THM Cranberry Cheesecake Bars

Delicious, festive and sugar free, these THM cheesecake bars will make your taste buds sing!!

These cranberry cheesecake bars are seriously so good! They have a shortbread like base, topped with a swirled mixture of homemade cranberry sauce and cream cheese. Then they are sprinkled with leftover crumbs from the base as well as coconut flakes and baked to perfection!

Fruity desserts can be a great introduction to sugar free baking

If you are just getting started with eating sugar free, cheesecakes and fruit based desserts are a great place to start. As yummy as all the sugar free chocolate desserts look and sound, they are a little harder to sweeten and get used to. Don’t get me wrong, sugar free chocolate desserts are amazing as well, but if you have tried one and didn’t like it, don’t give up on eating sugar free.

Try a cheesecake or a dessert that incorporates fruit. These types of sweet treats lend themselves very well to low carb sweeteners. I have served these types of dessert to people who don’t even eat healthy and they had no idea that what they were eating was sugar free!

Then once you have gotten a little further along on your sugar free journey and your taste buds have started to adapt, you can branch out into chocolate treats.

Another favorite chocolate free dessert I like to make is Northern Nesters Peanut Butter Cheesecake. [Other than the chocolate drizzle on top.]

What if I don’t like cranberries?

If you don’t like cranberries, no worries! You can simply substitute in any berry of your choice. Raspberries and strawberries would be amazing and I’m sure even blueberries would work great.

You will probably need less sweetener with these types of fruit as they aren’t nearly as tart as cranberries. Adjust the sweetener to your preference.

The reason I suggest using berries is because this is a THM S dessert so you want to keep it low carb. A fruit like cherries, peaches, or even apples would be great in here as well but since they are much higher in carbs they would turn this recipe into a crossover.

[You can read about the different Trim Healthy mama meals in this post: Trim Healthy Mama Meal Types Explained]

What is the best sweetener to use?

My go to sweetener is a recipe from the cookbook Food for Life and is called Sweet Mix. This recipe is a combination of xylitol, erythritol and THM Pure stevia and it is one third as sweet as sugar.

You could also use Gentle Sweet but you might need a bit more than the amount called for. Or you could use Super Sweet but you might need a bit less lol.

If you want to use a low carb sweetener that is the same sweetness as sugar, such as straight xylitol, you will need to triple the amount of sweetener called for.

Whatever sweetener you prefer to use, when it comes to low carb baking your best bet is to taste test. I find all the sweetener blends each a little different and everyone has their own preference as to how sweet they like something, so use the measurements as a good guideline and then sweeten to taste!

While we are on the subject of sweetness…

My homemade cranberry sauce used in this recipe is just a little tart with the amount of sweetener I used. I like it this way but feel free to add more if you like things sweeter.

How will I know when these bars are done baking?

You will want to bake the bars until the cream cheese is set and no longer jiggly. It is ok if they are still a little soft in the center as they will continue to firm up as they cool and get stored in the fridge. The crumbs on top will also be golden brown by the time the bars are done baking.

How should I store these bars?

After taking the bars out of the oven, let them cool to room temperature on a cooling rack and then cover and store in the fridge if you are going to be eating them within a few days.

You can also cut them up and store in the freezer as they keep very well in there and don’t take long to unthaw.

A few more tips

I use a small amount of oat fiber in the base of these bars. While I generally recommend the THM brand of oat fiber, in a base like this it isn’t quite as important which brand you use. One thing to note is that other brands can be drier so maybe start with only 3 tablespoons instead of the 1/4 cup called for and see how your base looks. If you think the extra tablespoon will make it too dry to press together in the pan, just omit it. If not add in the entire 1/4 cup.

You could also make the cranberry sauce ahead and just store it in your fridge until you are ready to make this recipe.

Ok, on to the recipe!

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THM Cranberry Cheesecake Bars Ingredients:

For the cranberry sauce:

300 grams frozen cranberries, approximately 3 cups

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup Sweet Mix or Truvia

1/4 teaspoon glucomannan powder

For the base:

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup Sweet Mix or Truvia

2 1/2 cups almond flour

1/4 cup oat fiber

For the cream cheese filling:

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Sweet Mix or Truvia

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

For the crumb topping:

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 tablespoon Sweet Mix or Truvia

Instructions:

1. Bring all the sauce ingredients except the glucomannan to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the berries are tender, about a minute or two.
2. Mash up the berries with a potato masher and them whisk in the glucomannan powder and cook about 30 seconds to thicken. Remove from the heat and add in extra sweetener to taste if necessary. Cool to room temperature. You can put it in the fridge to make this faster or make the sauce ahead of time.
3. For the crust, heat your oven to 350 degrees.
4. Melt the butter and sweetener in a medium sized saucepan until the sweetener is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond flour and oat fiber. Reserve a slightly heaped 3/4 cup for the topping. Press the rest into a ungreased 9×13 inch pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until just turning golden around the edges.
5. For the filling, beat together the cream cheese and sweetener until smooth. Add in the egg and extracts and beat to combine. Spread the cream cheese over the base.
6. Dollop the cranberry sauce evenly on top and then swirl gently into the cream cheese with a spoon.
7. Mix the coconut and remaining 1 tablespoon of sweetener into the reserved crumbs and sprinkle evenly on top of the bars. Return to the oven and bake for 30-33 minutes or until the cream cheese is set and no linger jiggly. It is ok if it is still slightly soft in the center as they will continue to set as they cool.
8. Let cool on a rack until no longer hot and then cover and chill completely in the fridge before cutting into squares. Store in the fridge or freezer.

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