Cranberry Cheesecake (Low Carb) Keto Bars

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9" or 8x8" baking dish with parchment paper, leaving flaps overhanging on both sides. Set aside.

Crust

1. Combine all the dry ingredients for the crust in a medium bowl. With a fork, cut in the softened butter until the mixture forms coarse crumbles. Add the egg and continue mashing everything together until it is very well combined and sticks together and forms a ball
2. Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish without going up the sides. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Cranberry Filling

1. While the crust is baking, prepare the cranberry filling. Add all Cranberry Filling ingredients to a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
2. Remove saucepan from heat. If you have an immersion blender, puree the filling right in the saucepan (if the pan is small enough to make the filling deep enough to blend, otherwise transfer to a jar and blend in that). If not, transfer filling mixture to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
3. Pour cranberry filling over the baked crust and spread evenly over the top. Set aside.

Cheesecake Filling

1. Combine all Cheesecake Filling ingredients except the egg in a mixing bowl. With either a hand-mixer or a stand mixer, mix until smooth and thick.
2. Add the egg and very gently mix just until combined and smooth. Do not overmix, otherwise the filling will come out lumpy. Pour the cheesecake mixture over the cranberry filling and smooth to fill the pan to the edges. Set aside.

Topping

1. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F
2. Take 1/4 cup of the pecans and very finely chop them. Combine the almond flour, the finely chopped pecans, chia seed powder, and cinnamon. Mix with a fork to combine everything evenly.
3. Add the softened butter and cut in with the fork until the mixture forms coarse crumbles. Using your hands, evenly sprinkle the mixture over the top of the cheesecake layer.
4. Roughly chop the remaining 1/4 cup of pecans and sprinkle those and the cranberries on top.
5. Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack. Place the entire pan of bars in the fridge (on a heat-proof surface) to cool completely and let them firm up (up to 8 hours).
6. Once cooled, cut into 9 bars. Keep in mind the macros will change if you cut them into smaller bars. Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. If stacking them on top of one another, separate with layers of parchment paper.