Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Maple Bacon Crust

Love this recipe? Shout it from the rooftops!

So I’m sitting here staring at the screen, trying to start typing something that does this low carb masterpiece justice, and thanks to all of the allergy medication I’m taking this week it’s really hard to get my thoughts together.

That’s about what my brain is capable of right now, and it’s a shame because this cheesecake recipe really is phenomenal. I guess I’ll let the pictures do the talking for me today, and just rally long enough to give you a few highlights about it.

1. It’s delicious (hello, that’s a given.)

2. That drizzly stuff on top? It’s a white chocolate caramel sauce that came about totally by accident. I used cacao butter, HWC, vanilla and Swerve sweetener (don’t know if this will work with other sweeteners) in it and was planning for it to be a ganache – I cooked it too long and it turned into a caramel instead!

3. The cheesecake is flavored with pumpkin (obviously) and typical pumpkin spices, but I also threw some caramel flavored extract in there and BOOM. So good.

4. I hate it when cheesecake sinks in the middle and becomes super dense and ugly. So I experimented with a couple of tablespoons of low carb vanilla flavored protein powder to help it stay put, which worked great. As you can see by the photos, there was no sinkhole in the center, and it had a pleasant, fluffy texture.

5. The crust is based on my maple walnut shortbread crust from last year’s fall ezine issue, but instead of chopped walnuts I used crispy, finely chopped bacon instead. Do I need to tell you that it was amazeballs? I didn’t think so.

You can even eat this stuff by the handful if you make cookies out of it, which I’m totally going to do because it’s awesome. Combined with this cheesecake though? There are no words.  Except maybe….

So there you have it, I’m pretty sure I covered all of the really important stuff. Now I know there are some specific ingredients here that may require some planning for you to obtain so you can make this low carb cheesecake recipe – I promise it’s worth the trouble!  If you make it please do report back and tell me how good it was so I can say…

Low Carb Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Maple Bacon Crust

★★★★★

5 from 9 reviews

A decadent low carb cheesecake recipe that starts with a maple bacon crust, topped with pumpkin caramel cheesecake, and a white chocolate caramel sauce. Whipped cream garnish is optional.

• Yield: 16 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the crust:

• 6 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1/3 cup Swerve sweetener
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 tsp maple flavoring see example
• 1/4 cup finely chopped crispy bacon
• pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 32 oz (4 bars) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup Swerve sweetener
• 3 eggs
• 1 can unsweetened pumpkin puree (or 15oz homemade)
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp caramel flavoring see example
• 2 Tbsp sugar free vanilla protein powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the white chocolate caramel:

• 1/3 cup raw cacao butter see example
• 2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tbsp Swerve sweetener
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

To make the crust:

1. Combine the melted butter, Swerve, almond flour, maple flavoring, bacon and pinch of salt in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly. Press into a 10″ springform pan to a depth of about 1/4 inch along the bottom and 1/3 up the sides. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees (F) for 6 minutes to firm up before filling.

To make the cheesecake filling:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil for your water bath. Then, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sweetener with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs, pumpkin, and heavy whipping cream and beat for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, caramel, spices, and protein powder and beat until fluffy (about 2 more minutes.) Pour into the springform pan lined with the pre-baked crust and smooth with a spatula. Place the springform pan inside a larger pan and place on the middle rack in your oven. Carefully pour boiling water into the larger pan until it’s about halfway up the sides of your springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for one hour. Then shut off the oven (leave the door shut) and leave it in there for another hour. Remove carefully from the oven and chill for at least four hours, preferably overnight before drizzling with caramel and serving.

To make the white chocolate caramel sauce:

1. In a small microwave safe bowl, combine the raw cacao, heavy whipping cream, Swerve, and vanilla extract. Microwave for one minute. Remove and stir. Microwave for another minute. Remove and stir. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. It should be light golden brown at this point, if not microwave for another 30 seconds. Alternatively you could heat this on the stove until golden and bubbling. Let it cool until slightly thickened (3-5 minutes) then drizzle over the cheesecake before serving.

Notes

Approx nutrition info per slice: 381 calories, 36g fat, 4g net carbs, 9g protein

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1/16th of the cake

Love cheesecake but hate the work?  Try my easy low carb raspberry cheesecake bars or pumpkin cheese pie instead!
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Love this recipe? Shout it from the rooftops!