Lemon Silk Mini Cheesecakes

These mini cheesecakes are yet another variation of my original cheesecakes. The addition of extra lemon juice gives them a tangy sweet twist. They're so creamy and luscious they'll feel like silk in your mouth. Serve them for dessert tonight if you're looking for something tangy, sweet and refreshing!

Directions:

Use the same recipe and directions for Adriana's Mini Cheesecakes. The only change you will need to make is to increase the lemon juice from 1 tbsp to 3 tbsp.

*Optional* You can add 2-3 drops of yellow food coloring to the batter to make it look a little more bright and yellow.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until set. Let cool and refrigerate overnight before eating. Garnish with slivers of lemon zest if desired.

This recipe is suitable for induction IF you make it WITHOUT the crust.

This recipe yields 12 mini cheesecakes. Each cheesecake has 1.91 Net carbs

You can also make this cheesecake in a pie pan if you'd prefer.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes with Homemade Chocolate Ganache!

I made several variations of cheesecakes for Christmas and this was my ABSOLUTE favorite. It was AMAZING! It tasted like something I expect to get at a gourmet bakery. It's the best cheesecake I have ever had, low carb or not. Very, very LUSCIOUS!

Ingredients:

1 recipe for Adriana's Mini Cheesecakes
1/2 cup of your favorite sugar free chocolate chips. I used Sensato Sugar Free chocolate chips. You can also use a Green and Black's or Godiva's 85% chocolate bar chopped up.
1 recipe for Adriana's Homemade Chocolate Ganache

Directions:

1. Follow all the instructions for making my cheesecakes. Before pouring the mixture into the crusts, fold in the chocolate chips. Then bake as directed.
2. After the cheesecakes come out of the oven and are cooled, spoon the ganache on top and let it sit for 2 hours or until set. Refrigerate over night for best taste.


Recipe yields 12 cheesecakes, each with 2.36 Net carbs

The carb counts might differ slightly depending on the chocolate chips you choose to use.

Adriana's Mini Cheescakes

For Christmas I made three kinds of mini cheesecakes. They're so creamy and very low in carbs because they're sweetened with a combination of erythritol and stevia. All of them start with this basic cheesecake recipe. I'll post the variations separately.

Ingredients:

Crust:

3/4 cup of pecan meal (just run the pecans through the processor until they turn into a meal)

1/4 cup vanilla protein powder (I used Jay Robb)

3 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cheesecake:

2   8 oz pckgs cream cheese, softened

1 tbsp Torani Sugar Free Vanilla syrup, you can also use Davinci's

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp NuNaturals pure Stevia Extract (It's the white powder)

1/8 cup erythritol, powdered

2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. In a bowl mix the pecan meal, protein powder, cinnamon, and melted butter. Stir to completely combine.

3. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

4. Press the crust mixture down into the liners and bake for 5 minutes. Remove to cool.

Meanwhile,

5. Cream the cheese and the eggs. Add the Torani or Davinci's, lemon juice, stevia, and erythritol.

6. Add the cheesecake mixture to the crusts and bake for 12-15 minutes until set.

They're best if you let them cool completely at room temperature and in the refrigerator over night. The BEST cheesecakes I have ever had. Well, second to the chocolate chip cheesecake with homemade chocolate ganache variation! 

I got my pecan meal at a local Farmer's Market. I got a full pound of pecan meal for $2.95!

Please note: You can powder erythritol in your food processor, magic bullet, or Ninja. You can powder a full cup then store it in a plastic baggie and use it as needed for these cheesecakes or other recipes that call for powdered erythritol.

Also note: If you do not have these sweeteners, then use 3/4 cup of Splenda or liquid Splenda for lower carbs.


Recipe yields 12 cheesecakes.  Net carbs per cheesecake (recipe as written) 1.75

Adriana's Low Carb BBQ Sauce

I've tried several different brands of BBQ sauce since starting low carb and while there have been several that have been quite good, this homemade one totally rocks! Use it on chicken, baby back ribs, or like I did on brisket. It's really really good and although the ingredients sound a bit strange, I promise it tastes amazing!


Ingredients:

1 cup Heinz reduced sugar ketchup
1 cup Diet Rite or another Diet soda that is sweetened with Splenda. (It has to be sweetened with Splenda or it'll turn out bitter because of the aspartame in other sodas.)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more if you like it spicy)
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Worsterschire sauce
black pepper to taste



Directions:

1. In a medium bowl wisk all ingredients together until smooth.
2. In a medium saucepan simmer sauce on medium low heat for 15 minutes. It will reduce and become thicker.


*** I didn't use any extra sweetener because the ketchup and the diet rite are sweetened with Splenda and that's plenty sweet for a BBQ sauce.


You will get 8 servings at 1/4 cup each.

Net carbs per serving: 2.43

Fruity cheesecake tart

Based on this recipe

For my birthday this weekend, I wanted a dessert that would not sabotage all the hard work i've done and that my whole non low carbing family would enjoy. I've seen several recipes for low carb fruit "pizza". So I adapted a few to suit my tastes and needs.

This tart was sooooooo good! It did not taste "diet" at all. It didn't have any after taste either. My whole family had seconds!!!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 cups almond flour/meal
1 stick of butter melted
1/4 cup erythritol
1 tbsp Davinci Sugar Free vanilla
1/4 cup Splenda (I used liquid for zero carbs, 6 drops)

For the cheesecake topping:

1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 tbsp Davinci sugar free vanilla
1/3 cup Splenda (I used liquid for zero carbs, 8 drops)
1 tsp. erythritol

1 kiwi peeled and sliced
5 strawberries sliced
1/2 cup pineapple chunks in juice not syrup drained
1/4 cup blueberries


Directions:

For the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2.  I don't have a microwave so I melted the butter in a pan on the stove. My erythritol wasn't powdered so I stirred it into the pan with the melted butter. (If you're erythritol is powdered you can skip this step)
3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and spread on a tart pan.
4. Bake for 12 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let cool for 15 minutes before adding the topping.

It should look like this:

For the filling:

1. Mix the cream cheese, heavy cream, Davinci, Splenda, and erythritol. (You can leave the erythritol out. I added this small amount because it's always better when you use several types of sweeteners. It gives the food a more "real" sugar taste)
2. I beat mine with a mixer until it was thoroughly mixed and fluffy.

It looked like this:

3. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crust.

4. And top with the fruit.

I let the dessert chill in the refrigerator overnight before trying it.

Erythritol can sometimes have a "cooling" effect when not combined with other sweeteners. I detected a slight "cooling" effect on the crust by itself. But when it was topped with the cream and fruit it was amazingly delicious!!! No after taste or any type of artificial taste at all!

I got 12 good sized slices out of the tart.

Carb counts from fatsecret.com:

Net carbs for the entire tart: 70.88

Net carbs per serving: 5.90