This rich keto low carb chocolate ganache is a chocolate lovers’ dream dessert. The most heavenly of sugar-free desserts and it’s incredibly easy to make!
You may recall a few months ago, I floated out a very important, possibly ground breaking theory. It’s a simple theory but it’s quite spectacular: Chocolate ganache fixes everything. At the time, I was mostly referring to the fact that it helps mask my incredibly poor cake-frosting abilities under a lovely layer of rich chocolate-y goodness. I really am remarkably bad at frosting cakes but I am also remarkably good at pouring ganache over them. And then no one notices my patchy, messy frosting. But the reality is that chocolate ganache is so much more than a distraction from messy frosting. Ever so much more. Because chocolate ganache just might be one of the richest, tastiest, most delicious chocolate creations in all the world. And as such, it has great power. It has the power to soothe ruffled nerves and brighten the lousiest of days. It can create bonds of friendship in the unlikeliest of people. Everyone swoons at chocolate ganache, so if ever you are in a situation of high tension with bitter foes ready to do battle, just whip up some chocolate ganache. Peace is restored. Everyone is happy. Until the ganache is gone. Then you are screwed!
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For a long time, my problem has been making a sugar-free chocolate ganache that is truly authentic. “Real” chocolate ganache is a simple mixture of cream and semi-sweet chocolate. But I don’t use semi-sweet chocolate. And unsweetened chocolate is very finicky and prone to seizing at the least provocation. I attempted the cream/chocolate combination several times early on in my low carb career and got a goopy, irretrievable mess. Determined not to live without chocolate ganache, I made up my own version which involved butter, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa powder and sweetener. And it made for a very acceptable and delicious, but not so authentic, chocolate sauce that tasted and behaved so much like real ganache, I was happy enough. I thought I was satisfied.
And then I came across a Martha Stewart recipe that I wanted to revamp and I found I wasn’t quite as satisfied as I’d previously thought. Martha’s Crisp Coconut and Chocolate Pie had me gagging for real chocolate ganache, made simply by melting chocolate with heavy cream and creating that unbelievably smooth, rich finish. So I decided to screw up my courage and attempt the unsweetened chocolate/cream mixture again, this time with several years of low carb experience under my belt. I was nervous, no question. I hate wasting ingredients and I particularly hate wasting chocolate. But I thought I knew enough about how my sweetener (Swerve), my chocolate and my cream behave that I might attempt it once more. One thing I knew was that powdered Swerve has a tendency to create a thicker end product, so I cut back on the total amount of chocolate compared to other ganache recipes. I also helped sweeten the ganache with a little stevia. And a little vanilla helped give it that semi-sweet chocolate flavour.
I won’t lie; this was really a leap of faith for me. But one of the ingredients that really helped make it work? Patience. I knew I needed to let that chopped chocolate melt completely in the hot cream before I whisked it together. Even so, I could hardly believe my luck when I began to whisk and got an incredibly smooth chocolate mixture. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I poured it into my coconut macaroon crust. Real low carb chocolate ganache conquered. I am on top of the world.
Rich sugar-free chocolate ganache poured into a coconut macaroon crust. The most heavenly of low carb desserts and it's incredibly easy to make!
- 2 large egg whites at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/2 cups shredded coconut
- 1 & 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp liquid stevia extract depending on how sweet you like it
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 ounces quality unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
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Preheat oven to 300F and grease a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan.
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Beat egg whites with sweetener and vanilla until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy. Gently fold in shredded coconut until combined.
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Spread mixture over bottom and up the sides of prepared pan. Cover edges with strips of foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 to 10 minutes more, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove and let cool.
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together cream and powdered sweetener. Bring to just a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in stevia and vanilla extracts.
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Add chopped chocolate and let sit 5 minutes until chocolate is completely melted, then whisk until smooth.
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Pour ganache into crust and refrigerated until set, about 3 hours.
Serves 12 (this stuff is seriously rich!). Each serving has 11.8 g of carbs and 7.04 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4.76 g.
Food energy: 350kcal
Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 0.76g
Total fat: 33.22g
Calories from fat: 299
Cholesterol: 33mg
Carbohydrate: 11.80g
Total dietary fiber: 7.04g
Protein: 4.91g
Sodium: 32mg
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Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
A coconut macaroon crust?! oh my gawd, I love this!
Kaitlin Vincent says
Ohmygosh. I know what’s going on my menu ASAP….!!! Thank you for this!
linda says
Hi Carolyn, Have you tried using Cocoa Paste? I’ve just found some at my local grocer GoodnessMe and from what I’ve read it may be the best solution yet for making anything chocolate. I’m sure your recipe will be wonderful, as always…..
Thanks!
linda says
woops! I think the correct term is Cacao Paste….
Barbara says
Looks GREAT! When shredded coconut is called for, is that fresh shredded coconut, or the unsweetened dried coconut you can buy in bags? Are they interchangeable, and if so, any change in measuring?
Also, if all I have is the powdered Swerve, can I substitute it for the granulated (in the crust)? If so — what change in the amount? Thanks!
Carolyn says
It’s the desiccated shredded coconut in bags and they would not be interchangeable. I think you can do the powdered in the crust in the same amount.
Lady Jennie says
Oh no! Another recipe I MUST make this weekend. 🙂
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’re a genius!
Barbara Taylor says
I have subscribed to your wwebsite and love your blog and recipes,but when i click print the box at top says the word “blank”. it is on every recipe I have tried to print from your website. If I cant print them it is not practiacl for me to use because my computer is upstairs and kitchen downstairs! Am i doing something wrong? Thanks for your help!!!!
Carolyn says
Hi Barbara,
Can you switch browsers? Are you using Chrome? I think this is a known issue between Ziplist and Chrome. But I can print no problem from Safari.
Thanks!
Carolyn
Maytha Kilgore says
I had the same problem. I hit Control P on my keyboard and had success that way. Hope it works for you.
Vivian says
YUM!! My husband loves chocolate so this is on my list! Thank you for the work you do perfecting the recipes so we won’t waste MORE chocolate! 🙂 What type of chocolate did you use?
Carolyn says
I used Ghirardelli 100%
Vivian says
Thank you for the reply and I will do the same! Looks wonderful!
Christine at Cook the Story says
The fact that this is sugar free and yet so decadent is pure awesome!
Kristie says
This looks absurdly good. Do you think the recipe would still work if it were cut in half?
Carolyn says
What size pan? I mean, yes, the proportions would work but you’d need the right size of pan to hold it.
Kristie says
I have a 1-quart ceramic casserole that I’ve successfully made mini-fruit pies in before. I don’t care if it’s square! Pie is pie, and there are only 2 in my household. I’ve never made anything involving chocolate — I’ve always been afraid of the melting step.
Carolyn says
Sounds good, give it a try. The trick with the ganache is patience. Make sure your cream gets to just a simmer, then add the chopped chocolate and walk away for at least 5 minutes. Come back and stir and it should be good. Use good quality chocolate like Ghirardelli.
Amanda says
Totally want to lick the screen! This is amazing!
Krissie says
Would the measurements for the sweetener be the same if I used stevia? I have the Pyure brand stevia. I have never made anything that is sugar-free so this will be my first attempt.
Carolyn says
I think you can use Pyure cup for cup, but I am not sure if it will behave exactly as Swerve does. It’s not granulated, it’s very powdery so I don’t know how it will fare in the meringue or in the ganache.
eric says
Great one
Susan Pelter says
Carolyn, this looks divine but I’m not a coconut lover; do you think blanched sliced almonds would work for the crust? I love almond macaroons, so with the ganache… sounds yum.
Carolyn says
I think you could use ground almonds, but sliced might not be fine enough.
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
What a great recipe! Loving that coconut macaroon crust and how healthy the recipe is for you.. thanks for sharing it. Pinned!
Cathy says
I can’t believe how incredibly delicious that looks! Carolyn, you have outdone yourself on this one!
Becky says
Wow! I’m drooling… 🙂 I’m definitely making this one this week!
Linda Sp says
I’ve made a version of this using the same crust, without the sweetener. The filling adds enough sweet for my taste. For the filling I made a very dark 85% chocolate mousse using the recipe invented by Hervé This, the founder of molecular gastronomy. It’s a very simple technique and goes against everything you think you ought to do because it’s basically water and chocolate, heated and whisked until it makes a mousse. The chocolate doesn’t seize up the way you’d expect. It’s a weird recipe, but yummy.
Your sugar-free version looks equally yummy. It’s on my list of recipes to try. 🙂
Common Sense says
Made this today,utterly delicious! The chocolate is creamy and the crust is tender. I used the higher amount of stevia because my husband likes chocolate a bit sweeter (a former milk chocolate guy) and it was just perfect. Served with whipped cream of course!
It was also quite easy and quick to make, the hard part was waiting 3 hours for it to cool. I was actually short on cooling time for the crust so it only had about 10 minutes (outside on the deck, it’s cool today) before I poured in the ganache. Chilled for about 3.5 hours.
Thanks again Carolyn for a great recipe!
Common Sense says
One more comment, I used plain ol’ Baker’s unsweetened chocolate because that’s what I had and it worked just fine.
Carolyn says
Good to know, thanks!
meghan says
I only have granulated and not powdered sweetener. Would granulated still work okay in the ganache?
Carolyn says
Not really, I’m afraid. Unless you can find a way to powder it really finely, your ganache will be very gritty.
sue in CA says
you can turn your granulated Swerve into powder in a blender (I used my Vitamix) … I now prefer to have powdered on hand instead of granulated. Works equally well in all recipes
karen says
Carolyn, to prevent chocolate from seizing when making chocolate ganache, use the food processor. I chop the chocolate (any kind) almost to powder, heat up cream very hot in the micro, then process together. I have NEVER had it seize, take way less time too. I used to have a cake business and I did it this way every time, never had a problem. I also use half the amount of cream, then put the rest in cold which cools it down even faster so you can eat it quicker!! Happy Baking
Karen
Carolyn says
I’ve never had a problem doing it this way, ever since I wrote this recipe. And that would require two things to clean, both the pot and the processor! (Yep, I am that lazy). 🙂 But thanks for the tip, I may have to try it sometime.
Jeannee says
I made this yesterday in honor of pi day! It was delicious and came out exactly the way yours is pictured. Thanks!
Nicolette says
Do you think this would work with real granulated and powdered sugar??
Carolyn says
Yes, it should.
Dot says
Hey there,
Do you have a recipe ebook for these delicious pies you make???
LeeAnn says
O…M….G. I made this for Thanksgiving; being grain/sugar free, with relatives having nut and dairy allergies, I wanted to make something that could be served in conjunction with the traditional pecan and apple pie. This was S O super rich and chocolaty! I did use the powdered Swerve in the crust, as that was what I had, and it worked fine. I used coconut cream instead of heavy cream, and used Lily’s chocolate chips as opposed to adding additional Stevia. This was so fantastic! Even those who didn’t have allergies loved it as a different option. I will definitely be making again. Thank you Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Glad you liked it!
KarinC says
To Die For. I used all erythritol, (didn’t have Swerve) and I used liquid sucralose instead of liquid stevia. The pie is BEYOND delicious, and super easy!!
Wendy says
I REALLY want to make this and add Almonds to the filling — I’m thinking LC Almond Joy tart — YUMMMM. Can’t wait to try!
Jessica says
Carolyn, do you think I could replace the cream with full fat canned coconut milk? I’m dairy-free. 🙂 thanks!
Carolyn says
Yes, you can but it definitely doesn’t thicken quite as well so I would whisk in some xanthan gum at the end before you pour it into the crust. Maybe 1/4 tsp?
Lisa says
Carolyn, I made this yesterday and refrigerated overnight to take to a cookout. It was tasty but even after sitting out the pie was very firm, actually would have made a delicious fudge. I used Dagoba 100% 2 oz and ghirardelli 100% 4 oz. What would you do differently next time?
Lisa says
And I used your low carb press-in almond crust for non-coconut lovers which was delicious.
Carolyn says
Well, that is very interesting to hear because several people have said it does not firm up for them. The reality is that all chocolate is different so the fiber content of the chocolate could be the cause. I’d stick with ghirardelli because that’s what I use.
Jessica says
I went to 2 stores today and neither had 100% chocolate or anything close that didn’t have sugar. So I was resourceful and used a 70% chocolate bar sweetened with stevia (Lilly’s). I added a same cocao powder to compensate for the other 30% of chocolate and added a little less swerve and left out the stevia. I’m happy to report that it turned out great!!
But, I’ll keep my eyes out for 100% chocolate next time I’m out.
Bianca says
Hi there.
Unfortunately I can not find any swerve sweetener where I live and I was wondering if I can use either Stevia for the crust and ganache or brown sugar and regular powdered sugar?
Carolyn says
Stevia will not allow the filling to firm up properly. Is that all you can find? What about other erythritol-based sweeteners?
Bianca says
I was only able to find stevia, truvia or regular sugar and brown sugar. I was going to make the pie for thanksgiving but I will make it christmas and order what I need.
Carolyn says
Use Truvia but powder it in a coffee grinder, if you can. And it’s much sweeter than Swerve, which measure like sugar. So look up a conversion chart for using Truvia compared to sugar.
Bianca says
Thank you!
sue in CA says
Made this and it was a big hit … family remarked it reminded them of Almond Joy bars … only difference in mine compared to your photos, my coconut crust was not as fluffy or thick looking as yours. Also I originally thought that a 1/12 serving would be too small, LOL … nope, it is so rich and decadent, couldn’t eat more if I wanted to!
Tanya says
Another amazing recipe, Carolyn. So quick and easy to make and a hit with the family. I added approx 3/4 t of ground cardamom as I love the dark chocolate/cardamom combo. Divine. Thank you for continuing to share such wonderful recipes, inspiring my rediscovered love of cooking, especially dessert making and enhancing the LCHF way of life.
Carolyn says
The cardamom sounds amazing!
Beth Ayotte says
Excellent…keeper!
Carolyn says
Thanks!
Linda says
How funny! The Martha Stewart recipe was one of the first desserts I tried making over. That was back before I’d started using Swerve, stevia, and Lily’s chocolate. I used G&B 85% chocolate and Herve This’s water and chocolate mousse for the filling. It didn’t work as well as I’d hoped because the mousse was too soft to cut. But it works wonderfully for individual tarts. I have a different recipe from Alice Medrich that I revised that’s my go to chocolate tart. It’s going to be nice to add yours to my repertoire. It looks super yummy.
Carolyn says
Thanks!
Jenny says
I know this is an older recipe, but I’m thinking of making these in individual sized muffin cups. Do you think that would work, and would the recipe, as is, fit a standard 12 cup muffin tin? Obviously I’ll need to watch the crust cooking closely as it would probably cook faster, but any thoughts on this would be most appreciated. Thank you!!!
Carolyn says
I think it could work but I would grease those muffin cups and I really don’t know if it would make 12 or not.
Stephanie Deal says
Well dang!! This is the very first recipe of yours that I’ve tried that was a total bust. I used Ghiardelli chocolate and followed the recipe exactly. The crust as tough and crumbled to pieces and the chocolates ganache was rich, but not sweet enough and after 4 hours in the fridge, it was hard as a rock. I’m totally disappointed but after 18 months of trying your recipes, I guess it’s ok that I finally had one fail. :-/
Truthfully, I’m not making this again and will just stick with your Chocolate Mousse Pie – which is simply to die for. 🙂
Carolyn says
I am sorry to hear that! Not sure what went wrong. I do recommend at least keeping the ganache in mind for other recipes because it does work well usually!
J says
I know this is an older post, but I am puzzled by the addition of Liquid Stevia into the melted chocolate. The water in the stevia causes it to seperate for me.
Carolyn says
Then either your heat was too high or your chocolate was low quality.
Teresa says
I don’t really like liquid stevia. Can I use sugar free mocha or vanilla syrup instead?
Carolyn says
Sure!
Carolinagirl says
SO glad i found this recipe! This was my first keto birthday, and as i am doing it for health reasons, i wasn’t willing to splurge on my former go to paleo cake. This was absolutely delicious, and was just what i was waning for a birthday “cake”! I used full fat coconut milk to keep it dairy free, and just used the fat off the top of the cans. The consistency was perfect! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Carolyn says
Glad it worked out so well!
Rachel says
I can’t stand stevia — can I leave it out or should I sub it with something else? what would you recommend.
Carolyn says
You can do more Swerve but it may be quite a bit thicker.
Jasmine says
Hello, this looks absolutely delish !! Is it possible to use pure cacao powder for the recipe instead of chocolate bars? I just have so much cacao powder that I’m trying to use up. hahah!
Jasmine says
also, can i use monk fruit sweetener instead?
Carolyn says
There is a way to use cacao for unsweetened chocolate but it requires also more oil. I think it’s 3 tbsp cacao plus 1 tbsp oil (butter is fine) for every ounce of chocolatey. You may want to google it.