Low-Carb, All Naturally Sweetened Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes

I have a feeling some readers might have dropped off after the first 5 words of this post’s title. That’s ok – I know many people think they probably wouldn’t enjoy a dessert that’s made a little bit better for you. The good news is, you can make these for them and they won’t even know it.

That’s right, kids. My artificial-sweetener-hating husband tasted these and loved them. But there’s a catch – these do not contain any of those hated artificial sweeteners. In an effort to clean up my diet, I’ve started working with sweeteners containing erithrytol and stevia. Blends such as Truvia and Zsweet work great in coffee, oatmeal, plain yogurt, etc. But I’ve found that the pure stuff is working great for baking. My first stab at it was with Lauren’s Chocolate Cake over at her Healthy Indulgences blog (read the ingredients, if you dare!) Then I got a giant urge to play with my mini cheesecake pan. That’s another one of those things I bought and hardly ever use. And it being summer, key lime was an obvious choice. I won’t go on about the other ingredients used to keep these healthy – you will figure it out when you read the recipe. Just know that, these are quite delightful and you’ll have no guilt over making up a batch and having one – or even two – for a sweet treat!

Low-Carb Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes
Printable Recipe
Crust
1 cup Fiber One cereal (60gm)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp erithrytol

Filling
8oz 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup erithrytol
1/4 tsp stevia (powdered pure stevia extract)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (3 fluid oz) key lime juice (usually available with the cocktail mixers in the grocery store)
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (3 fluid oz) Eggbeaters

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a 12-cake mini cheesecake pan with removable bottoms with nonstick cooking spray. In a food processor, crush the cereal with the cinnamon and erithrytol. Add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Spoon about 2-3 tsp of crust into each mini cheesecake well and press down with a tart shaper or spoon. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 400F and place a baking dish with a couple inches of water on the bottom rack.

Blend the cream cheese with an electric mixture until fluffy. Add the erithrytol and stevia extract and blend well. Mix in the lime juice, vanilla, and sour cream, then stir in the eggs on low speed.

Spray the walls of the mini cheesecake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Divide the filling among the wells. Bake at 400F for 5 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325F and bake for about 15 minutes more, or until centers are just set. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on the stovetop (where it will still be slightly warm, and the cakes will not cool too quickly). After completely cooled, chill for several hours before carefully unmolding the cheesecakes.

Nutritional Info
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 97.4
Total Fat: 7.5 g
Cholesterol: 22.8 mg
Sodium: 102.4 mg
Total Carbs: 6.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.4 g
Protein: 2.9 g

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29 Responses to “Low-Carb, All Naturally Sweetened Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes”

  1. 1

    Imnotbenny — July 9, 2009 @ 4:00 pm Reply

    I really love this blog- I'm going to give these a try soon!

  2. 2

    Joelen — July 9, 2009 @ 7:17 pm Reply

    These look fantastic! I love the use of erithrytol and thank you for sharing the Healthy Indulgences blog. Her culinary focus is really interesting!

  3. 3

    Molly Jean — July 9, 2009 @ 7:29 pm Reply

    Those looks AWESOME! I am definitely going to have to try those. It's the perfect time of year for key lime anything!

  4. 4

    Heidi — July 10, 2009 @ 1:34 am Reply

    Those look awesome! I can't wait to try these! I'll let you know how they turn out! Thanks for sharing!

  5. 5

    Gwyn — January 15, 2010 @ 3:25 am Reply

    do you think i could make these using a large cheesecake pan? i don't have a mini one but these look delicious! i'd obviously have to adjust the cooking time… any thoughts?

  6. 6

    Cara — January 15, 2010 @ 12:32 pm Reply

    Hi Gwyn! Good question. Unfortunately I don't think this would work well in a full size cheesecake pan because I purposely scaled the recipe to fit the smaller proportion. How about using mini muffin tins? paper lines will make them super easy to pop out.

  7. 7

    Gwyn — February 21, 2010 @ 8:01 pm Reply

    so i'm making these today or tomorrow! One thing – i've never used erithrytol but heard that powdered was better than granular – only could find granular though. is that ok or do i need to powder it up in the blender first?

  8. 8

    Cara — February 22, 2010 @ 1:28 am Reply

    Hi Gwyn! I used granular, I don't think I've heard the bit about powdered, except for when trying to make an icing with erythritol. Good luck!

  9. 9

    Gwyn — March 8, 2010 @ 2:00 am Reply

    so i FINALLY made these today. I ended up making them in mini-muffin tins with paper liners. it made 24 with filling left over (so next time i may do a few more). i love lime but it was a little strong – not sure if i cut back on the lime juice if it'll be the right consistency… what do you think? Oh & if you make these in mini muffin tins – i only baked the crust for 4 minutes (i did it longer the first time & burnt them) & the filling for like 7 minutes. My kids loved them (3 & 5).

  10. 10

    Cara — March 8, 2010 @ 3:06 am Reply

    Hi Gwyn, thanks for the feedback! Sounds like it went well for the most part. I think the recipe is forgiving enough that you could cut back on the lime juice a bit. My family tends to like really strong flavors and that's who I was feeding but I could see where they may have been a bit much (and honestly most of my experimenting with this recipe was on the baking times, and getting the sugar substitutes in the correct proportions – I probably could have worked on the actualy flavor a bit more!)

  11. 11

    Cara — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    Hi Gwyn, thanks for the feedback! Sounds like it went well for the most part. I think the recipe is forgiving enough that you could cut back on the lime juice a bit. My family tends to like really strong flavors and that's who I was feeding but I could see where they may have been a bit much (and honestly most of my experimenting with this recipe was on the baking times, and getting the sugar substitutes in the correct proportions – I probably could have worked on the actualy flavor a bit more!)

  12. 12

    Gwyn — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    so i FINALLY made these today. I ended up making them in mini-muffin tins with paper liners. it made 24 with filling left over (so next time i may do a few more). i love lime but it was a little strong – not sure if i cut back on the lime juice if it'll be the right consistency… what do you think? Oh & if you make these in mini muffin tins – i only baked the crust for 4 minutes (i did it longer the first time & burnt them) & the filling for like 7 minutes. My kids loved them (3 & 5).

  13. 13

    Gwyn — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    so i'm making these today or tomorrow! One thing – i've never used erithrytol but heard that powdered was better than granular – only could find granular though. is that ok or do i need to powder it up in the blender first?

  14. 14

    Gwyn — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    so i'm making these today or tomorrow! One thing – i've never used erithrytol but heard that powdered was better than granular – only could find granular though. is that ok or do i need to powder it up in the blender first?

  15. 15

    Cara — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    Hi Gwyn! Good question. Unfortunately I don't think this would work well in a full size cheesecake pan because I purposely scaled the recipe to fit the smaller proportion. How about using mini muffin tins? paper lines will make them super easy to pop out.

  16. 16

    Cara — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    Hi Gwyn! Good question. Unfortunately I don't think this would work well in a full size cheesecake pan because I purposely scaled the recipe to fit the smaller proportion. How about using mini muffin tins? paper lines will make them super easy to pop out.

  17. 17

    Gwyn — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    do you think i could make these using a large cheesecake pan? i don't have a mini one but these look delicious! i'd obviously have to adjust the cooking time… any thoughts?

  18. 18

    Heidi — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    Those look awesome! I can't wait to try these! I'll let you know how they turn out! Thanks for sharing!

  19. 19

    Heidi — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    Those look awesome! I can't wait to try these! I'll let you know how they turn out! Thanks for sharing!

  20. 20

    Molly Jean — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    Those looks AWESOME! I am definitely going to have to try those. It's the perfect time of year for key lime anything!

  21. 21

    Joelen — March 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm Reply

    These look fantastic! I love the use of erithrytol and thank you for sharing the Healthy Indulgences blog. Her culinary focus is really interesting!

  22. 22

    Cara — March 28, 2011 @ 8:49 pm Reply

    Hi Gwyn! I used granular, I don't think I've heard the bit about powdered, except for when trying to make an icing with erythritol. Good luck!

  23. 23

    Imnotbenny — March 28, 2011 @ 8:49 pm Reply

    I really love this blog- I'm going to give these a try soon!

  24. 24

    Imnotbenny — March 28, 2011 @ 8:49 pm Reply

    I really love this blog- I'm going to give these a try soon!

  25. 25

    Gwyn — March 29, 2011 @ 2:05 am Reply

    so i'm making these today or tomorrow! One thing – i've never used erithrytol but heard that powdered was better than granular – only could find granular though. is that ok or do i need to powder it up in the blender first?

  26. 26

    Gwyn — March 29, 2011 @ 2:05 am Reply

    do you think i could make these using a large cheesecake pan? i don't have a mini one but these look delicious! i'd obviously have to adjust the cooking time… any thoughts?

  27. 27

    Imnotbenny — March 29, 2011 @ 2:05 am Reply

    I really love this blog- I'm going to give these a try soon!

  28. 28

    Gwyn — April 5, 2011 @ 1:18 am Reply

    do you think i could make these using a large cheesecake pan? i don't have a mini one but these look delicious! i'd obviously have to adjust the cooking time… any thoughts?

  29. 29

    Heidi — April 5, 2011 @ 1:18 am Reply

    Those look awesome! I can't wait to try these! I'll let you know how they turn out! Thanks for sharing!

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