Cannoli Protein Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients you need

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• Almond flour: This keto shortbread crust is made with almond flour. You could also use sunflower seed flour for a nut free option. And pecan flour, such as in my Keto Blueberry Jamboree, would work nicely as well.
• Sweetener: The crust requires an erythritol sweetener to crisp up properly. The filling is a little more forgiving. Read the Tips for Success for more information.
• Protein powder: I recommend using an unflavored whey protein, as vanilla varieties will overpower the flavor. Read the Tips for more options.
• Cottage cheese: I used a 2% milk fat variety, but you can also use whole milk.
• Cream cheese: You do need some cream cheese to give the bars a better texture and structure.
• Orange zest: The orange zest adds flavor a lovely flavor. You can skip it if you wish, or you can use a little orange extract (I’d add only about ¼ to ½ teaspoon).
• Coconut flour: The protein powder and cottage cheese can make the filling extra soft, so a little coconut flour helps firm it up a bit better.
• Mini keto chocolate chips: Since cannoli is often garnished with chocolate, I added some keto-friendly mini chocolate chips.
• Kitchen staples: Eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and salt.

Step by Step Directions

1. Prepare the crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, and salt. Stir in the melted butter until well combined.

2. Bake the crust: Press evenly into the bottom of an 8-inch square pan and bake at 325ºF for 12 minutes. Remove and let cool completely.

3. Blend the cheeses: In a food processor, combine the cottage cheese and cream cheese. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

4. Add the remaining filling ingredients: Add the sweetener, protein powder, orange zest, and vanilla extract and blend until well combined. At this point, you can taste the mixture and adjust the sweetener as desired. Add the eggs and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Then add the coconut flour and pulse a few times to incorporate.

5. Assemble and bake: Once the mixture is nice and smooth, stir in the chocolate chips to combine. Pour the filling overtop of the crust and spread to the edges. Bake at 300ºF for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the filling is just set and the center jiggles just slightly when shaken.

6. Chill and set: Remove and let cool completely, then refrigerate 3 hours to firm up.

7. Drizzle the chocolate: In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth. Transfer to a ziplock bag and snip off a tiny corner. Drizzle the chocolate overtop the cheesecake bars (you can do this before or after cutting them into bars).