I had lots of fun last week when I went on vacation to the Keys but among the tons of overpriced tourist teasures, I didn’t bring much back home. That shouldn’t surprise you though because it’s only a few hours drive away. I did, however, bring some glorious fruits of the islands back with me – Key Limes.

These little sweet, tart, unique flavored citrus fruits are an absolute delight in baked goods – especially cheesecake. You should know already since they’re famous all over the world for their Key Lime Pie! Well, I wanted to keto-ize a version of their Key Lime Pie because I didn’t eat any while I was there and I was tempted by almost every shop I looked into. So, low and behold I bring you just that 🙂

You can also buy key lime juice online if you’re not close to Florida or the Keys. You can grab it off amazon as an add-on item for 8 bucks. If it’s like the other Key Lime juices I’ve used before, it’s more of a diluted version of the fresh juice. They normally make it from a concentrate so you’ll be looking at using something like 1/4 cup of juice to replace the 2-3 fresh Key Limes.

Let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

Yields 12 total Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes

The Preparation

Cheesecake Crust

½ cup macadamia nuts

macadamia nuts ½ cup almond flour

almond flour ¼ cup cold butter

cold butter ¼ cup erythritol

erythritol 1 large egg yolk

Key Lime Filling

8 ounces cream cheese

cream cheese ¼ cup butter

butter ¼ cup erythritol

erythritol ¼ teaspoon liquid Stevia

liquid Stevia 2 tablespoons Key lime juice (about 2 Key limes – fresh is best)

Key lime juice (about 2 Key limes – fresh is best) 2 large eggs

eggs 2 tablespoons key lime zest

The Execution

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. In a food processor, add the 1/2 cup of macadamia nuts.

2. Grind the nuts into a coarse meal consistency, then add 1/4 cup of NOW erythritol.

3. Pulse for a few moments and then add 1/2 Cup Honeyville almond flour. Pulse again until all is combined.

4. Cube 1/4 cup cold butter and add that into the food processor. Pulse again until the mixture starts to clump.

5. Add 1 egg yolk and pulse again until all of the dough clumps.

6. Remove the dough from the food processor and knead together with your hands.

7. Using some silicone cupcake molds (or just a regular greased cupcake tin), fill the wells about 1/8 to 1/4 of the way full. This depends on how thick you like your crust. If you make the crust thin, you will be able to make more cheesecake cupcakes.

8. Bake the crust for 5-7 minutes at 350F. They shouldn’t be browned when you take them out, they will look greasy and undercooked.

9. While the crust is cooking, beat together 1 block of cream cheese ( 8 oz. ) and 1/4 cup butter.

10. Once the butter and cream cheese is combined, add the 2 eggs and mix again.

11. Add 1/4 Cup NOW erythritol and 1/4 tsp. liquid stevia then mix again.

12. Finally, add the zest of about 2 key limes and the juice from 2 (this is about 2 Tbsp. of juice). Mix again until fully combined.

13. Once the crusts are out of the oven, let them cool for 3-5 minutes and then pour the mixture into the molds. Fill them so they leave some space at the top because they will rise as they cook and can spill over.

14. Bake the cheesecakes for 30-35 minutes at 350F.

15. Cool the cheesecakes for 20-30 minutes and then store in the fridge overnight.

16. Add some extra key lime zest over the top and serve!

This makes 12 total Key Lime Cheesecakes. Each cheesecake has 217.25 Calories, 21.91g Fats, 1.95g Net Carbs, and 3.96g Protein.

Low Carb Key Lime Cheesecakes Calories Fats(g) Carbs(g) Fiber(g) Net Carbs(g) Protein(g) ½ cup macadamia nuts 481 50.77 9.26 5.8 3.46 5.3 ½ cup almond flour 320 28 12 6 6 12 ½ cup butter 814 92.06 0.07 0 0.07 0.96 ½ cup erythritol 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 large egg yolk 55 4.51 0.61 0 0.61 2.7 8 ounces cream cheese 794 78.11 12.52 0 12.52 13.95 ¼ teaspoon liquid Stevia 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 large eggs 143 9.51 0.72 0 0.72 12.56 Totals 2607 262.96 35.18 11.8 23.38 47.47 Per Serving(/12) 217.25 21.91 2.93 0.98 1.95 3.96