Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

It is my 30th birthday today. My wish it that I get our referral today for our baby. My husband is terrible at keeping secrets (he usually has me open my present the day he gets it:) even with Christmas presents). But I hope that he knows and is just keeping it a surprise for me. I will let all of you know as soon as I know! I also wanted to thank all of you who have purchased my books, all the the profits go to our adoption fund. So if it weren't for all of you, this wouldn't be possible!

So, I made my own birthday cake, well, CHEESECAKE. I combined my two favorite foods: cream cheese and peanut butter:)


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 ounce packages cream cheese
3 eggs
3/4 cup Swerve ( or erythritol powdered)
1 tsp stevia glycerite

PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL:
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/8 cup erythritol
1/4 tsp stevia glycerite
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or cream)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the "crust" ingredients and then press into bottom of spring-form pan.

Option: in a coffee grinder, blend erythritol until a fine powder. This creates a smoother cheesecake.

Mix the peanut butter swirl ingredients together until smooth and set aside.

Mix cream cheese, and sweetener with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low after each, just until blended. Pour over crust. Then using a knife swirl in the peanut butter mix.

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.

NOTE: This makes a very thick crust! In the future, I would do 1/2 the batch and add one egg to the dough. This makes for a better crust that isn't so thick
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
2 TBS grass fed butter or coconut oil
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
10 TBS heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners Swerve (or erythritol)
1 tsp stevia glycerite

Place the butter and chopped chocolate in a double boiler (or in a heat safe dish over a pot of boiling water). Stir well until just melted (don't burn the chocolate!), add in the cream, and sweetener. Stir until smooth and thick. Smooth all over the top of the cooled cheesecake and set back in fridge to set.

We cut the cheesecake into 18 pieces, which were so satisfying!

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Cheesecake Factory = 930 calories, 3g protein, 93g carbs, 1g fiber (92g effective carbs)
"Healthified" Cheesecake = 578 calories, 14.2g protein, 9.3g carbs, 3.3g fiber (6g effective carbs)

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