Death by chocolate cheesecake is simply the best low carb chocolate cheesecake recipe on the planet! You won’t believe this luscious, velvety cheesecake is keto and sugar-free. Now with a fabulous how-to recipe video!
This rich low carb chocolate cheesecake is a little higher in carbs than some of my dessert recipes, but believe me, it is worth the splurge!
I always feel so sad for people who say they don’t like cheesecake. As far as I am concerned, they are missing out on one of life’s greatest pleasures. Creamy, dense, velvety smooth cheesecake is just this side of heaven, really, and I have a hard time understanding how anyone could dislike it.
And so many wonderful varieties, like blueberry cheesecake, cinnamon roll cheesecake, or classic keto New York cheesecake! The possibilities are endless.
Perhaps these people have had the misfortune of biting into an overdone, eggy, rubbery cheesecake and have written it off because of this. There are a few bad cheesecakes out there, and perhaps they are ruining the cheesecake experience for a small portion of people.
What a tragedy! We should make an effort to round up those nasty cheesecakes and get them off the streets. We need to lock them away where they can no longer be a danger to themselves or to society. Solitary isolation for badly cooked cheesecakes!
Video for Low Carb Chocolate Cheesecake
But I also suspect that some people are caught off guard by tanginess of cheesecake when they expect only sweet. That’s what makes the cheesecake experience so unique and, in my opinion, so utterly delicious. But I can see how that might be a little off-putting for someone whose palate wasn’t ready for anything but sweet.
My kids’ first experiences with cheesecake were not exactly successful and at one point my son declared he didn’t like it at all. However, I refused to let that be the last word, as I did not want my children to go through life without cheesecake. A cheesecake-free existence is no existence at all.
Tips for Low Carb Chocolate Cheesecake Success
Because chocolate can be finicky and prone to seizing, some care must be taken when making low carb chocolate cheesecake.
- Melt the chocolate for the filling with butter or coconut oil. You need to thin it out so that it will combine properly with the cheesecake mixture.
- Be sure to let the melted chocolate cool properly. You don’t want to add it in too hot or it may curdle the eggs in the cheesecake.
- Make sure your cream cheese is properly softened and your eggs are at room temperature. You must do this for every cheesecake but it’s particularly important for a chocolate cheesecake. If your cream cheese or your eggs are cold, you will end up with a lumpy batter. And the chocolate will clump or seize when added to a cold filling.
- Don’t overcook it! Cheesecake should always be taken out before it’s cooked through. It will continue to cook once it’s out of the oven so make sure the center still has a little jiggle to it.
- Be sure to run a knife around it and loosen the sides within the first 10 to 15 minutes. Cheesecake shrinks as it cools and if the sides are stuck to the pan, it will crack badly.
- The topping is a chocolate ganache style topping, so it uses hot cream to melt the chocolate. Make sure your cream comes to a full simmer, then remove from heat before adding the chopped chocolate.
- Sugar-free chocolate and unsweetened chocolate are two very different things, so don’t mix them up. Sugar-free chocolate has been sweetened with something other than sugar. Unsweetened chocolate is 100% cocoa, with no added sweeteners at all. Unsweetened chocolate is best for the glaze, because sugar-free chocolate will make it too thin.
Those are my best tips for making low carb chocolate cheesecake. This recipe is a reader favorite and I think you can see why! I hope you will give it a try and fall head over heals in love.
Click here for more amazing Low Carb Cheesecake Recipes.
And also be sure to check out my rich and delicious low carb Death by Chocolate Ice Cream.
Keto Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ cup butter melted
Filling:
- 4 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 24 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup heavy whipping cream room temperature
Topping:
- ½ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cocoa powder, and sweetener. Stir in the melted butter until well combined.
- Press mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, and then remove and reduce oven temperature to 300F.
Filling:
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the dark chocolate with the butter, stirring until smooth. Set aside to let cool.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sweetener and vanilla extract, then beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the beaters and sides of bowl as needed.
- Beat in the cocoa powder and heavy cream until well combined, then beat in the melted chocolate until mixture is completely smooth.
- Pour the filling into the pan and gently shake from side to side to even it out. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, or until the filling is mostly set but still jiggles just a little in the center.
- Remove and let cool 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen. Let cool completely. Once cool, remove the sides, cover tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
Topping
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to just a simmer, then remove from heat and add the sweetener, chopped chocolate, and vanilla. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
- Pour over the top of the chilled cheesecake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Chill until set.
Ashley says
I would love to make this cheesecake but I have a tree nut allergy. Do you have any other crust recipes with sunflower seed flour or coconut flour maybe that would work with this cheesecake? Thanks!
Carolyn says
Just replace the almond flour with sunflower seed flour.
donna says
Can this be frozen?
Carolyn says
Yes.
Malinois Mom says
This was FANTASTIC!!! I was looking for a recipe that had a crust and filling that was baked like the cheesecakes I was familiar with baking before being on a keto diet. We LOVED this and no one knows it’s keto. We love it with our homemade yogurt. Thanks for sharing this!!!
Courtney says
So I just pulled mine out of the oven and of course I had to taste the filling batter before cleaning everything up. I noticed it seemed rather bitter to me. Is that normal? I followed the directions but this is my first time using a sugar substitute so I want to make sure it’s totally normal.
Carolyn says
What sugar sub did you use? And… did you accidentally use UNSWEETENED chocolate in the glaze, rather than sugar-free chocolate?
Cynthia Gialluca says
Out of curiosity, BochaSweet now makes a powdered sugar. Can it be used instead of the Swerve? I am allergic to many sweeteners and the Swerve is one that I am sensitive to (I can have it in very small doses, but if I get too much I have some serious gastric distress). BochaSweet thus far has been the only sweetener that does not cause reactions of any kind.
Carolyn says
It should work in this. The trouble with it is that it clumps very badly and you need to put it into a food processor to break it up.
Dale says
I’ve made this cheesecake afew times now and if possible, I love it more each time. I’ve made it in muffin tins also and in ramekins and it’s delicious every time. I’ve also topped it with rubarb/strawberry compote and raspberry/ strawberry compote. My next one will be with blueberry/cherry. It adds a few more carbs. but totally worth it
Rebekah says
I made this and nobody knew it was Keto! So amazing, textures and taste.
Whittney Cuzzort says
I am wanting to make this for my upcoming birthday in June, can you give me a conversion for gentle sweet in the recipe? Thanks so much, excited to make it!!
Carolyn says
I am sorry, I don’t use Gentle Sweet. But it should have a conversion on the bag. Swerve measures like sugar so do it in relation to sugar.
Jeanne Bunker says
This is da BOMB when it comes to luscious chocolate yumminess! Easy to make — easier to eat! Thank you, Carolyn, for creating such wonderful recipes and sharing them with anyone. You are a one in a million gem.
Carolyn says
It’s honestly my pleasure!
Cathy J says
I’ve made this several times and there’s another in the oven now. This is my favorite cheesecake recipe!
Sheri Gartman says
I just want to say that I find swerve sweetener has an aftertaste. Plus it bothers my stomach…..is there another sweetener I can use?
Jenn says
I’d like to know that too. Allulose maybe?
Carolyn says
Allulose can work but it will take a very long time to set properly. BochaSweet might be a better option.
Julie Boissonneault Davitt says
oh darn… I just took mine out of the oven and I used allulose… I shall find out right on Thanksgiving…. I’ll keep it home so no one witnesses the mess!
Lisa says
If I were to half this recipe, what size of a spring form pan should I use?
Carolyn says
You need to find the area of a 9 inch circle, and figure it out from there. There are some nifty online calculators for that.
Sam Kay says
This came out delicious! I would only suggest avoiding chocolate chips or other ingredients with stevia. As much as I like stevia in theory, it still has an unpleasant aftertaste. I wish I had stuck to erythritol-sweetened chocolate. Still, I brought this cheesecake to friendsgiving with non-keto friends and fed it to my housemates, who are also non-keto, and everyone liked it!
Regina Warila says
Would I be able to make this in an 8″ springform pan?
Carolyn says
It’s going to be far too deep and take a long time to cook through. You’re better off reducing the whole recipe by 25%.
Maggie Watte says
What a phenomenal rich dessert. I added on top your raspberry filling for your thumbprint cookies, then placed fresh raspberries on top of that on concentric circles. It looked like it came from a fancy patisserie. Thank you so much for all your great recipes.
Carolyn says
Stunning!
Rebecca Charles says
Could I use Choc zero dark Chocolate chips for
The Cheesecake? Instead of Lily’s?
Thank you for all the great recipes!
Carolyn says
Yes, ChocZero chips are great for this too!
Linda Doucet says
Wow. This cheesecake is amazing so creamy and full of chocolate flavor. The crust was superb. Will be making Again. Thank you.