Chocolate almond crust. Coffee cheesecake. Chocolate swirl. Keto approved! I don’t believe dessert can get much better than that?!
There has been a few bricks of cream cheese hanging out in my fridge alllll summer long. They be like ‘Hey, when are we going to become cheesecake?!’ I don’t believe I’ve ever gone this long without baking a cheesecake… March! I haven’t baked a cheesecake since that gorgeous Keto Blueberry Cheesecake.. in MARCH!
Must be a record. I am a cheesecake-a-holic. Guilty as charged. I was hoping to create a no bake cheesecake this summer but wow, it’s been soooo crazy! Anyone else having a ridiculously busy summer? These little ladies keep me on my toes, that’s for sure.
The inspiration for this epic Keto Mocha Cheesecake hit me like a ton of bricks. I was sitting there, minding my own business and BAM! Out of nowhere, this beautifully swirled cheesecake, flavoured with coffee, came soaring into my mind. I believe I was thinking about green beans at the time so nooo idea how that thought made it’s abrupt interruption into my much healthier train of thought…?
This gorgeous Keto Mocha Cheesecake came out better than I could have imagined. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Why it works
Three epic layers combine to create a dreamy dessert: a chocolate almond crust layer that is crunchy and salty, creamy coffee cheesecake layer with a hint of vanilla and, to tie it all together, a gorgeous mocha swirl, bringing a bitter hint of dark chocolate that envelops this beauty in style and flavour.
Keto Mocha Cheesecake Ingredients
Here is a list of what you will need to make this epic sugar free cheesecake. Scroll down to the recipe card for ingredient measurements.
Chocolate Almond Crust
- unsalted butter
- almond flour
- whole almonds
- sukrin gold
- cinnamon
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- sea salt
Coffee Cheesecake
- instant coffee
- room temperature brewed coffee
- cream cheese
- powdered monk fruit / erythritol sweetener
- sour cream
- eggs
- vanilla
Chocolate Swirl
- 75-85% dark chocolate
- coconut oil
Sukrin Gold – sukrin gold is a low carb sweetener that is sweetened with erythritol and is made to mimic brown sugar! It is essential in a few of my recipes like this Teriyaki Sauce or these Baked Chicken Wings.
Powdered Monk Fruit / Erythritol Sweetener – the latest and greatest natural sweetener, I personally LOVE the stuff! I buy it in granular form and make my own powdered – simply toss 1/4 cup into a clean coffee grinder and grind for a couple of moments. It will become perfectly powdered sweetener in the blitz of an eye! I like the brands So Nourished or Lakanto.
Coconut Oil – So, I am one of those weirdos who love the smell of coconut, but cannot stand the flavour. I use coconut oil to melt my chocolate because whenever I melt dark chocolate without coconut oil, it breaks, and whenever I add a little coconut oil, it melts beautifully. To avoid the coconut flavour, I buy refined coconut oil. Check out this post from UltimatePaleoGuide to read more about the difference between refined and unrefined.
How to make a Keto Mocha Cheesecake
There are three layers in this beautiful cheesecake, we will start with the crust.
Chocolate Almond Crust
Heat the oven to 350°. Wrap the bottom of an 8″ springform pan with heavy duty tin foil, to prepare for a water bath, and spray the inside with spray oil. To read more about water baths and how to bake a perfect cheesecake, check out my Cheesecake Tips post. Melt the butter and mince the almonds into a fine crumble.
Grab a medium sized mixing bowl and add melted butter, minced almonds, almond flour, sukrin gold, cinnamon, cocoa powder and sea salt. Mix well, then press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan using a fork or your hand.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool while the rest of the cheesecake is made.
Keto Mocha Cheesecake
Mix the instant coffee with room temperature brewed coffee in a small bowl and set aside. Chop the chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl with the coconut oil. Melt at 40% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until the chocolate has fully melted. Set aside to cool. Alternately the chocolate and coconut oil can be melted using a double boiler.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and stir until all of the lumps are gone. Scrape the bowl, then stir again. Stir in the sour cream, scrape the bowl, then mix in the eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Do the same with the vanilla, then mix in the instant coffee / cold coffee mixture. Be sure to scrape all the way down to the bottom of the bowl in between each addition.
Remove 1 cup coffee cheesecake batter. Stir the melted chocolate into the removed coffee batter to create mocha cheesecake batter! Pour the remaining coffee cheesecake into the prepared springform pan, over top of the chocolate crust.
Scrape the mocha cheesecake batter into a piping bag and squeeze out the entire contents into the coffee cheesecake, all over, in little dollops inside the cheesecake and in top, until all of the mocha cheesecake batter is used up.
Take a knife or chop stick and swirl it back and forth through the blobs of mocha cheesecake batter, to create a beautiful swirl design. When satisfied with your beautiful work, place the cheesecake inside a baking dish and bring a kettle of water to boil.
Pour boiling water inside the baking dish, until it comes about 1″ up the side of the springform pan. Make sure it will not reach the lowest side of the tin foil – we don’t want the water to get into the tin foil and sogg-y-fy the cheesecake!
Bake that beauty
Place the entire baking pan with cheesecake inside the oven, in the center rack, and bake for about 45 minutes. The edges could start to crack and be puffy, whereas the center will still look jiggly.
Turn the oven and place a wooden spoon in the door so that it is open just a crack. Leave the cheesecake inside the cracked oven for 1 hour, then remove and place on the counter so that it can cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate for several hours to overnight for best results, then slice into 12 and ENJOY!
Expert Tips
- There is so much useful information in this Cheesecake Tips post, I hope you get the chance to read it!
- Mince the almonds super fine – this will result in a crunchy crust that binds together well.
- Be sure the chocolate is fully melted! You don’t want any weird chunks of chocolate messing up you day!
- It’s important to scrape down to the very bottom of the bowl while making the cheesecake, and scraping well in between each ingredient addition – we don’t want a lumpy cheesecake and that is how to avoid it!
- Yeah, a water bath sounds daunting, but it’s essential to create perfect cheesecake and not that scary once you’ve done it a time or two. The biggest thing to look out for? Make sure the water can’t get inside the tin foil! No biggie, right? Ensure your tin foil is as high up the side of the pan as possible, and then do not pour too much water into the baking dish – make sure it does not go further than halfway up the tin foil.
- Last, but not least, try not to over bake the cheesecake! It will still look uncooked when in fact, it is fully cooked. The edges will be puffy and may begin to crack. The center will still be jiggly. Shut that oven off before we get dry, crumbly cheesecake!
I love all things CHEESECAKE and am known as the Cheesecake Queen. If you have any questions at all, even if it’s just that you didn’t understand something, please drop me a question in the comment section below the recipe card, I also LOVE to help others to create perfect cheesecake, so am more than happy to answer any question at all!
Here are some other Low Carb Desserts you may love:
Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Parfait
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Freezer Cookies
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Keto Mocha Cheesecake
Ingredients
Chocolate Almond Crust
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup whole almonds
- 1 tbsp sukrin gold sweetener
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Mocha Cheesecake
- 2 oz 75-85% dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp refined coconut oil
- 2 tbsp instant coffee powder
- 1 tbsp room temperature brewed coffee or water
- 3 x 8 oz cream cheese (24 oz total) room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered monk fruit / erythritol sweetener
- ¾ cup full fat sour cream room temperature
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Equipment Needed
- Tin foil & Spray oil (avocado or olive)
- Baking dish large enough to fit the 8” springform pan inside
- Cutting board and Knife or Nut chopper
- Microwave safe bowl or Double boiler
- Spatula
- Kettle
Directions
Chocolate Almond Crust
- Heat the oven to 350°. Wrap the bottom of an 8" springform pan with heavy duty tin foil and spray the inside with spray oil. To read more about water baths and how to bake a perfect cheesecake, check out my Cheesecake Tips post.
- Melt butter in a medium sized, microwave safe mixing bowl or in a double boiler. Mince the whole almonds into a fine crumble and add to the melted butter along with the almond flour, sukrin gold, cinnamon, cocoa powder and sea salt. Mix well, then press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan using a fork or your hand.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove and set aside to cool.
Mocha Cheesecake
- Mix the instant coffee with brewed coffee in a small bowl and set aside. Chop the chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl with the coconut oil. Melt at 40% power, stirring every 30 seconds, until the chocolate has fully melted. Set aside to cool. Alternately the chocolate and coconut oil can be melted using a double boiler.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and stir until all of the lumps are gone. Scrape the bowl, then stir again. Stir in the powdered sweetener, scrape the bowl, then mix in the sour cream and eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Do the same with the vanilla, then mix in the instant coffee / cold coffee mixture. Be sure to scrape all the way down to the bottom of the bowl in between each addition.
- Remove 1 cup coffee cheesecake batter. Stir the melted chocolate into the removed coffee batter to create mocha cheesecake batter! Pour the remaining coffee cheesecake batter into the prepared springform pan, overtop of the chocolate crust.
- Scrape the mocha cheesecake batter into a piping bag and squeeze out the entire contents into the coffee cheesecake, all over, in little dollops inside the cheesecake and on top, until all of the mocha cheesecake batter is used up.
- Take a knife or chopstick and swirl it back and forth through the blobs of mocha cheesecake batter, to create a beautiful swirl design, then place the cheesecake inside a baking dish and bring a kettle of water to boil.
- Pour boiling water inside the baking dish, until it comes about 1" up the side of the springform pan. Make sure it will not reach the lowest side of the tin foil – we don't want the water to get into the tin foil and sogg-y-fy the cheesecake!
Bake that beauty
- Place the entire baking pan with cheesecake inside the oven, in the center rack, and bake for about 45 minutes. The edges may start to crack and will be puffy, whereas the center will still look jiggly.
- Turn the oven off and place a wooden spoon in the door so that it is open just a crack. Leave the cheesecake inside the cracked oven for 1 hour, then remove and place on the counter so that it can cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for several hours to overnight for best results, then slice into 12 and ENJOY!
Notes
Expert Tips
- There is so much useful information in this Cheesecake Tips post, I hope you get the chance to read it!
- Mince the almonds super fine – this will result in a crunchy crust that binds together well.
- Be sure the chocolate is fully melted! You don’t want any weird chunks of chocolate messing up you day!
- It’s important to scrape down to the very bottom of the bowl while making the cheesecake, and scraping well in between each ingredient addition – we don’t want a lumpy cheesecake and that is how to avoid it!
- Yeah, a water bath sounds daunting, but it’s essential to create perfect cheesecake and not that scary once you’ve done it a time or two. The biggest thing to look out for? Make sure the water can’t get inside the tin foil! No biggie, right? Ensure your tin foil is as high up the side of the pan as possible, and then do not pour too much water into the baking dish – make sure it does not go further than halfway up the tin foil.
- Last, but not least, try not to over bake the cheesecake! It will still look uncooked when in fact, it is fully cooked. The edges will be puffy and may begin to crack. The center will still be jiggly. Shut that oven off before we get dry, crumbly cheesecake!
This recipe looks ah-mazing!
Awe thanks Nyla!
This looks amazing! A friend of mine brought this to a party today and it was a huge hit, so she shared the recipe.
Do you use roasted or raw almonds?
I use raw in this recipe, but you can use either 🙂
Instead of a water bath in the oven do you think i can “bake” it in an instant pot? If so, how long? Also I REALLY want to make this cheesecake. It looks easy enough & delicious
Hey Tonya! I wish I had the answer for you, but I have never tried to make a cheesecake in the Instant Pot. Not yet anyways! You could make the cheesecake though and follow the instructions to an Instant Pot cheesecake recipe! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work 🙂