The ultimate fudgy keto cheesecake brownies! Layers of brownie and creamy cheesecake, swirled together to create one mighty fine sugar free dessert. Ready in 40 minutes and only 2.8g net carbs per square.
This keto cheesecake brownie recipe is the solution for those days when you can't decide between cheesecake or brownies. It is two low carb desserts rolled into one!
You won't believe how easy it is to create the pretty marble effect. And your guests won't believe this is a low carb brownie recipe - it's so fudgy, rich and mouthwateringly delicious.
I make this recipe often when I have friends over. It definitely has that wow effect!
For more keto brownie recipes with a swirl, check out these keto peanut butter brownies and my coconut flour brownies.
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🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Complementing textures. The brownies are heavenly fudgy, while the cheesecake swirl is super creamy.
- Big on flavor. I love my chocolate desserts and in this recipe, I have gone big on deep, dark chocolate flavor. The cream cheese layer is adding a lovely fresh note that balances the brownie.
- Naturally gluten-free and only 2.8g of net carbs per square.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you'll need:
- Almond flour - I'm using ground almonds. This is the same as regular almond flour. For super-fine almond flour, use 2 tablespoons less because it is more absorbent.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Salt - enhances the flavor.
- Powdered sweetener - I used an erythritol monk fruit sweetener blend. You can also use allulose, blends such as Swerve or xylitol.
- Eggs - should be size medium, beaten and room temperature
- Butter - melted, then cooled
- Sugar-free chocolate chips - Optional. Lily's or ChocZero are popular brands. Or use chopped dark chocolate, minimum 90% cocoa solids.
- Unsweetened almond milk
- Cream cheese - or mascarpone
- Vanilla extract - to flavor the cheesecake batter
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Instructions
This section contains step-by-step instructions and photos that show how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities
Let's make cream cheese keto brownies! Here are the basic steps.
Step 1
Brownie batter. Stir together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl using a spatula or a fork.
Step 2
Add the wet ingredients and stir until you have a smooth batter. Last, add the chocolate chips and mix.
Step 3
Cheesecake layer. Place the cream cheese, sweetener, egg and vanilla into a mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer until combined.
Step 4
Assembly. Add dollops of brownie mixture to a baking tin lined with parchment paper. Spoon the cheesecake batter into the gaps and gently shake the baking pan to self-level.
Step 5
Use a toothpick to swirl the batters together. Bake in the oven for about until the edges are cooked but the centre is still a little jiggly. Make sure the cheesecake batter does not brown.
Top Tips
Room temperature ingredients. I recommend to have all the ingredients at room temperature. This will keep the batters soft and easier to work with. It also prevent the cheesecake mixture from splitting.
Don’t over-swirl. Too much swirling of the batters won’t end up in a pretty swirly top, but more in a paler all-in-one-brown mix.
Slightly under-bake. Low carb brownies firm up as they cool so don’t be tempted to over-bake them. It's absolutely fine if a knife inserted comes out still sticky with brownie batter. The brownies should be cooked around the edges and just set on the top in the middle, with the centre jiggly.
Variations
A reader has told me that you can also make the cheesecake layer without the egg.
Option to add a handful of chopped pecans or walnuts to the brownie batter.
Recipe FAQ
Swap sunflower seed flour for the almond flour. Or use the recipe for my coconut flour brownies instead.
Yes. It's actually better if you make keto brownies ahead because this gives them time to firm up. They are very soft when hot and firm up as they cool. Don't slice them until fully cooled.
Yes. To make a brownie cheesecake, spread the brownie batter into the bottom of the pan and up the sides to make a base. Add the cheesecake filling on top.
Yes. Simply double the brownie batter amounts.
Serve With
I normally serve the brownies without toppings. However, you could add the following:
- A scoop of sugar free ice cream
- chocolate sauce - melt 90% dark chocolate with a tablespoon of heavy cream
- fresh raspberries
- keto strawberry sauce
- sugar-free whipped cream
Storage
Refrigerator: Sugar free brownies need to be stored in the fridge, best in an airtight container. They stay fresh for about 4-5 days.
Freezer: Should you have any leftovers, freeze them for about 3 months. Pre-slice and store the squares between slices of parchment paper so they don't stick together.
Defrosting: Overnight in the fridge.
Related Recipes
Here are more keto brownie recipes to try:
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Fudgy Keto Cheesecake Brownies
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Ingredients
Brownie batter
- 1 cup almond flour 100g
- â…” cup cocoa powder 60g, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup powdered sweetener 120g
- 3 eggs medium***, beaten, room temperature
- ½ cup butter or coconut oil 114g, melted
- ¼ cup sugar free chocolate chips 45g, or dark chocolate chunks 85% cocoa solids minimum
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
Cheesecake batter
- 1 cup cream cheese or mascarpone 225g, room temperature
- 1 egg room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered sweetener 40g
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C electric (320F / 160C fan). Line a 28 x 19 x 3.5cm baking tray with parchment paper.
Brownie Batter
- Add all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix well with a fork or spatula.
- Add the wet ingredients and stir together using a fork or spatula. Last, stir in the chocolate chips.
Cheesecake batter
- Place the cream cheese, sweetener, egg and vanilla into a mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer until combined.
Assembly
- Add dollops of brownie batter to your prepared baking tin. Save about 4 tablespoons. Don’t spread.
- Spoon the cheesecake batter into the gaps and gently shake the pan to self level. Add the 4 tablespoons of reserved batter to the top of the 4 cheesecake dollops. Using a toothpick, swirl the batters together. Don’t be tempted to over swirl.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes until the edges are cooked but the centre is still jiggly and just before the cheesecake batter browns.
- The brownies firm up as they cool, so don’t be tempted to over-bake. Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool to firm up before slicing. Placing in the fridge, once cooled, will also firm them up a bit more.
Ioana
Hi Katrin,
I wonder if I could double the ingredients and bake in a bigger pan? I have some friends coming over and this would be the perfect dessert, given that one loves chocolate and the other cheesecake, plus the kids would like it too, so your recipe feels like winning the lottery right now since it would simplify things a lot!
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes, everything I've tried turned out great!
Katrin Nürnberger
Yes, of course. My guess is that you would have to increase the oven time. Maybe 10 minutes more? You'll have to test it. Definitely cover the top with an aluminium foil dome to prevent the cheesecake going brown on top for the additional time.
Helliem
OMG these cheesecakes brownies are fantastic
I made a lot of recipes from your site
But these are fantastic
Came out the oven perfect
All your recipes are a success
Thank you for all the work you do so we can still have lovely food on a sugar and low carb diet
I made all my Christmas food from your recipes
So hopefully it will help me not to be tempted to eat something i shouldn't and still enjoy Christmas food
I made your:
Christmas pudding
Mince pies
Cinnamon stars
More to make
Hope Katrin I wish you and your Family a lovely Christmas and new year xxx
Katrin Nürnberger
This makes me so happy! Really glad that the recipes are serving you. Merry Christmas to you, Helene!
Lisa Dashper
These gorgeous cheesecake brownies are absolutely delicious. The recipe is so easy to follow and they brownies come out perfect every time. I am a recent newcomer to the keto lifestyle and luckily for me I found your website very early in. I have used quite a few of your recipes and have not found one dish I haven’t liked, they’ve all been exceptional! Thanks to you I will never go back to the old carb heavy diet - who would when the food this good. Thank you
Katrin Nürnberger
So glad you like the website Lisa!!
Ketofoodiesg
I tried these and loved them! Not sure if I overbaked mine as my cheesecake is yellowish? They taste awesome. I added some toffee stevia on the brownie mixture so not sure if it made any difference. Anyway I’m not a fan of dark chocolate so next time Ill use white chocolate keto chips on mine 🙂 Will definitely bake again! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi there, if you use an egg with a deep yellow yolk the colour of the cheesecake will be slightly yellow. And, if you keep it in the oven too long or on a shelf that's too high, it will start browning a little. This started to happen to mine on the edges, you can see it in the images. However, if the cake starts to brown and you feel it's not done yet, simply cover the top loosely with a foil dome. This prevents the top from darkening.
Ketofoodiesg
Thank you! I’ll try again 🙂
HappyFoodGeek
Yes, I need these brownies in my life now! Those look beautiful, I'm making those today, look so good.
Katrin Nürnberger
Keep me posted! Would love to hear how they turned out
Roché
These are absolutely delicious! I put a heaped tablespoon of freeze dried raspberries on top when they came out of the oven. So good - all the family love them.
Can I ask where you get Lakanto in the UK? I have other sweeteners mentioned but would like to try it.
Roché
Great, thanks!!
Jo
OMG these are the BEST ever! So moist!
Pinar
Perfect keto cheesecake brownies! Thank you for another great recipe 🙂
Just a friendly reminder for readers: Try not to overwhip the cheese like I did, cause your cheesecake batter will get runny and you might lose time keeping it in the fridge before using, oops..
Laura
Hi Katrin!
These sound amazing!
Can you use heavy cream instead of almond milk?
I don’t usually keep almond milk in the house.
Thanks for all these delicious desserts!
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Laura, yes, that should work well too.
Heidi
Dose this brownie have that grainy texture? I’m new to keto and I bee trying some cake/brownie recipes and they all seem to come out with a grainy texture or a bitter taste.
Katrin Nürnberger
I don't think it's grainy 🙂 Wondering why you're getting a bitter taste? Erythritol has a slightly cooling aftertaste. It's not bitter. I'd say that sounds more like stevia. Maybe your sweetener contains stevia? Might be worth testing another brand, for example Lakanto. It's an erythritol / monfruit mix.
Nicola O'Dean
Hey just about to do this recipe the 1 cup or gram measurments? they are all different for 1 cup so i am confused.. I'll just weigh it out as the grams and see how it comes out.. Or am i missing something?
Katrin Nürnberger
Just stick to either - depending on the density of the ingredient you measure in a cup you'll have different weight in grams. 🙂