These creamy Keto Cheesecake Bars have all the flavor of your favorite cannoli. And they have 12g of protein and only 3.4g net carbs per serving!
I like cheesecake, I like cannoli, and I really like low carb, high protein recipes. I mean, what’s not to like when you can dig into a delicious dessert and know it’s doing your body good?
I recently created another high protein cheesecake recipe for my upcoming cookbook. And everyone liked it so much, I knew I was on to something. So I instantly got to work on another flavor.
My Keto Cannoli is so popular, I knew it would make a fabulous protein dessert recipe. And the rest was history. Deliciously creamy history!
Why you will love these bars
There is something magical about the contrast between a crisp shortbread crust and creamy cheesecake filling. I borrowed the crust from my Keto Lemon Cheesecake Bars because it goes so well with everything.
I will say that adding protein powder to desserts isn’t quite as easy as you might think. As I’ve been testing out recipes, I’ve found that it can dry out some baked goods while making others rather soggy. It can also make things taste a little off if you add too much.
So to get even more protein into the bars, I used some cottage cheese for the filling in place of ricotta. Blended up nicely, it tastes just as good! Then I enhanced the flavor with a little orange zest and added some mini chocolate chips.
The chocolate drizzle at the end takes them over the top!
Ingredients you need
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- Almond flour: This keto shortbread crust is made with almond flour. You could also use sunflower seed flour for a nut free option. And pecan flour, such as in my Keto Blueberry Jamboree, would work nicely as well.
- Sweetener: The crust requires an erythritol sweetener to crisp up properly. The filling is a little more forgiving. Read the Tips for Success for more information.
- Protein powder: I recommend using an unflavored whey protein, as vanilla varieties will overpower the flavor. Read the Tips for more options.
- Cottage cheese: I used a 2% milk fat variety, but you can also use whole milk.
- Cream cheese: You do need some cream cheese to give the bars a better texture and structure.
- Orange zest: The orange zest adds flavor a lovely flavor. You can skip it if you wish, or you can use a little orange extract (I’d add only about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon).
- Coconut flour: The protein powder and cottage cheese can make the filling extra soft, so a little coconut flour helps firm it up a bit better.
- Mini keto chocolate chips: Since cannoli is often garnished with chocolate, I added some keto-friendly mini chocolate chips.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and salt.
Step by Step Directions
1. Prepare the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well combined.
2. Bake the crust: Press evenly into the bottom of an 8-inch square pan and bake at 325ºF for 12 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.
3. Blend the cheeses: In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese and cream cheese. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
4. Add the remaining filling ingredients: Add the sweetener, protein powder, orange zest, and vanilla extract and blend until well combined. At this point, you can taste the mixture and adjust the sweetener as desired. Add the eggs and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Then add the coconut flour and pulse a few times to incorporate.
5. Assemble and bake: Once the mixture is nice and smooth, stir in the chocolate chips to combine. Pour the filling overtop of the crust and spread to the edges. Bake at 300ºF for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the filling is just set and the center jiggles just slightly when shaken.
6. Chill and set: Remove and let cool completely, then refrigerate 3 hours to firm up.
7. Drizzle the chocolate: In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth. Transfer to a ziplock bag and snip off a tiny corner. Drizzle the chocolate overtop the cheesecake bars (you can do this before or after cutting them into bars).
Tips for Success
Make sure you drain the cottage cheese for an hour or so before beginning. It helps reduce the moisture and allows these cheesecake protein bars to bake through more easily.
Also make sure to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl multiple times. Clumps of cream cheese can stick to the bottom of the blade so I find I have to remove it and scrape it down a bit as well.
Protein Powder: Since this is cheesecake with plenty of dairy, I used an unflavored whey protein powder. I find that egg white protein makes things like this a bit rubbery. I am not sure how other proteins would do, and I suspect collagen will make it a bit too gooey and hard to cook through.
I do recommend sticking with the unflavored kind, as vanilla protein is often very strong and sweet, and will overpower the delicate cannoli flavor.
Sweetener Options: The crust requires an erythritol based sweetener with no allulose or xylitol. But the filling can be made with any sweetener you like best. Please be aware that allulose may make the filling a little softer and it may take a bit longer to bake through properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most cheesecake recipes have about 5g of protein per serving, so it’s not really the best protein dessert. However, these Protein Cheesecake Bars have 12g per bar, and are also low carb, low sugar, and keto-friendly.
This cannoli protein cheesecake bar recipe has 6.0g of carbs and 2.6g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.4g net carbs per bar.
Store the bars in a covered container. It will last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the cheesecake bars if you wrap them up tightly. They will be good in the freezer for at least 2 months.
Related recipes
Protein Cheesecake Bar Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1¼ cup (140 g) almond flour
- ¼ cup (50 g) erythritol sweetener
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cottage cheese, drained for 1 hour
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, softened
- ⅔ cup (83.33 g) Swerve Confectioners, or another powdered sweetener
- ¾ cup (84 g) unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp orange zest, (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/3 cup (60 g) mini keto chocolate chips
Topping
- 1 ounce (28.35 g) dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
- 1/2 tbsp butter
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well combined.
- Press evenly into the bottom of an 8-inch square pan and bake 12 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 300ºF.
Cheesecake Filling
- In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese and cream cheese. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the sweetener, protein powder, orange zest, and vanilla extract and blend until well combined. At this point, you can taste the mixture and adjust the sweetener as desired.
- Add the eggs and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Then add the coconut flour and pulse a few times to incorporate.
- Once the mixture is nice and smooth, stir in the chocolate chips to combine. Pour the filling overtop of the crust and spread to the edges.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the filling is just set and the center jiggles just slightly when shaken. Remove and let cool completely, then refrigerate 3 hours to firm up.
Chocolate Drizzle (optional)
- In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth.
- Transfer to a ziplock bag and snip off a tiny corner. Drizzle the chocolate overtop the cheesecake bars (you can do this before or after cutting them into bars).
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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The future looks yummy.
I will have to substitute Stevia as it’s the only sweetener my digestive can handle… wish me luck.
I can’t wait to try these. I’ll try orange essential oil, maybe a drop.
I made these yesterday. They were delicious. They were creamy without being runny. I think I will have a piece for breakfast with my coffee.
I just wanted to point out that one step is missing: to grease the pan.
No, you shouldn’t need to if you own good bakeware. Not for this recipe… the crust has enough oil that it won’t stick. If you don’t own good metal bakeware, then you might consider it.
Just came out of the oven, can’t wait to eat it but don’t want to burn my mouth. Stay tuned, I chosen not to place the chocolate drivel on the top.
Very pleased with how these turned out. I omitted the crust as I am Carnivore and it worked great. The cheesecake set up nicely and came out of pan easily.
Great to hear!
Hello! You often use whey protein powder…. What would be a good replacement please? Thank you !
Please read the blog post, I always give suggestions.
Can you use ricotta cheese or marscapone instead of the cottage cheese??
Ricotta works fine but it’s not as high in protein.
Do you think a raspberry version with the Lily’s Raspberry & White chocolate chips would work? 🤔
I guess. Feel free to experiment!