This Low Carb Keto Turtle Cheesecake is rich and decadent, with significantly less calories than the sugar laden version. A rich chocolate crust, topped with a creamy, vanilla cheesecake with a hint of caramel flavor, then topped with homemade keto candied pecans, chocolate ganache, and keto salted caramel sauce. Make this for your loved ones, and whether they eat keto or not, they'll love you forever!
While we don't bake as often as we cook, keto friendly desserts are sacred in our house. When we first started eating a low carb diet, we did so because we knew that we would still be able to incorporate desserts into our diet. With such great sugar alternatives nowadays, even when going a little off-plan, we still use sugar alternatives instead of the real thing. This keto turtle cheesecake is one of our most decadent creations... like EVER. It starts with a rich, chocolate crust, then a vanilla, caramel cheesecake, and top it with keto salted caramel sauce, and these easy keto stovetop candied pecans and homemade chocolate ganache.
If you are an experienced sugar free baker, feel free to skip to the recipe card. If not, make sure to read all of our tips and tricks for making this keto turtle cheesecake come together!
Here’s What You Need For This Low Carb Keto Turtle Cheesecake:
- Unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Granular sugar replacement (Swerve)
- Vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
- Almond flour (Bob's Red Mill)
- Cocoa powder
- Full fat cream cheese, room temperature
- Powdered sweetener (Swerve Confectioners)
- Eggs, room temperature
- Baker's chocolate, unsweetened
- Heavy whipping cream
- To top: homemade sugar free chocolate ganache (see instructions below), keto salted caramel sauce, and easy stovetop keto candied pecans for topping your cake, to taste. *You could use regular halved pecans instead of the candied pecans. Your choice.
Can I Make the Garnishes Ahead Of Time?
Yes, absolutely! You can make the keto salted caramel sauce, as well as these easy keto stovetop candied pecans up to 10 days in advance. This will make everything come together really easy on the day of. It's also fine to make these things while the cheesecake chills in the fridge. Totally at your discretion, but if you're looking to break up the steps when it comes to putting this together, prepare this in steps.
What Are The Best Sweeteners To Use For This Keto Turtle Cheesecake?
We used a couple different types of sweetener in this dessert, but we stuck with Swerve products. For the crust, we used Swerve granular, and for the cheesecake batter, we used confectioners. The confectioners will give the cheesecake a nice smooth texture after it cools. Granular works well for the crust. You could just use all confectioners if you like however. We do not recommend using granular in place of confectioners in the cheesecake batter however, because you want the batter to be as velvety smooth as possible. Cheesecake batter is so rich and velvety but you can also tell if a lot of granular erythritol has been used, because it can crystallize quite a bit. Confectioners definitely lessens the crystallization by a lot!
In the past, we used a couple different types of sweetener. One of our favorite sweetener for most applications is allulose, because it tastes the most like sugar, and acts just like it too. It won't crystallize when it gets cold, and it has no aftertaste. This is really great, unless you have an allulose sensitivity! Turns out, Bri does. It is generally fine in small amounts for Bri (let's say for example, used in a simple syrup application in a cocktail).
When we used to use mostly allulose to sweeten this cheesecake, it tasted fantastic and the texture was phenomenal, but after 2 slices (because let's be real... who only has 1 serving when this cheesecake is finally ready to eat!!??!) she found herself running to the bathroom with very intense stomach pains. You know the rest. Basically, allulose in large amounts is a no-go for us. Like we said, it works great for many applications, like how we used it to make this keto salted caramel sauce, but any more than just a drizzle or a couple shots of simple syrup is too much for some people's digestive system. If you don't have a sensitivity, we are seriously jealous, but feel free to use allulose as you see fit!
More Recipes To Try:
- Keto Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Apple Crumble Bars
- Gingerbread Cheesecake Fluff Cups (for the holiday season!)
- Candied Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Death By Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Skillet
- Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa
Tools:
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cup
- KitchenAid Hand Mixer
- Nesting Bowls
- Rubber Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- Non-stick spray
- Springform Pan, we used a 10 & ¾ inch pan. You could use a smaller pan for a thicker cheesecake!
- Roasting Pan (for water bath) or any pan we used our Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
- Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
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Let's Make This Low Carb Keto Turtle Cheesecake:
You can prepare your keto salted caramel sauce and your easy stovetop keto low carb candied pecans up to 10 days in advance if you want. Or, you could prepare them while your cheesecake is setting in the fridge. Totally up to you. We chose to make them ahead of time to make putting the cheesecake all together easier.
Before preparing the cheesecake batter, take your blocks of cheesecake out of the fridge and let them soften on the counter for about 2 hours so it becomes room temperature. This is important, or else you will end up with lumpy cheesecake batter.
To begin, prepare your crust. Line your springform pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. In a bowl, combine melted butter, vanilla extract, salt, cocoa powder, granular sweetener and almond flour. Press it down into the pan until the crust goes up the edges of the pan a bit. Now, set your crust in the fridge to cool while you put together the batter. Also, preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, combine your cream cheese, vanilla extract, sweetener and salt. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Don't go too high with the speed, or else you can create air pockets in the cheesecake batter, which will give this cheesecake a less than desirable texture. At this point, give your batter a taste and adjust sweeteners accordingly.
Then, add in your eggs one at a time, beating until smooth.
Cover the bottom of your springform pan with some heavy duty aluminum foil. Place it inside a roasting pan. Add your cheesecake batter to your springform pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Then, add in about 2 cups of water to your pan to create a water bath. This will keep the cheesecake moist and delicious while it bakes.
Place your cheesecake in the oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes. Don't over-bake. You will want to make sure the inside of the cheesecake is just a little bit jiggly before taking it out of the oven.
Turn off the oven, then let your cheesecake cool on the oven for about an hour with the oven door cracked, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
When it comes time to putting the cheesecake together, carefully remove the springform pan and aluminum foil. Now, you can put everything together. To make your chocolate ganache, heat your heavy whipping cream with your sweetener over medium heat. When it begins to boil, immediately take it off the heat, and add it to your chopped chocolate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then, using a rubber spatula, combine until smooth and glossy. While your cream and chocolate are melding together, add your candied pecans to the top of your cheesecake. (Could sub just plain pecans).
Next, drizzle your chocolate ganache and salted caramel sauce.
Cut into it, and enjoy!
If you get a chance to try this recipe, let us know what you think, would ya?! Leave us a comment, or catch up with us on Facebook or Instagram, or pin to your favorite Pinterest board for later. We love sharing your versions of our creations over on Instagram @afullliving!
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Until next time,
Briana & Chamere
📖 Recipe
Low Carb Keto Turtle Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ½ cup granular sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1.5 cups almond flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
For the cheesecake filling:
- 32 ounce full fat cream cheese, room temperature (or 4 eight-ounce packages)
- 1.5 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1.5 cups powdered sweetener of choice (or to taste)
- 4 whole eggs, room temperature
For the chocolate ganache & garnishes:
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup powdered sweetener of choice
- 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- ½ batch keto salted caramel sauce
- ½ batch easy stovetop candied pecans
Instructions
- You can prepare your keto salted caramel sauce and your easy stovetop keto low carb candied pecans up to 10 days in advance if you want. Or, you could prepare them while your cheesecake is setting in the fridge.
- Line your springform pan with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. In a bowl, combine melted butter, vanilla extract, salt, cocoa powder, granular sweetener and almond flour. Press it down into the pan until the crust goes up the edges of the pan a bit. Now, set your crust in the fridge to cool while you put together the batter. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, combine your cream cheese, vanilla extract, sweetener and salt. Beat on medium speed until smooth. At this point, give your batter a taste and adjust sweeteners accordingly. Then, add in your eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. Cover the bottom of your springform pan with some heavy duty aluminum foil. Place it inside a roasting pan. Add your cheesecake batter to your springform pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Then, add in about 2 cups of water to your pan to create a water bath.
- Place your cheesecake in the oven and bake for about 35-45 minutes. Baking until the cheesecake is set but still a bit jiggly in the center. Turn off the oven and crack the door. Let your cheesecake cool in the oven for about an hour, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- To make your chocolate ganache, heat your heavy whipping cream with your sweetener over medium heat. When it begins to boil, immediately take it off the heat, and add it to your chopped chocolate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then, using a rubber spatula, combine until smooth and glossy.
- Remove your cheesecake from the spring form pan (carefully). Top with candied pecans and drizzle with chocolate ganache and caramel sauce. Enjoy!! Save the leftovers in the fridge or freezer. They will keep in the fridge for about a week.
Notes
We included a half a batch of candied pecans, and half of batch of our keto salted caramel sauce in this recipe, you can always add more or less, but just calculate your nutrition facts accordingly.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
Nancy Watilp says
I'm so confused! The measurements you give for the candied Pecans & Caramel sauce had both weight measurements & cup measurements, but they weren't even close to being the same according to my scale and cups. Which were correct or most accurate? Also you mention letting the cheesecake set on the oven. Did you mean turn off the oven and leave it in the oven for an hour? With the door open or closed? This is my second time making it and I used the measuring cups as it seemed more reasonable. It was delicious but I'm just wondering. Especially about the hour in the oven after baking? Thanks for any clarification.
Briana says
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your comment! I went back and noticed a bit of a typo in my candied pecans recipe, so I updated that. It would explain (at least part of the reason) why the measurements were off.
Gram measurements are always going to be the most accurate, as cups can vary. Some brands may list certain amounts as a cup, so we like to standardize it a bit more with grams so it doesn't matter which brand you're using. With that said, thanks for bringing the typo to our attention! If it turned out well I'd say you did just fine!
RE leaving the cheesecake in the oven - YES. Turn off the oven, crack the oven door, and let the cake cool down. Cheesecakes crack when they change in temperature too quickly, so this helps prevent that from happening.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment and happy baking!
Nancy says
Thank you so much. My 3rd one is in the oven now! I just read the part about leaving in the oven so I thank you for clarifying it. I'm a big fan and I'm taking it to our Easter gathering tomorrow! Blessings!
Briana says
Oh we are so honored, Nancy! 🙂 Thank you so much for including this recipe in your celebration. We're so honored! Have a wonderful Easter!