Low Carb, Grain Free Brownies (Topped with Cheesecake!)

Adapted from this recipe by Elana at ElanasPantry.com

I'm currently on a mission to find an assortment of weekday-friendly (ie: low-carb) desserts.  First, we tried, perfected, and fell in love with these faux peanut butter cookies.

The cookies are still at the top of my favorites list (since they're my firstborn, and all), but these brownies are a darn close second.

Especially since they involve cheesecake.

Cheesecake!

Cheesecake.

CHEESECAKE, people!

I'm a cheesecake snob.  You can ask my bff Jac who was the victim of my snobbery regarding my ill-perceived sacrilegious-ness of sour cream topping on cheesecake... until my Thanksgiving pumpkin cheesecake cracked and I found myself needing her go-to recipe for a sour cream topping.

Ahem.  But we all have our faults.  And karma can be a dirty traitor.

Moving on...

I made these for a second time over the weekend after perfecting the recipe.  I knew it was spot-on when Mr. Pihl went back for seconds, repeatedly murmuring "I can't believe these are low-carb..." in a chocolaty, dessert induced stupor.

They're scrumptious.

The recipe these are adapted from is aimed at folks following a Paleo lifestyle (which meant that it originally used honey; a low-carb no no).  After some tweaking, I have the recipe here for you!

Yes, you!

Isn't that just gorgeous?

I set out to make these with a cheesecake swirl in mind, but quickly discovered that the brownie batter was too crumbly to swirl.  No matter.

I just patted the mixture into a baking pan.

Spreadable cheesecake topping was fine with me!  Well, ANY kind of cheesecake is fine with me, of course.

But bring chocolate into the party?  Yes, please.  Especially when the two respective batters bake into squares of harmonious marriage between chocolate and cheesecake.

Anyhow, here's the secret!

You'll need:

• cooking spray
• 1 16 ounce jar of creamy almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup erythritol sweetener
•  1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 dark chocolate bar, chopped

For the cheesecake topping:

• 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 1/4 cup erythritol
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 

Mix the all the wet ingredients well in a mixer.  Add in the erythritol, cocoa, baking powder, and chocolate.  Pat into a baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients for the the cheesecake topping together until well blended.

Spread cheesecake topping onto the brownie mixture with a spatula.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.