My friend had a birthday party recently and I asked if I could provide desserts for the party. I like to bake a lot, but what I like even more is to get the chance to make gluten free, low carb, no or low sugar sweet treats to replace the usual too-sweet-unhealthy-fat-laden offerings. I’ll take any chance I can get to show people how delicious healthy eating can be and I find that desserts can make even the biggest skeptics sit up and take notice! I made four desserts for the party (the Midnight Brownie recipe from an earlier blog post was one) and they were all a hit. But this recipe was requested by so many people I decided to share it. It has an intensely lemony, creamy cheesecake filling on a gluten free shortbread crust. Low carb, no sugar, no gluten, no grains. This recipe gives you 16 perfect finger food-sized bars.
CHEESECAKE FILLING 12 oz cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup sweetener of choice** 1 large egg 2 tbsp heavy cream zest of about one lemon (approx a tablespoon) juice of half a lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
Instructions: *Very Important..make sure your ingredients are at room temp before making or you could end up with lumpy cheesecake (and no one wants that!) so plan ahead.*
For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prep an 8x8” pan by greasing it (easiest way is to use coconut oil spray but you could use coconut oil from a jar or butter). I make a “sling” out of parchment paper that covers two sides and the bottom for really easy removal of the bars after baking).
To make the crust, combine almond flour, butter, sweetener, xanthan gum and salt in a food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of pan. I use a small flat-bottomed glass to make sure it’s even.
Bake for 10 minutes (it won't look cooked through). Set aside on a rack to cool.
For the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 275 F. For the filling, beat cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in sweetener, egg, cream, lemon zest and lemon juice until well combined. Spread filling over cooled crust, smooth out so it’s even if necessary and bake for 30 minutes (or until filling is just set and barely jiggles when shaken). Let cool for 30 minutes and then chill for at least 2 hours.
To prep for serving: Remove from the refrigerator, run a warmed knife around the rim Dust with powdered Lakanto or Swerve by putting a few tablespoons of the powdered sugar in a small sieve and passing it over the bars, shaking or tapping the edge of the sieve to distribute the sugar evenly. Decorate it with very thin lemon slices if desired (I also added blueberries).
NOTES:
**About the sweetener...I have tried several different ones and my two favorites are Lakanto (monk fruit) and Swerve ( both easily available online). There’s also a blend of stevia and raw sugar that works well in this recipe and others. You could also use any kind of sugar but it would change the nutritional info below significantly.
The dusting after cooking is optional but I don’t think they are sweet enough without it. You could skip the dusting and increase the amount of sweetener in the filling.
Each serving has 3.5 g of carbs &1 g of fiber. (Total net carbs = 2.5 g)
