Now my famous low carb Brownie Cheesecake comes in miniature! A perfect keto grain-free dessert for two.
So you had to know this was coming, right? I mean, c’mon! You should have seen this coming a million miles away. You must have seen the writing on the wall. The signs were so obvious, so glaringly obvious. You’d have to be completely oblivious to have missed them. I’d even go so far as to say that this recipe was pre-destined, pre-ordained by a higher power. There was no escaping it. One could not change the course of fate. The gods of dessert decided long ago that I would be making a mini low carb brownie cheesecake for two some day in my life. And that day was just last week, when my husband was traveling and I wanted just a wee bit of healthy dessert. I am happy to say that I have fulfilled the prophecy and lived up to the dessert gods expectations.
Really, from the moment I started making low carb mini cakes, this really was an obvious one. I mean, my full size Brownie Cheesecake is far and away one of the most popular recipes here on All Day I Dream About Food. And why shouldn’t it be? Creamy dreamy vanilla cheesecake atop a thick crust of dense, rich grain-free brownie. Bam. Done. Best dessert ever. Don’t even try to find anything that tops it because that, my friends, is an impossibility.
But you know, being the best dessert ever does have its downfall. And that is temptation. When it’s that tasty, when it rivals the best conventional desserts in flavour and richness, you run the risk of wanting to plow your face right into the pan and gobble the whole thing one go. This is a course of action I do not generally recommend, except in times of extreme need and stress. Even then, I caution you to proceed carefully, as you are likely to spend a great deal of time with a tummy ache. That much cream cheese and chocolate in one go would fell even the most dedicated of dessert eaters.
Solution: make the best low carb dessert ever in miniature, just enough for you to share with a loved one. That way, if hard times hit and stress-eating is upon you, you can in fact plow your face into the pan and eat the whole thing in one go, without the resulting tummy ache. Problem solved.
Cook’s Notes: If you don’t have mini cheesecake pans, you can cook it as several mini muffin-tin cheesecakes. Be sure to line them with parchment liners for easy release. Or you could make them in a 4-inch ramekin and simply eat it straight out of the ramekin. Grease it well!
Brownie Cheesecake for Two
Ingredients
Brownie Base
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp almond flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 large egg, divided (this will be split between the crust and the filling)
- 1/8 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
Cheesecake:
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tbsp full fat sour cream
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Cheater's Chocolate Ganache (optional):
- 1/2 ounce sugar-free dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 tbsp butter, or peanut butter, that's good too!
Instructions
Brownie Base
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 4-inch mini cheesecake pan. Wrap bottom outside of pan in foil to avoid leakage.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Whisk in cocoa powder, almond flour, and sweetener until smooth.
- In a glass measuring cup, whisk egg until lightly beaten, then add about HALF of the egg to the bowl (reserve remaining egg for filling mixture). Add vanilla extract and whisk until well combined. Stir in chopped nuts.
- Spread in prepared mini cheesecake pan and smooth as best you can (I used my fingers). Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until set around the sides but not in the center. Remove and let cool while preparing the filling.
Cheesecake Filling
- Reduce oven temperature to 300F.
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with sweetener until well combined. Beat in the remaining egg from the crust, the sour cream, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over the brownie base and spread to the edges.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until edges are set but filling jiggles just slightly in the center.
- Remove and let cool, then refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan and release the sides.
Cheater's Chocolate Ganache
- In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter and chocolate together on high in 30 second increments. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cheesecake just before serving.
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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Hi! I am still learning about keto. I see you use mostly butter, not ghee or coconut oil…I guess butter is ok on keto? In on know ghee is essentially butter but it goes through a process. Can you explain to me, is one better than the other? Why do you choose butter. Thank you!
butter is keto friendly
Thank you! This recipe is delicious! I baked it in a 4-inch ramekin, came out perfect!
How much did you adjust the cook times?
How long did you bake for?
Is there a substitute for sour cream? Trying to avoid making the larger cake when I am all alone
Try just a bit of heavy cream.
When I make the larger one, I just cut it into slices and freeze it individually and just thaw before eating!!
This looks AMAZING, and it’s so smart to make it in a mini size! Thanks for the macros too. That’s what trips me up most with keto – tracking everything. Thanks again!
Made another one today – practice makes perfect! This time I doubled the recipe so it would fit better in my 6″ cake pan and have some height! I’m good with it being 4 servings instead of 2! It looks so much better and I can hardly wait to try it out because I had to make a couple changes. I didn’t have enough cream cheese so used 1.5 oz of Ricotta.
Made this today and even though my pan was too big (6″ instead of 4″) it still came out great! Just really thin. I added Maple flavoring/extract to the cheesecake mix and used your Caramel sauce recipe to drizzle over the top! I really need to go out and buy myself some 4″ pans! Because I plan to make many more small cakes and cheesecakes!
Made this, this afternoon. It’s in my fridge waiting till time for dessert, man it looks amazing!! Made it for two, with the ganache, in a 4″ ramekin, which I tightly covered in tin foil, and sprayed so it wouldn’t stick. Cake lifted out perfectly once cooled, ganache looks gorgeous, looks like something from a restaurant, best looking Keto cake I’ve made yet, and I’m sure it will taste even better! Thank you for such a wonderful and easy recipe!!
So glad to hear it!
Carolyn, if I would like to make it in 2 mini cheesecake pan , would it work in 2 , 3-inch instead of 1 4 inch?
It’s going to be really thin. The square inches of 2 3-inch circles is a lot more than a single 4-inch circle. I really don’t think it will work well.
This is so delicious! The smallest springform pan I had was 7 inches so I doubled the recipe hoping that would do the trick. It did, to some degree, and although I ended up with a very thin cheesecake, it was 100% heavenly and absolutely yummy! Will definitely make this again, just need to get my math right! For a full sized cheesecake, I suppose 4 times the ingredients should do the trick? I’m quite happy to keep trying until I get this right ????
As long as it tastes good…right??? 🙂 You do know I already have a full size version? That’s what this is based on… https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/brownie-cheesecake-low-carb-and-gluten-free/
Oh wow, I didn’t know! Thank you SO much for bringing that to my attention, I absolutely must try that version… hooray 🙂
Enjoy!
Should the filling be baked separately from the brownie base or once I finish mixing the ingredients for the filling should I put it on the brownie base and bake it all for 25 minutes?
The instructions are pretty clear. Bake the base for a bit, then top with the filling and bake again as directed.
WHY AM I ONLY SEEING THIS NOW, holy heck god bless you for this recipe.
Enjoy!
Every about this amazing! Huge weakness for me!
This decadent bliss has my name written all over it!
Cheesecake for one 😉
I might make this a “FOR ONE” recipe 😉
This is so delightful! I can’t wait to make and eat this!