!
Reader’s Thoughts
“Hello and thank you from Australia! My husband became a type 1 diabetic in his late 20’s, and when he got the diagnosis it was such a struggle to try and find ways for him to still enjoy desserts safely. This recipe and all the other incredible recipes on your website have been an absolute godsend. Keep up the fantastic work!” — Gin
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: This keto shortbread crust is made with almond flour. You could use sunflower seed flour for a nut free option, but you will need to add a little lemon juice to offset the green reaction.
- Sweetener: You will want a brown sugar substitute in the cookie portion and a powdered sweetener in the cheesecake portion.
- Cream cheese: Make sure your cream cheese is properly softened.
- Sour cream: This helps make the filling extra creamy. You could also use heavy cream.
- Sugar-free chocolate chips: I like to use Lily’s or ChocZero dark chocolate chips. If you can find them, mini keto chocolate chips are great too.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, butter, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Step by Step Directions
- Prepare the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract and beat until the dough comes together. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Bake the crust: Press about two-thirds of the dough into the bottom of a greased 9-inch square pan. Bake at 325ºF for 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown, then remove from the oven and let cool (it will not be fully baked at this point).
- Make the cheesecake filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until completely smooth, about 1 minutes. Add the powdered sweetener, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Finally beat in the egg until just combined.
- Assemble the bars: Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Take the remaining cookie crust mixture and crumble over the top of the filling, pressing lightly to adhere.
- Bake, then chill: Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the top crust is golden and the filling is just a little jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool, then refrigerate for 1 hour until set.
Tips for Success
I cannot stress how important it is to have your cream cheese properly softened before beating. In cooler climes, this means warming it up a tiny bit. I always zap mine in the microwave for 5 to 10 seconds.
Bake the bottom crust until it’s just golden brown. You don’t want it fully baked but you want it to bake enough to be firm under the cheesecake filling.
Sweetener Options: I recommend using an erythritol-based brown sugar sweetener for the crust. Allulose will cause it to brown too much and it will also be overly soft, so the bars won’t have enough structure.
You do want a powdered sweetener for the cheesecake filling but it can be whatever kind you like best. I used a combination of erythritol and allulose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Good news! Cheesecake is a wonderful dessert that is easy to make without sugar or flour. You can enjoy many wonderful flavors and styles of keto friendly cheesecake! I advise making your own rather than trying to purchase it, so you know exactly what it contains and how many carbs it has.
Keto dessert bars like this refrigerate and freeze really well. Make sure to let them cool properly before wrapping them up tightly to store. You can freeze them in the pan, if you like, but I recommend pressing plastic wrap to the surface of the cooled bars, to avoid freezer burn. Then wrap the whole pan tightly in foil or additional plastic. You could also cut them into individual servings and store in a covered container between sheets of waxed paper, so that you can enjoy them anytime the craving strikes.
This keto chocolate chip cheesecake bar recipe has 6.1g of carbs and 3.2g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.9g net carbs per bar.
More Delicious Keto Cheesecake Bars
Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Cookies Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups (280 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar replacement
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (60 g) sugar-free chocolate chips
Cheesecake Filling:
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup (60.67 g) powdered sweetener
- 2 tbsp sour cream, or heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and grease a 9-inch square pan well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract and beat until the dough comes together. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Press about two-thirds of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until light golden brown, then remove from the oven and let cool (it will not be fully baked at this point).
Filling
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until completely smooth, about 1 minutes. Add the powdered sweetener, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Finally beat in the egg until just combined.
- Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Take the remaining cookie crust mixture and crumble over the top of the filling, pressing lightly to adhere.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the top crust is golden and the filling is just a little jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven and let cool, then refrigerate for 1 hour until set.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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These look amazing!! I am definitely trying this weekend! I was wondering if coconut flour could be used in place of the almond flour? Only because that is what I have on hand. If so, would it be the same amount?
Noooooooo to the coconut flour! 🙂 Coconut flour and almond flour are very different creatures. Coconut flour is very fine and very absorbent and requires 3 times as many eggs and more oil. I just don’t think it would work for this particular recipe.
2nd time making this. So very yummy. Thank you for taking the time to put this recipe together. My friends, family, and tummy thanks you!
The coconut flakes should they be sweetened or unsweetened? I am assume they would be unsweetened but only have the sweetened right now and wanted to check with you~ 🙂 These look delicious!
Unsweetened, for sure!
I made these the other day and OMG! They are some of the best cookies I have ever tasted. I think I may add 1/4 tsp almond extract to the cheesecake next time to see how it tastes. My mother always added that to her cheesecakes. Thanks Carolyn. I am addicted to your site.
Is there anything you can sub for the shredded coconut? I have an intense dislike for coconut, and I find it mixed in so many low carb recipes. This sounds delicious, and I’d hate to structurally change something by leaving out the coconut. Thanks! P.S. love your website!
You can just do the same amount of almond flour. It won’t be as flaky/crumbly but it will still be good.
I used some pecans I ground up in a food processor. It was so good!
Oh my goodness. These are so freakin delicious! They’re rich and decadent and are not in any way a compromise. I tested them out on some friends and got great feedback so I’ll be whipping up a batch to take to coworkers. I know some people don’t really like the coconut taste or texture and since I could make out the texture (not a problem for me) I may just replace the cup of coconut with another nut flour. These were amazing without alterations though!
So glad you like them. They are a favourite for me!
I made these and they were delicious! And easy! Thank you for making this recipe- I am adding it to my regular rotation. Just wondering, have you ever skipped the filling and just made a chocolate chip cookie bar? Thanks again and keep the recipes coming! I love them!
These cookies are already based on some other cookies and bars of mine. Search two in particular: coconut chocolate chip cookies and Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies.
this is a great recipe. just wonder if i could use the cookies base for sandwich ice cream 🙂
Yep, should work!
Is it possible to substitute the almond flour with THM baking blend? If so, how much? Thank you.
I used half Bob’s Almond meal/flour and half Bob’s Superfine almond flour, and Swerve. The dough unbaked seemed like what I remember as a sort of shortbread consistency. Baked, however, it was too dry and crumbly and not real sweet. The coconut added a nice flavor, though, and I’m ok with a little less sweetness. The cheesecake filling was terrific. My final product was more a forkable dessert than a bar that can be eaten out of hand.
Question: how do you grease the pan? I used a lot of butter but the dough was still hard to get out without sticking a bit and breaking up. I hesitate to use Pam cuz I don’t care for the sprays except for olive oil spray. Would canola oil work?
I think the almond meal is part of the problem here. It’s not fine enough for some things. As for your pan… not sure what kind of pan you use but I suggest USA pans. They are the best nonstick pans I’ve ever tried. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029JMMRE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0029JMMRE&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=VJGVRISZZIKVPML2
Do you think that I could use coconut flour for the coconut and still use the recommended almond flour for the crust? I lost my shopping list today and forgot the coconut and want to make these tomorrow. Thanks!
No, it will not work that way because coconut flour is too dense. Try replace the coconut with almond flour.
How much THM baking blend would you recommend in place of almond flour?
I’d actually try a direct replacement but you may need to add a little more butter.
I have swerve but it has quite the cool taste and aftertaste to me. Do you have any suggestions for sweeteners? Thank you!
Do half Swerve and half stevia, that should work.
Hello,
This is the first low-carb dessert I’ve ever made (my spouse has been eating low-carb for about 9 weeks now, already lost 30lbs!). I just wanted to let you know how amazing it is and how much I appreciate your site and sites like yours! You don’t even miss the sugar or flour in a dessert like this.
We don’t have Swerve in Canada yet so I purchased Erithrytol and used it in place of Swerve + liquid vanilla stevia and it turned out great. I used 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated Erithrytol for the cookies crust and 1/3 cup granulated Erithrytol + 1/2 teaspoon liquid vanilla Stevia (Sweet Leaf brand) for the cheesecake and it turned out great. Also I baked it in an 8×8 as did not have 9×9 and it turned out great, just needed to bake about 7-10 mins longer. Cut nicely into 16 squares.
Thanks so much for your recipe! This has given me the confidence to continue on my low-carb dessert baking journey 🙂
Hi Natalia, Thanks for your kind words. But I want you to know that you DO have Swerve in Canada. It’s available at Loblaws and also through Low Carb Canada. I am actually Canadian, although I live in the US now.
This recipe looked so tasty! I am sorry to report that it does not work, however, replacing the almond flour with Coconut flour. It must need another egg, or butter or/and another liquid, possibly almond milk? It was soo dry! I added lots of tbs of water knowing that coconut absorbs liquid differently than almond flour. I underestimated coconut’s liquid absorbing powers! I only write this cause I didn’t see any other comments on here from someone who had tried it and wanted to warn others! Otherwise this is a great recipe, just wished I had done a little more research before attempting. I am new to baking with alternative flours and this was a good learning experience.
I could have told you that replacing the almond flour with coconut flour wouldn’t work. They are two very different creatures and you’d need less coconut flour and more egg. Sorry you had to find out on your own…
That’s what I get for not asking! 😉 I’m not giving up though. I WILL make this work and not let it break my budget with purchasing almond flour! Kiddos like it though, so there’s that!!
I’ve made this and love it. I also get my AF from Costco. Best value!
hi carolyn! i’ve been doing LCHF on an off for awhile but i’m incredibly new to the world of low carb baking and i made the rookie mistake of buying bob’s red mill almond meal/flour instead of a finer almond flour like honeyville… do you think the texture of the cookie in this recipe would be totally botched if i used the almond meal? i’ve always liked cookies with nuts in them so i don’t mind the little bits of almond but i wasn’t sure if they would cook the same.
For this recipe, I think it’s actually going to be fine. It’s not a rookie mistake, Bob’s is very useful but it’s not quite fine enough for cakes. But the texture of these bars is supposed to be a little more crumbly.
I finally got around to making these tonight and could KICK myself for having waited! They are INCREDIBLE!!
This is my husband’s FAVORITE dessert now that we’ve gone low carb. We always have some in the fridge. If we are going away, I stick it in the freezer and it is just fine. He used to ask for low carb cookies & cream ice cream but no longer wants anything but these cheesecake bars. I suspect that he makes this into fewer than 20 servings but, heh, not really a big deal. I’ve been making these for about a year now. Sometimes, I add ground flax seed to the cookie dough to make it more nutritious.
Awe, yay! So glad to hear it!
Hi Carolyn, I’m wondering about the nutritional information. I see that you offer the amount of carbs per bar based on how many servings, but what about the next line with the other information…calories, fat, protein. Is this per bar as well, or total? I always get confused with this. Thanks so much! I love all your recipes…so tasty!
xo Jules
That is the total nutritional info per bar. The carbs I do at the top as Net carbs.
Yes! I used Stevia today and it worked! I also used half almond flour and half coconut flour for the dough. My husband just wanted to sit and eat the dough by itself!!! Love this recipe!!!
OMG! These are fabulous! So delicious, my husband ate a huge piece 😉