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Mocha Cheesecake Pie

I was having a hankering for something coffee flavored…go figure. A simple cheesecake pie is delicious, but I wanted to switched things up a bit. Then it occurred to me that I adore a creamy latte, so why not do a mocha creamy thing? I started with adding some cocoa powder to the crust for a nice chocolate cookie crunch.

Next I had my basic cheesecake pie recipe and added coffee flavor. The coffee flavor came in two forms…coffee extract and decaf freeze dried coffee crystals. Remember when Grandma would order a Sanka? That’s what I use to give this Mocha Cheesecake Pie it’s color and flavor.

Mocha Cheesecake Pie

Why do we use drops or alcohols or a combo of both in low carb/keto baking and cooking?

Stevia and Monkfruit are extracts, kinda like vanilla extract. Just a little packs a big punch of sweetness. But in baking (or cooking, too) we usually need the bulk of sugar alcohols like erythritol or xylitol or allulose. These sugar alcohols have the bulk like real sugar, but sometimes they do not have enough sweetness. So a combo of an extract and an alcohol brings a recipe to an equivalent sweetness and consistency of traditional recipes.

For example if I am making an old fashion/conventional batch of cookies the recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar. In low carb/keto baking that same recipe is not always a 1:1 alteration. Meaning I can not just substitute 1 cup of a sugar alcohol for the traditional sugar in that batch of cookies. I need the bulk of the 1 cup of sweetener plus a little bit of the extracts to bring up the sweetness.

The other part in cooking or baking low carb/keto with sugar alcohols and sweeteners is that they do not alway bake OR store the same way as traditional cookies. There’s some science going on in the bowl and the baking with the flours, sugars and fats.

Sometimes you even have to powder your granular erythritol by using it through a coffee grinder like I do with this Mocha Cheesecake Pie.

Keto Baking

Back to our cookies example…when you are using almond or coconut flour in place of the traditional flour and you are replacing the traditional sugar with sugar alcohols the amounts used and the baking time is a little different. Traditional wheat flour has protein in it and coconut flour is VERY absorbent. Plus…when those cookies cool sometimes they are rock hard or have a cooling effect in your mouth.

Back to your original question…stevia drops are readily available at most supermarkets. A few drops to your coffee or to a chaffle or a salad dressing can help replace the sweetness without the bulk of traditional sugar. True monkfruit extract is harder to come by and more expensive, but it does the same thing.

One last thing…and this could just be my experience…when I combine monkfruit with a erythritol it lessens the mouth cooling effect for me….for me this combo tastes and bakes the most like traditional sugar. The brand I use is called Lakanto Monkfruit sweetener (CLASSIC). I use this brand because they already have combined the two ingredients. Then as I’m making a recipe I may add a few drops of stevia to up the sweetness to mimic a “traditional sugar” recipe.

Mocha Cheesecake Pie
Mocha Cheesecake Pie

Mocha Cheesecake Pie

I usually want a cup of coffee in the evening, but I don’t want to be kept up at night. This Mocha Cheesecake Pie gives me my coffee flavor without the caffeine.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Holiday
Keyword: cheesecake, coffee dessert, easy dessert, keto dessert
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 231kcal

Ingredients

Chocolate Pie Crust

Mocha Cheesecake Filling

  • 16 oz cream cheese
  • cup lakanto monkfruit sweetener powdered
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp coffee extract
  • 1 tsp decaf coffee crystal freeze dried like Sanka

Chocolate Drizzle Topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350*
  • In bowl mix together melted butter almond flour, melted butter, cocoa powder and sweetener. Once the mixture is crumbly transfer to a 9” pie tin. Press crumbly mixture into pie tin going up the sides and firmly pressed into the bottom. Set aside.
  • In a large clean bowl beat together the softened cream cheese and powdered sweetener of choice using a hand mixer. Beat together until smooth and creamy. Add in the coffee extract and coffee crystals and beat until fully mixed in. This is where your cheesecake get the coffee flavor and color.
  • Beat in the two eggs until fully incorporated together. Pour coffee cheesecake mixture into your chocolate pie shell and smooth top of pie to be even and attractive.
  • Bake for 20-25 mins. Center should set, but not firm. Remove from oven and let cool on the counter for 30 minutes. Cheesecake will fall slightly as it cools.
  • Melt together the chocolate chips and the little bit of butter in the microwave. Usually 30 second increments to melt with stirring in between until fully melted and thin.
  • Using a small spoon gently drizzle melted chocolate over the cooled cheesecake. Be as creative as you like as this part is decorative.
  • Transfer your Mocha Cheesecake Pie to the fridge for about an hour or more. Slice and serve. Dollop with whipped cream if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 83mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 665IU | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1mg
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MEDICAL AND NUTRITION DISCLAIMER…Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nutritional break downs are done using a commercial nutrition calculator. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctorbefore starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers, this should never be construed as medical advice.

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