Orange Cheesecake Brownie Cupcakes

September 24, 2013 12 Comments

Orange Cheesecake Brownie Cupcakes

I LOVE brownies and I LOVE cheesecake…putting the two together is absolute heaven.  These little gems are SO tasty and fairly easy to make.  I have made them with both regular sugar and Swerve (erythritol) and they have turned out great both ways.  They also work nicely in a mini-muffin cup for an even smaller bite-sized treat.  I have not tried them in anything but the silicone liners though so I’m not sure how they’d do in a paper liner…I think they have enough fat in them that they would slip right out but I can’t say for sure.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Ingredients

Orange Cheesecake Layer:
  • 1 Tbsp. orange zest
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener or your favorite sweetener (or powdered sugar 1:1 swap)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. orange flavor extract
Brownie Layer:
  • 8 Tbsp. butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener or your favorite sweetener (or granulated sugar 1:1 swap)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 large eggs

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350° F and set 16 silicone muffin cups on a large baking sheet.
  2. For the cheesecake layer, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered erythritol (or sugar) until smooth. Beat in egg until well combined.  Add orange zest and orange flavor extract and beat until smooth and well mixed. Set aside.
  3. For the brownie layer, in a medium sauce pan, melt butter and coconut oil over low heat, add cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Stir in erythritol (or sugar) and vanilla extract. Let cool 10 minutes.
  4. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined.
  5. Spoon 2 Tbsp. of brownie batter into the bottom of each muffin cup.
  6. Spoon 1 Tbsp. cheesecake mixture over top and use a toothpick to swirl layers together, bringing some of the brownie mixture to the surface.
  7. Bake 20 minutes, or until sides are set and the middle is just barely jiggling. Remove from oven and let cool 20 minutes, then refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Orange Cheesecake Brownie Cupcakes 2

This recipe is an adapted from All Day I Dream About Food’s Raspberry Cheesecake Swirl Brownies.

Shared at:

Gluten Free Tuesday, 5 Ingredient Monday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Gluten-Free Wednesday, Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love, Allergy-Free Wednesday, Whole Food Wednesday, Gluten-Free Fridays, Wednesday Extravaganza

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (2 net carbs!)

April 17, 2013 35 Comments

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This has got to be one of the easiest cookie recipes on the planet!  It’s really just a standard flour-less peanut butter cookie recipe, I just replaced the sugar with erythritol and it’s only 4 ingredients, one mixing bowl, one spoon and one cookie sheet! Oh, and if you eat them all in one day then you won’t even need to dirty a container to store them in (although this is not recommended unless you are sharing!).

I am very new to the low-carb baking world so I am limited in my knowledge of sugar replacements…so far I have only successfully used Swerve Sweetener, which is erythritol.  It is highly recommended by Carolyn at All Day I Dream About Food, which is my absolute favorite low carb blog…she is a genius in the kitchen and every recipe I have tried has been AWESOME!  I like especially like Swerve since it subs 1:1 for sugar in just about any recipe…this takes all the guess-work out of substitutions also, it has no weird after-taste and won’t upset your digestive system!  I do also love stevia as a sweetener but I have yet to master using it alone in baking.  If you are not interested in a low carb version of this cookie it is easy to sub in your favorite unrefined sugar of choice, I think they would be fabulous with coconut palm sugar.

Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup organic unsweetened peanut butter, room temperature
1 1⁄8 cup erythritol (I used Swerve)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, 1 cup erythritol, egg, and vanilla, stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into 1″ balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar replacement to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, turning the cookie sheet halfway through baking, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar replacement. Cool slightly before removing from the pan to a wire cooling rack.
Makes 16 cookies.
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