This Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake is so decadent that you won’t believe that it’s low carb – or how easy it is to make using your instant pot!
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It doesn’t get much better then a dessert that combines the 3 most heavenly foods on the planet – chocolate, peanut butter and cheesecake! It’s seriously delicious.
Instant pot “baking”
As the icing on the cake, you can “bake” this cheesecake in your instant pot for a perfect result every single time.
If you’ve never made a cheesecake in the instant pot, then you are in for a real treat. In my opinion, an instant pot make the BEST cheesecakes around, and trust me when I say that I’ve eaten my fair share of cheesecake.
It can be a little tricky to follow the written instructions for baking in the instant pot, so I included a cooking demo video under the recipe card. If this is your first time making a cheesecake in your IP, then be sure to check it out!
** If you are super observant, then you may notice that the ingredients in the video are slightly different then the recipe card. After making this a few times (and filming the video) I made a few tweaks to the recipe. The ingredients listed on the recipe card are correct. I hesitated to share the video, but I think that it is helpful to see the cooking technique.
Baking in the oven
Don’t worry, if you don’t have an instant pot, you can still make this yummy chocolate peanut butter cheesecake in the oven.
If you are baking in the oven, you will want to prepare a water bath. A water bath ensures that your cheesecake bakes evenly and comes out of the oven smooth and creamy.
If you are new to making cheesecakes, then this may sound super intimidating, but it’s really easy. You can check out THIS video for tips on setting up the water bath (skip to minute 3:00).
You can also skip the water bath all together and just bake in the oven, but trust me when I say that the extra effort is SO worth it!
Substitutions
This cheesecake is rich and decadent. It’s low in carbs – but not in calories. If you want to lower the calories, then try substituting 1/3 fat cream cheese for the full fat cream cheese. This will reduce the calories quite a bit, without changing the flavor too much.
You could also opt for a “crustless” cheesecake and just skip the bottom layer all together. The same could be said for the top, chocolate frosting layer – but trust me, you don’t want to skip that layer!
Lastly, I always get lots of questions about using a different size pan. If you are baking in the oven, you can use a larger pan, just be aware that you may need to reduce the cooking time. If you are baking in the instant pot, you need to make sure that the pan you are using fits into your pot.
You probably won’t be able to get away with a smaller pan with this recipe. The filling goes right up to the top of the 7″ pan, so anything smaller would require you to divide the cake between multiple pans.
Sweeteners
When making this recipe, I used Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener in the Confectioners variety and it worked really well.
You can get Lakanto on Amazon or directly from the Lakanto website. Right now you can get 10% off with the code “THISMOMSMENU” when you order from the Lakanto Website!
I am sure that you could substitute any confectioner style sweetener and get a similar result as well. Just be aware that Lakanto is about 2 times sweeter than sugar, so if you are using a different brand (like swerve) you make need to add some additional sweetener.
I am a big proponent of tasting for sweetness as you go and adjusting to suit your own taste. I find that the longer that you are on a low carb diet, the more sensitive your are to sweetness and the less sweetener you will require.
Be sure to check out these other great recipes:
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake | Keto, Instant Pot
Ingredients
For the chocolate crust
- 1/2 cup Almond Flour
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp Lakanto Powder Sugar Substitute or to taste
- 3 tbsp butter melted
For the cheesecake filling
- 16 oz cream cheese at room temp
- 3/4 cup Lakanto Powder Sugar Substitute or to taste
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream at room temp
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 2 eggs
For the chocolate topping
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 oz Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate (2 Squares)
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup Lakanto Powder Sugar Substitute or to taste
- 2 tbsp Chopped Peanuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 7″ spring form pan with non stick spray.
- In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for the chocolate crust layer. Mix until well combined.
- Using the back of a spoon, or a rubber spatula, spread the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan making it as even as possible.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes being careful that it doesn’t burn. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
For the cheesecake filling
- Add the cream cheese and sweetener a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla, heavy cream, sour cream and eggs. Mix again, just until integrated.
- In a small, microwave safe dish, microwave the peanut butter for 20-30 seconds. (this step is optional, but it makes it much easier to mix the peanut butter with the other ingredients)
- Add the warm peanut butter to the cream cheese mixture, then mix with the electric mixer until everything is well integrated and nice and smooth. Be careful not to over mix.
- Pour this mixture on top of the prepared crust. Smooth the top and tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Cover the cheesecake with aluminum foil, crimping it around the edges for a secure fit. (see the video)
To bake in the instant pot:
- Tear off a 20″ piece of aluminum foil, and fold it into fourths lengthwise, making a long strip of foil. (see the video for this step)
- Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of your instant pot liner. Add the trivet with the handles down.
- place the long foil strip in the bottom of the instant pot, on top of the trivet, with the two ends sticking up.
- Gently place the cheesecake on top of the foil strip and trivet in the instant pot and fold the 2 ends of the long foil strip over. Put the lid on the instant pot, and ensure that the valve is set to the “sealing” position.
- Set the instant pot to cook for 35 minutes on high pressure, using the manual button.
- When the cooking time has completed, allow the pressure to naturally release, then use the 2 pieces of the foil strip, carefully remove the cheesecake from the instant pot.
- Allow it to sit at room temp for at least 30 minutes before gently removing the foil and placing in the fridge. The center of the cheesecake will probably still be a little wiggly, this is completely normal and it will continue to set as it cools.
- Allow the cheesecake to chill in the fridge for at least two hours before removing from the pan, and adding chocolate topping.
For cooking in the oven:
- (check out the youtube video linked in the post) Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a large pan filled with 1/2 inch of water in the oven.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is only slightly jiggly. Remove from oven and allow to sit at room temp for 30 minutes, then in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving or removing from spring form pan.
For the chocolate topping
- While the cheesecake is cooling, Create a double boiler by placing a glass bowl (pyrex works great) over a small sauce pan full of simmering water.
- To the bowl of the double boiler, add the bakers chocolate and the butter. Stir occasionally until both are fully melted.
- Gradually whisk in the heavy cream a little at a time.
- Whisk in the sweetener and set aside to cool It will thicken as it cools. It will thicken as it cools, but putting it into the fridge will make it a little too thick. If it gets too thick, simply microwave it for a few seconds to thin it back out.
- When the cheesecake has cooled and you have removed it from the spring form pan, pour the chocolate topping over the top of the cheesecake and spread it to the edge. If desired, top with chopped peanuts.
Notes
in the video your crust was like play doh…………mine was much more wet than yours…….I have double checked the measurements and do not understand why yours was so much drier. ….. ? Any thoughts???
It’s hard to say without seeing exactly what you did and what brands you are using. So many things can alter the consistency of a dough, but if it seems to wet you can just add a bit more almond flour. Hope that helps!
I packed the almond flour like you would brown sugar and mine came out fine. That might be it because at first I was going to use less because I didn’t pack it.
How long does it take for the chocolate topping to thicken up? I’ve been waiting at least 30 minutes and it’s not any thicker than it was when I took it off the heat. Super thin. I used the same sweetener as you. I snuck a taste of the cheesecake part of it last night before I put it in the fridge to chill and it is absolutely amazing! This will be a favorite in our house for sure!
It shouldn’t take that long, you may try to pop it in the fridge for a few minutes.
I had this same problem. It took a long time to melt my chocolate and butter, so I think my bowl may have been so hot that it took longer to cool than expected.
Can you sub the heavy whipping cream for anything? Makes me super sick 🙁
Made this for Thanksgiving (Canadian). Everyone loved it and didn’t realize it was low carb. I couldn’t find a spring form pan that was small enough for my instop so used a 9” pan and decreased baking time by 8 minutes. I doubled the crust and the topping due to the increased diameter of the pan. I also used swere instead of Lakanto just because Icould not find it on amazon with delivery to Canada. I did double the amount of swere I used vs Lakanto and it was perfect. Would definitely make this again and next time I. The instapot. Thanks for sharing
Can’t print it ????
In Your video you used 3 eggs. I did not watch the vid but followed the print recipe. Did I just ruin my cheesecake? I’m baking it now. :/
Nope 🙂 I’ve adjusted the recipe some since I made the video so you should be fine!
looks good but your carb count if off. peanut butter has carbs as do a couple of other ingredients. but for the most part most of the ingredients don’t have any.
thanks for sharing
i’m confused. in your entry you stated you used Lakanto sweetener. then in the recipe you said you used swerve. does the recipe account for the swerve amount or Lakanto amount to use?
So sorry! I recently switched my recipe card format and it changed some of the ingredient names. The amount listed is for confectioners lakanto, which is twice a sweet as sugar. If you are using swerve, you will probably want to double the amount listed.
Can I use the regular version and not confestioners? It’s all I could find at the store. I think it’s a 1:1 sugar substitute.
You can, but you may find that it gets a little gritty once the cheesecake has chilled. This doesn’t bother me much at all but it’s just something to be aware of. Hope that helps!
I had regular Lankanto. I just put it in my coffee grinder and made it into powdered sweetener. This works everytime.
I don’t see the video. it says Video but no link.
I had just one question… am I missing the nutrition information regarding the number of carbohydrates per serving? I would love to know that figure, if possible. Thanks so much!
Hi Susan! Looks like the nutrition label for this recipe vanished 😳 I just added it back in, and there are 7 total carbs, and 5 net carbs per serving.
How many servings are in the recipe?
Sorry. Saw it below
This is the best Keto dessert that I have made thus far! Absolutely delicious! I only have a 9 inch springform pan so it was much thinner than the pictures, and I baked it in the oven for 40 minutes, no water bath. Difficult to limit myself to one serving!
Thanks for the review, Maggie! So happy to hear that you liked it 🙂 I usually freeze individual portions once it’s completely cool – otherwise, there is no hope for sticking to one serving LOL
I have made this with Swerve, and I wouldn’t dble the sugar. Also anyone using a 9″, do 1.5X the recipe. It works perfectly!
So if you are making this in the instant pot, do you bake the crust in the oven first?
Hi Shayna! I do recommend baking the crust just to help it hold together a little bit better.
how many servings are in this yummy looking dessert? I see the nutritional information and it does not say how many servings in this recipe. thank you!
Hi Pamela! This cheesecake serves 10. If you make it, be sure to let me know how you like it!
Best keto dessert ever! I made it for Thanksgiving today and everyone loved it. The kids didn’t realize at all that it was keto and they kept asking for seconds. I’ll definitely hold onto this recipe. Thanks for making such a wonderful recipe.
This was delicious. It was so decadent and dense. I absolutely love this cheesecake.
Looking at purchasing an instant pit but not sure of best size. What size did you use for this recipe?
Thank you
Hi Karla! I have the 6qt instant pot duo and that is what I use for this recipe. The 6qt has always been sufficient for me, but with a large family, I sometimes wish that I had gone with the 8qt. Either way, you will love your Instant Pot! I rarely put mine away because I use it so often!
Can you use peanut butter powder?
Hi Lou! I haven’t tried it so I can’t be sure, but I think that using only peanut butter powder would alter the texture quite a bit since the peanut butter also adds some liquid to the cheesecake batter. If you decide to give it a try, you may need to add some extra eggs or even water, but that’s just a guess. Hope that helps!
Making this was easy and fun the Instapot cooks this perfectly
OMG! This was one of the best Keto desserts I have had! Very easy to make, while I do not have the insta pot I make mine in my pressure cooker and it turned out fabulous!
Can you substitute pumpkin puree for the peanut butter to make this a pumpkin cheesecake (without the chocolate topping of course)?
So glad that you liked it Tina! As for the pumpkin question, I haven’t tried it, so I’m not 100% certain but I think that it should work. You may want to add an additional egg or a little (1 tsp or less) unflavored gelatin powder to ensure that it sets since pumpkin puree is more liquid than the peanut butter. If you try it, let me know how it works out!
This looks really yummy. Hubby loves anything peanut butter and chocolate, so I want to make it for his retirement party. But I’m thinking serving would be easier if I made individual mini cheesecakes in cupcake liners. Do you think that would work? How long would I bake for? Oh! I do have the silicon molds for the IP that people make the egg bites in – do you think it would work in those? How cute would they be!
Hi Andi – I’ve never tried making this in cupcake liners, but I would imagine it would work fine. the only difficulty with making them in the instant pot is that they would have to be sealed really well so that no water would get into the cheesecake. My suggestion would be to fill the silicone muffin liners, then place the liners into a baking dish that will fit into your instant pot and thoroughly seal it with foil. (hope that makes sense!) I am not sure about the cooking time, but I would think that it would be pretty similar to what is listed if you go the instant pot route.
Hope that helps, if you try it let me know how it goes!
To bake this in an oven……what is the temp and time please? I found the video for the water bath — guess I missed the time and temp……………… thank you
Hi Sue, Here are the instructions for baking in the oven:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a large pan filled with 1/2 inch of water in the oven.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is only slightly jiggly. Remove from oven and allow to sit at room temp for 30 minutes, then in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving or removing from springform pan.
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
This was so good…..and so easy. Now it was requested of me to make a chocolate one. How would I substitute the peanut butter for chocolate? Is this possible
I’m so glad that you liked it Carrie! I haven’t made a chocolate cheesecake (although now I’m wondering why?! lol) I think that your best bet would be to make a chocolate ganache and then stir it into the batter in place of the Peanut butter. To make the ganache, just melt an ounce or 2 of unsweetened bakers chocolate, then gradually whisk in about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. You may also need to add a little more sweetener to the cheesecake batter. If you try it let me know how it goes!
I have the 8qt instapot…do you know if I can use the smaller pan, (like you have) with same results?
Hey Keri, it should work fine in the larger pot. Let me know how it goes!
I made this tonight. The texture and taste on the cheesecake was perfect but the chocolate topping was almost sour or bitter tasting? I followed your exact measurements and the whipping cream was brand new so I know it wasn’t bad. Isn’t suggestions on why it would taste that way?
Which sweetener did you use? Some have a bit of a bitter taste. If that isn’t it, you may need to add a bit of extra heavy cream. Hope that helps!
Hey, Sabra, I made this and HAVE to make it again today since I have a snow day and have no school. YAY! I made it exactly as the recipe states and it’s AMAZING! I really liked the bitter aftertaste of the chocolate topping. I think it would be too sweet otherwise since the cheesecake itself is so rich. Question for you, how do you think it would work with NO crust? Have you ever tried it?
ALSO – I found an OXO silicone sling at Target that works perfectly so I don’t have to make the sings anymore. You should try it. Amazon also carries it.
I don’t see a video under the video link
So I have a couple questions. The first tome I made this I thought I’d be clever and ya PB fit powder and taste was faint. So instead of scratching I blended it all up and added natural peanut butter and made fat bombs which were amazing.
This time I used my natural peanut butter (from Kroger) and also shows 2net carbs (same as my powder) but tastes great. However I still find the peanut butter taste is faint. Should use a different peanut butter with 4 net carbs like you used? Or will it not make much of a difference?
You definitely get an A+ for not giving up! I would try a different peanut butter and see if that helps. If that doesn’t work, you could also add some more extra peanut butter 🙂 Let me know how it goes if you give it another shot!
Ok great thanks. I think I’ll add a peanut butter topping over the chocolate now to finish this one off 🙂
That sounds great!
Can I use almond butter instead of peanut?
yes, almond butter should work fine 🙂
I love this recipe! Would it work out to make this without the peanut butter so it is a plain cheesecake?
Hi Mary! So happy that you liked it 🙂 If you want to make a plain cheesecake check out my recipe for Banana Bread Bottomed Cheesecake. The cheesecake portion of that recipe can be doubled for a regular cheesecake. It is very similar to this peanut butter cheesecake but some of the ratios are a bit different. Let me know how it turns out!
Holy cow. This cheesecake probably tastes even better than Cheesecake Factory. It is SO GOOD. Maybe my taste buds have changed, but I honestly would never even guess it was keto-friendly. (and I’ve made other recipes in the past that taste too much like sweetener, even when using a high quality one like Swerve or Lakanto)
I cant find any low carb powdered sugars 🙁 I bought lankato monkfruit granules. Well 2 small bags. Would this work?
Hi Shanice! The taste will be the same, but the end result may be a bit grainy. If you have a food processor, clean coffee grinder or blender you can pulse the lakanto granules to make them finer and that should help quite a bit. Hope that helps!
You can powder granulated sweetener in a food processor or blender (Bullet). It works the same snd is less expensive.
Tried this today and while I could tell that it tasted amazing, following the recipe instructions exactly (minus swapping Monkfruit for swerve) resulted in a completely undercooked and inedible cake 🙁 I’m not sure where I went wrong, but it was completely liquid on the inside still when using the instant pot (pressure cook setting on high, 35 minutes with natural release) has this happened to anyone else???
Hi Jamie! So sorry that your cheesecake didn’t turn out well. I’ve never had this issue, but if ever it happens again you can pop it back into the IP on high pressure for 5 minutes (more or less depending on how undercooked it is) with a natural release. Also, the center of the cake will still be fairly jiggly when it is removed from the pot but should set further as it chills. I hope that helps!
This cheesecake was the best one I have made yet! Very rich but oh so delicious. I made it for Easter and it was a BIG hit. No one could even tell it was low carb. This recipe’s a keeper! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hello!
Do I cover it with aluminum foil if I bake it in the oven or is that step specifically for the instant pot preparation?
I made this for my husband’s birthday and it turned out perfect! My 5 year old said she wants it to be her birthday cake too
I made this yesterday, used a Choc-Zero milk chocolate square melted to drizzle over the top instead of your topping, as I didn’t have any unsweetened chocolate. I also forgot to put foil over the top when I cooked it in the Instantpot. I did use a paper towel when I took it out to absorb the little bit of water that pooled on top of the cake. This tasted wonderful!
Oh my goodness!! I wish I could give this 10 stars – it’s definitely worth them! As a lover of all things cheesecake, I usually make a pb cheesecake for special events and this is my new go to! I love that it is keto and hits my sweet tooth on the money- THANK YOU!
I made this for my birthday and it was amazing! My whole family loved it. I used a 9-inch springform pan in the oven and 38 minutes was perfect! The only thing I had to adjust was the crust. The cheesecake and chocolate topping worked well with that size pan. I will definitely be making this again!
I’m not sure what I did wrong but my cheesecake was completely uncooked when I removed it from the instant pot. I followed the cooking time. I have the newest model. I’m not sure if that’s the issue. Also, I did a quick release after 31 minutes of waiting for the natural release. But I’m not sure if that would have made a difference to wait for the natural release before removing because the texture was still a pudding/liquid texture. Like it barely cooked . Any suggestions on what could have gone wrong?
I’m so sorry to hear this Kathy! I am not sure what went wrong, but you can try to salvage it by baking in the oven and see if it sets there. I am surprised that it took over 30 minutes to release the pressure natiurally which makes me think that the model of IP you are using is maybe a bit different? I hope that helps!
Had trouble with the chocolate topping, butter separate definitely the chocolate and cream. Nut sure why, maybe too hot?
I just made an alternate topping from Lily’s chocolate chips and HWC. It turned ior great. I also put Lilly’s peanut butter cups on top. Excited to cut into it tomorrow for my sons birthday.
I hope your son has a great birthday! Thanks for the review 🙂
Making this recipe in an hour or so – I’m going to be using duck eggs for the recipe, which are generally a bit larger than the largest size chicken egg. Should I just use one duck egg or do you think two will be fine?
Oh my goodness – I just made this. It is UNBELIEVABLE! WOW! Thank you so much for sharing – I’m new to the ketogenic lifestyle (my Dr suggested it) and I was really missing dessert. My husband’s Birthday was yesterday so I made this so I could have some “cake” too – I have to say my kids were drooling & I won’t be sharing LOL! I couldn’t find monkfruit sweetener here so I used Swerve – I may have to order the monkfruit as I’ve read a lot of great things about it. Can I ask why you prefer monkfruit? Does it taste better? Again – I’m new and I’m so curious about the different products. Thank you!
Hi Christi! Thanks for the great review and I am so happy that you enjoyed this cheesecake 🙂
I don’t notice much of a difference in the flavor of monk fruit vs swerve, but I do find that it doesn’t seem to recrystallize as much as swerve, and it also doesn’t have the same cooling effect that some people notice with swerve.
Hope that helps!
I am very new to KETO but I also have a son with Celiac disease so I wanted to make something we could all enjoy. Some of the things I would suggest: read the recipe and ingredients first! I only bought 1 block of cream cheese and when I watched the video I was wondering why yours had more in the springform pan!?!? LOL
I would also suggest to cut a circle out of parchment paper for the bottom of the pan. My crust was very sticky and I had a very difficult time removing it from the pan.
Otherwise, keep the yummy KETO recipes coming! I am working on go completely KETO, so I appreciate the ability to satisfy my sweet tooth and stay KETO as well! Thank you!
To make this just a plain cheesecake can I just omit the peanut butter and not worry about changing any of the other cheesecake ratios? Or will it not taste right?
Thanks!
Hi Stephanie! To make a plain cheesecake I would recommend heading over to my Banana Bread Bottom Cheesecake recipe. Simply double the cheesecake portion and use any crust (or no crust) that you like. Let me know how it goes for you!
I had this same problem. It took a long time to melt my chocolate and butter, so I think my bowl may have been so hot that it took longer to cool than expected.
If I’m using the oven do I put the cheese cake Pan in the water or just put the water in the oven
Hi Donna! To bake this in the oven, tightly wrap the springform pan with water, and then place it into the water bath for best results. Hope that helps!
This is simply amazing! I followed the recipe and used the Instapot. So easy (first time making cheesecake in my life). I took it to a party with friends and they couldn’t believe it was Keto. I’ve tried so many different Keto desserts and nothing tastes this delicious. I will definitely be making this again and on the lookout for a pumpkin recipe just as yummy as this one.
Thanks for the great review, Amy! So glad it was a hit 🙂
Great recipe!