There was a special at the store last week, so I scored a box of massive strawberries for only $2 a pound! And as quickly as I felt lucky over my steal, I also realised I'm the only strawberry eater in our household. My first thought was to immediately make something so I didn't waste these strawberries by keeping them in the fridge to wilt and wither away.
This dessert recipe is stupid-easy and really didn't take much to put together. It was a hit at my friend's intimate dinner party and we enjoyed it without the guilt.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 C almond flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
2 TBS unsalted grass-fed butter, melted
8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon juice (or more if you want some more tartness and bite)
1/4 cup erythritol (I use So Nourished)
pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat your oven to 350F.
To make the crust, mix your butter and almond flour together until you get a lumpy dough.
Take a cupcake tin and line it with cupcake paper liners because the cheesecakes will be a little tricky to extract. Press about a teaspoon amount of the dough onto the bottom of each cupcake liner until the entire bottom is covered.
Bake them for 5-6 minutes until they are a little brown and flaky.
For the cheesecake filling, take your room temperature cream cheese and mix it in a bowl until you get a creamy consistency. Some recipes call for a stand mixer or a hand mixer, but I just used a whisk and mixed it rapidly. Once you've reached the desired creaminess, add in all your other ingredients--vanilla extract, egg, erythritol, lemon juice, and salt. Mix until they are all combined well.
Spoon them into each cupcake liner until about 2/3 full--you might need to just wing it in case your batter isn't enough for all the crusts you made. Bake these for 15 minutes. You'll notice that the cheesecake will rise a little bit in the oven and then sink back just a tiny bit once taken out. They may even appear a little wet. Cool the cheesecakes in the fridge for a few hours--but the best is if you chill them in the fridge overnight. They will have a more solid texture and flavour.
Garnish the cheesecakes with sliced strawberries. Enjoy!
176 calories per cheesecake
4g Protein
16g Fat
2g Net Carbs