What’s better than a delicious keto chocolate muffin? One with a cream cheese center, of course! Add a few melty chocolate chips on top and you’re in low carb breakfast heaven.
Surely you know by now how much I rely on keto muffins to stick with my health goals. I always have some in the fridge or freezer for easy breakfasts or snacks. I have often credited them with keeping me on track because they’re easy, delicious, and store so well. And the flavor variations are endless!
Sometimes it’s fun to jazz them up a little and take them over the top. These Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins have been one of my favorites for quite some time. How can you go wrong with a rich chocolate base and a creamy cheesecake filling?
While they make an excellent breakfast treat, they are also special enough for dessert.
Reader’s Thoughts
“By far my boyfriends favorite keto dessert I make! It’s gone into regular rotation. Currently making a batch and going to try freezing half of them. Thanks so much for this amazing recipe!!” — Jess
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Bakery-style: These muffins are worthy of any occasion. They look and taste like they came from your favorite bakery!
- Nut-free option: You can swap out the almond flour for sunflower seed flour, for a nut-free keto treat.
- Make-ahead recipe: Make a big batch and store in the freezer for whenever you need a treat.
- Creamy cheesecake: The cheesecake center is ultra-creamy and decadent.
- Low-carb: This recipe is perfect for low carb, keto, and gluten-free diets.
Ingredient Notes
- Cream cheese: You can’t have a cheesecake center without cream cheese!
- Heavy cream: This helps make the filling extra creamy.
- Almond flour: I typically use almond flour, but sunflower seed flour makes a wonderful nut-free version.
- Cocoa powder: Dutch cocoa powder gives these muffins a rich, deep chocolate flavor.
- Protein powder: This gives the muffins better lift and structure.
- Sweetener: I recommend an erythritol based sweetener for the muffin batter. You can use your preferred sweetener in the filling.
- Heavy whipping cream: This is used to thin out the cream cheese filling.
- Liquid: I like to use leftover coffee but water works as well.
- Chocolate chips: Feel free to use your favorite brand of keto chocolate chips.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, butter, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
How to Make This Recipe
- Prepare the filling: Beat the cream cheese with the sweetener until combined. Mix in the cream and vanilla until smooth.
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk the almond flour with the sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, melted butter, coffee, and vanilla extract.
- Assemble the muffins: Divide the batter evenly into muffin cups. With the back of a spoon, create a well in the center of each muffin. Divide the cream cheese filling among the wells and sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
- Bake the muffins. Bake until the edges are set and the centers are puffed up. Remove and let cool in the pan.
Tips for Success
I used chocolate protein powder for this recipe, but you can use plain or vanilla instead. If using vanilla, make sure to leave out the added vanilla extract.
A little coffee enhances chocolate flavors, without making them taste like coffee, so I highly recommend. But plain water is a good option too!
Sweetener Options: I recommend erythritol sweeteners for the muffin batter, as allulose can make the muffins overly browned and taste a little burned. If you wish to cut back on the erythritol, you can try one quarter cup, and use some stevia or monk fruit extract for additional sweetness.
For the cheesecake filling, any kind of sweetener works, as long as it is powdered.
Keto Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 ounces (170.1 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup (47.5 g) powdered sweetener
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Muffins
- 1 3/4 cups (196 g) almond flour, (can use sunflower seed meal)
- 1/3 cup (63.33 g) sweetener, erythritol based recommended
- 1/4 cup (21.5 g) cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup (27 g) whey protein powder, or egg white protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (75.67 g) butter, melted
- 1/3 cup (78.86 ml) coffee or water, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp (45.65 g) dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
Instructions
Cream Cheese Filling
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with the sweetener until well combined. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until smooth. Set aside.
Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a muffin pan with 12 silicone or parchment muffin liners.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the eggs, butter, coffee, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each no more than 2/3 full. With the back of a spoon, create a well in the center of each muffin.
- Divide the cream cheese filling among the wells, adding about 1 1/2 tbsp to each muffin. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with chocolate chips
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers are puffed up. Remove and let cool in the pan (the centers will rise and sink, this is normal).
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
If you can find a good cream cheese alternative that you like, you certainly can. Replace the butter with avocado oil and the heavy cream with some coconut cream. Be sure to read the label on the dairy-free cream cheese, as many of them contain more carbs.
Because of the cream cheese filling, I recommend storing these muffins in a covered container in the fridge. Eat chilled or room temperature. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
This keto chocolate cream cheese muffins recipe has 7g of carbs and 3.3g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.7g net carbs per muffin.
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 muffins came out just perfect on this Portland raining night! ( Comfort food night!)
Thank you, Carolyn!
Looks like we’re getting some nice weather soon!
Just made these today and they are delicious! Thank you!
I made these recently and I’m wondering if there is an error in the measurement of the baking powder? I used the 1 Tbsp recipe called for and these tasted horrible, very ‘tinny’. I am thinking the recipe should be 1 Tbsp?
Hi Jenna, no it’s not an error and you can see from the overwhelmingly positive reviews that most people do not experience this. Sounds to me like you have a baking powder that’s not good. And possibly contains a lot of aluminum, if you got a tinny taste. A lot of them do contain aluminum and it’s really not good for you.
Keto baked goods lack gluten and thus require a lot more leavening agent to rise properly. You could cut it back to 2 tsp but that’s the least.
These muffins are delicious. Just baked them this morning. What’s the best way to store them? Thanks for the awesome recipes! The vanilla scones were also amazing! Better than Starbucks if you ask me!
They are best stored in the fridge in a covered container.
I am making this recipe for the first time – they are in the oven right now! I used to be famous for my Black-Bottom cupcakes, pre keto – and I was so sad that I couldn’t make them any more. Fingers crossed, these will rise to the occasion! I am bringing them to the Oscar party this afternoon. Thanks Carolyn!
My versions weren’t pretty but they were delicious!
This is the perfect treat for anyone on the keto diet. Thank you so much for sharing.
These are seriously sooooo delicious!!! We’re obsessed with them! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I’m new to keto – and LOVE that there’s a delicious treat I can enjoy that fits into my eating goals. Thanks for this AMAZE-YUM-DELISH muffin.
Where do you recommend I buy sunflower seed flour? The one I found on Amazon is a 12oz bag and wouldn’t cover the 2 cups for the recipe. That would buying 2 bags would make an incredibly expensive muffin. Are there other less expensive options for nut free?
The 12 oz bag would indeed cover two cups, actually. Sunflower seed flour is only about 100g per cup, as long as you use the scoop and level method. That’s only about 3.5 ounces per cup.
But you can also make your own: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/how-to-make-your-own-sunflower-seed-flour/
Thank you so much!
I just made these and they were great. I will make them again. Thanks for being so awesome. Congrats on the new book!
is “1/2 tbsp unsweetened almond or hemp milk room temperature” correct? it seems like such a small amount. looking at your Double Chocolate Muffin recipe i’m wondering if that shouldn’t be 1/2 c?
if 1/2 tbsp is correct, is water also fine?
nevermind, i apparently hadn’t refreshed the page in a week. after posting it refreshed, and i see the comment above and that it’s already been fixed in the recipe. sorry!
looking forward to making these tomorrow.
These are delicious! Not sure why, but my batter was too thin to make wells, so I just plopped the cream cheese mixture on top and smushed it down into the batter. Thanks for another great recipe!
You may have needed a bit more flour or cocoa powder. Different cocoa powders have different absorbency so it can sometimes affect the recipe.
I had the same thing happen with my batter… it was almost like a thick cake batter, but still slowly pourable. I tried adding about 1/4 cup more almond flour, but it didn’t make enough of a difference, so I just left it be. I really wanted to be able to make those “wells” in the batter, and while these really are good, having that cheesecake-y goodness right inside would have been so much better.
Carolyn: is the Rodelle cocoa that you link to what you use too? If so, I have the exact same cocoa, so I don’t think that would be it. Other than that, maybe my Kirkland almond flour is to blame?
I have a big bag of Rodelle in my cupboard and it is indeed what I used. If your batter was like a “thick cake batter” then it was ideal and I am not entirely sure what the problem is? But I suppose it could be the almond flour. I’ve had a number of people make these without issue.
I meant that as a thicker cake batter that pools and is still liquid enough that it’s impossible to make wells for the cream cheese.
In the article you mention using hazelnut flour- how much would you use (instead of almond)? I like to bake using grams and have found with your recipes 1 cup of almond flour works out to be 100g- would it be the same with hazelnut flour?
Thank you for all the top notch recipes you provide us with!
It measures pretty much the same.
Is the 1/2 tablespoon of almond milk correct? That small amount of liquid seems unlikely to affect the batter, which made me wonder if maybe it was supposed to be a half cup instead.
Thanks for catching that, it’s supposed to be 1/2 cup! Fixing now…
Hello-
in the recipe it doesn’t list Xanthum Gum, but it is listed in the directions. How much should I add? (I added 1 t. and they came out great, but wasn’t sure of the purpose of it). Thank you!
This recipe is an older one and I’ve discovered it doesn’t really need the xanthan anymore.