I had lots of fun last week when I went on vacation to the Keys but among the tons of overpriced tourist teasures, I didn’t bring much back home. That shouldn’t surprise you though because it’s only a few hours drive away. I did, however, bring some glorious fruits of the islands back with me – Key Limes.
These little sweet, tart, unique flavored citrus fruits are an absolute delight in baked goods – especially cheesecake. You should know already since they’re famous all over the world for their Key Lime Pie! Well, I wanted to keto-ize a version of their Key Lime Pie because I didn’t eat any while I was there and I was tempted by almost every shop I looked into. So, low and behold I bring you just that 🙂
You can also buy key lime juice online if you’re not close to Florida or the Keys. You can grab it off amazon as an add-on item for 8 bucks. If it’s like the other Key Lime juices I’ve used before, it’s more of a diluted version of the fresh juice. They normally make it from a concentrate so you’ll be looking at using something like 1/4 cup of juice to replace the 2-3 fresh Key Limes.
Let me know what you think of it in the comments below!
Yields 12 total Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes
The Preparation
Cheesecake Crust:
- 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
- 1/4 cup erythritol
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup butter, chilled
- 1 large egg yolk
Key Lime Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 large egg
- 1/4 cup erythritol
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
- 2 tablespoons key lime zest
- 2 tablespoons key lime juice, ~2 limes
The Execution
1. Preheat your oven to 350F. In a food processor, add the 1/2 cup of macadamia nuts.
2. Grind the nuts into a coarse meal consistency, then add 1/4 cup of NOW erythritol.
3. Pulse for a few moments and then add 1/2 Cup Honeyville almond flour. Pulse again until all is combined.
4. Cube 1/4 cup cold butter and add that into the food processor. Pulse again until the mixture starts to clump.
5. Add 1 egg yolk and pulse again until all of the dough clumps.
6. Remove the dough from the food processor and knead together with your hands.
7. Using some silicone cupcake molds (or just a regular greased cupcake tin), fill the wells about 1/8 to 1/4 of the way full. This depends on how thick you like your crust. If you make the crust thin, you will be able to make more cheesecake cupcakes.
8. Bake the crust for 5-7 minutes at 350F. They shouldn’t be browned when you take them out, they will look greasy and undercooked.
9. While the crust is cooking, beat together 1 block of cream cheese ( 8 oz. ) and 1/4 cup butter.
10. Once the butter and cream cheese is combined, add the 2 eggs and mix again.
11. Add 1/4 Cup NOW erythritol and 1/4 tsp. liquid stevia then mix again.
12. Finally, add the zest of about 2 key limes and the juice from 2 (this is about 2 Tbsp. of juice). Mix again until fully combined.
13. Once the crusts are out of the oven, let them cool for 3-5 minutes and then pour the mixture into the molds. Fill them so they leave some space at the top because they will rise as they cook and can spill over.
14. Bake the cheesecakes for 30-35 minutes at 350F.
15. Cool the cheesecakes for 20-30 minutes and then store in the fridge overnight.
16. Add some extra key lime zest over the top and serve!
This makes a total of 12 servings of Low-Carb Key Lime Mini Cheesecakes. Each serving comes out to be 219 calories, 21.8g fats, 1.9g net carbs, and 4g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1/2 cup macadamia nuts | 481 | 50.8 | 9.3 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 5.3 |
| 1/4 cup erythritol | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 cup almond flour | 324 | 28 | 12.3 | 7.3 | 5 | 11.8 |
| 1/4 cup butter | 407 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 1 large egg yolk | 55 | 4.5 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 2.7 |
| 8 ounce cream cheese | 776 | 77.1 | 9.3 | 0 | 9.3 | 14 |
| 1/4 cup butter | 407 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 2 large egg | 157 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | 13.8 |
| 1/4 cup erythritol | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 tablespoon key lime zest | 6 | 0 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| 2 tablespoon key lime juice | 8 | 0 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 2.4 | 0.1 |
| Totals | 2639 | 263 | 36.8 | 14.4 | 22.4 | 48.8 |
| Per Serving (/12) | 220 | 21.9 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 4.1 |
Low-Carb Key Lime Mini Cheesecakes
Ingredients
Cheesecake Crust:
- ½ cup macadamia nuts
- ¼ cup erythritol
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup butter chilled
- 1 large egg yolk
Key Lime Filling:
- 8 ounce cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 2 large egg
- ¼ cup erythritol
- ¼ teaspoon liquid stevia
- 2 tablespoon key lime zest
- 2 tablespoon key lime juice ~2 limes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Add the macadamia nuts to a food processor.
- Grind the nuts into a coarse meal and add the erythritol.
- Pulse for a few moments and then add the almond flour. Pulse again until well combined.
- Cube the chilled butter and add it to the food processor. Pulse again until the mixture is beginning to clump.
- Add the egg yolk and pulse again until the dough is beginning to clump.
- Remove the dough from the food processor and knead together.
- Using silicone cupcake molds (or just a regular greased cupcake tin), fill the wells about 1/8 to 1/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 5–7 minutes. The crusts will still look greasy and undercooked when taken out. Leave oven on.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Beat together the cream cheese and butter.
- Add the eggs and mix to combine.
- Add the erythritol and liquid stevia and mix to combine.
- Finally, add in the lime zest and lime juice. Mix again until fully combined.
- Once the crusts are out of the oven, let cool for about 3–5 minutes, and then pour the cheesecake mixture into the molds. Leave a little space at the top to prevent them from spilling over as they rise.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes.
- Cool the cheesecakes for 20–30 minutes and store in the fridge overnight.
- Serve and enjoy!
