My mother, Leanne, is the cheesecake maker in our family. Nearly every year for my son’s birthday, she makes him a cheesecake. He has never really liked cake, and really loves cheesecake, so this has always been a much anticipated annual tradition for him. Since he has joined me in the keto lifestyle, this year for his birthday I wanted to see if I could challenge Grandma Leanne to make a keto-friendly version of her cheesecake.

While Grandma has made many cheesecakes, she had never made one that was sugar free and keto-friendly. I figured that by simply replacing the graham cracker crust and sweeteners in the recipe, it could easily be adapted to fit the keto lifetyle. To help her out, I ordered almond meal and Swerve from Amazon and had it shipped right to her house.

And she did! It was delicious and even all the non-keto birthday attendees enjoyed it. We ate it plain, however it would also be delicious with a raspberry coulis, salted caramel, or dark chocolate sauce.

Almond meal and Swerve

Filling ready to go in the oven

Cheesecake devoured

Single Slice of Cheesecake

Crust

1 3/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup Swerve, Confectioners Style

1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup Swerve, Confectioners Style

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix almond meal and Swerve together and add butter. Stir to combine well. Press into bottom and sides of spring form pan.

Beat softened cream cheese until fluffy; add Swerve and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add sour cream. Blend until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for one hour. Turn off oven leaving door slightly ajar for one hour. Chill.

Yield: 10 servings

Nutrition info*: 264 calories, 5.4 g carbs, 2.1 g fiber, 25 g fat, 7 g protein

*For this recipe, I have omited the Swerve from the nutrition info because it is not digested by the body, does not cause an increase in insulin, nor an increase in blood glucose. It contributes no calories, carbs, fats, or protein. Due to labeling laws in the US, it is counted as carbs on labels, however it does not digest like carbs.