Rumbling With The Crumble The Ketolicious Way: Low Carb Gluten-free Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake Bars with Pecan Crumbles

The carb count is much lower than the average dessert by substituting almond and coconut for wheat flour. I use Swerve ( a brand of Erythritol) both the "confectioners" and the "brown" version instead of sugar. The calorie count is high, of course. Full fat and lush this dessert does not sacrifice flavor or texture by eliminating carbohydrates. The crust is shortbread-like, the crumble melts and crunches... the cheesecake is dense and creamy and not too sweet.... the way my native NYC tastebuds prefer it. The blueberries add both texture and acidity ... absolutely refreshing and lovely. 


I'll skip my usual preamble and cut to the chase... those of you interested in learning a bit more about the ketogenic diet can check out this blog of mine where I do delve into the science of the diet, but let's just get cooking for now, shall we? 

Low Carb Gluten-free Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecake Bars
with Pecan Crumbles

Okay so... a few notes: 


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The oven must be ready. 

Prepare a shallow 9" x 13" baking dish with a sheet of parchment paper
You can butter the parchment or spray it with a light cooking spray but that's not as essential as having that sheet of parchment for easy removal as well as to prevent sticking. (I used a Le Creuset stoneware baking dish which is finished with a porcelain enamel glaze, but a glass or aluminum dish is fine).

You need a food processor, and you won't even have to the wash the food processor between batches... all of your ingredients except the butter and the cream should be room temperature. Take out the eggs and cream cheese at least an hour before you intend to bake this. This will make the cream cheese whip up smooth and lovely... cold cream cheese is harder to work.

Remember, too, that the cheesecake requires at least 3 hours of refrigeration, preferably more before it's edible - and the prep and baking time is another hour or so... factor all this in... if you intend to eat it for breakfast? Make it the night before.

You are going to make the crust first, then blind bake it for 10-15 minutes (until it's a light golden brown and smells like shortbread)> otherwise you will have a soggy mess on your hands, instead of a lovely crisp crust.

Then, while the crust is baking, make the cheesecake batter, by the time the batter is mixed the crust will be done, and you can pour the cheesecake batter on the crust, plop the blueberries on top of that and then prepare the crumble topping.

The pecans should only go in the food processor at the very last second and should only be processed for two seconds or so, to mix it in without pulverizing them... you want them whole and crunchy for more texture.

Ingredients 

Crust ingredients:

1-1/3 cups of fine almond flour
1/3 cup of coconut flour
1/3 cup of Swerve Confectioner's powder (which is Erythritol - a sugar substitute that measures 1:1 like regular sugar in baking, but doesn't get metabolized as sugar in the body, so it is said to have 0 calories - if you use a different sugar substitute you will have to look at the packet to see how much is equivalent to 1/3 cup of sugar)

1 pinch of kosher salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1 TBS of half and half (or heavy cream)


Crumble Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups of almond flour
1/4 cup of coconut flour
1/3 cup of Swerve "brown" sugar substitute (or 1/3 "Brown" Monkfruit sweetener)

1 pinch of kosher salt
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
1-1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of half and half (or heavy cream)
1/3 cup of chopped pecans



Cheesecake batter

16 oz of full fat cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup of Swerve Confectioners Powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Juice from half a lemon
2 large eggs at room temperature

10-12 oz of frozen blueberries or a pint of fresh



Instructions:

Crust:

1) Combine the flours and the sugar substitute in the food processor until evenly distributed

2) Then add the butter cubes and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, then, with the processor running on "Normal" - add the cream until the dough comes together in clumps...

Do not over process!



3) Dump the contents of the food processor onto the parchment-lined baking dish and begin pressing out to fill the bottom until it forms one thin well-integrated layer... if you find this challenging, get a rolling pin, pull the parchment paper with the dough out & roll it... remember it's okay if it breaks... you can easily stick it back together, then place the parchment with the dough back into the pan.


4) Bake the crust in the pre-heated 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until its edges are golden and the crust is firm and aromatic. Now make the cheesecake batter.



Cheesecake batter:

1) Add the cream cheese and sour cream to the food processor, mix on high until light and smooth with no visible lumps

2) Add the confectioners powder to the batter... mix until well combined and fluffy

3) Add the vanilla and the lemon juice... mix it well

4) Add the eggs last because we don't want to overwork them... when you overbeat the eggs they stiffen the batter and cause it to crack when baking...

5) When the eggs are mixed in, pour the batter over the crust and plop blueberries atop... now at this point I usually take a 1/4 cup of blueberries and puree them with whatever batter is leftover in the food processor bowl, but swirl them into the batter before distributing the whole blueberries evenly over the cheesecake batter - but it's not essential...

6) Bake your cheesecake for 20 minutes before making the crumble topping and adding it.



Crumble topping:

1) Mix the flours and sugar substitute together with the cinnamon in the food processor

2) Add the butter cubes and pulse until mixture resembles coarse corn meal

3) With the processor running add the cream until it comes together into clumps. Do not overprocess

4) Turn off the processor, add the pecans, and pulses lightly just a few times to combine without pulverizing the pecans.

5) When the cheesecake has baked for twenty minutes, remove it from the oven, evenly distribute the crumble topping, then return the pan to the oven, lower the heat to 325 and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes.

6) When the cheesecake is done, turn off the oven, crack open the door with a wooden spoon, let cool for 30-45 minutes and then place in the fridge for 3-4 hours...



Voila!


Now it's time for me to relax with a glass of wine, sit by my window, and enjoy our San Francisco Summer sunset. Ciao for now. Be safe! Eat Well! <3