It is our 9th wedding anniversary today on August 11th, so I wanted to make Craig's favorite dessert...Vanilla Bean Cheesecake! I brought this to a gathering with family and friends and everyone loved it. No one knew it was "healthified!"
CRUST:1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 cup coconut oil or butter
1 cup Swerve (or erythritol)
2 tsp stevia glycerite
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
FILLING:
6 - 8 oz packages of cream cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup Swerve
1 vanilla bean
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the "crust" ingredients and then press into bottom of spring-form pan.
Cut a vanilla bean open through the middle and scrape the beans out of the inside with a sharp knife.
Optional: in a coffee grinder, blend Swerve until a fine powder. This creates a smoother cheesecake. Mix cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla bean with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low after each, just until blended. Pour over crust. I use a water bath to create a more even baking process. To prevent water from seeping into the removable bottom of the springform pan, wrap aluminum foil completely around the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Place the cheesecake into a jellyroll pan (or any baking pan with sides) and place the pans into the oven. Use a teakettle to fill the outer pan with hot water. Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center is almost set.
Run knife around the rim of the pan to loosen cake and allow to cool before removing the spring-form pan ring. Refrigerate overnight. We cut the cheesecake into 18 pieces, which were so satisfying!
NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Cheesecake Factory Vanilla Bean = 869 calories, 72 carbs, 1 fiber, 3 protein
"Healthified" Cheesecake = 407 calories, 4.8 carbs, 1.2 fiber, 3 protein
