This post may contain affiliate links. Click here for my affiliate disclosure. If you purchase items through my affiliate links, I receive a small commission but your price doesn't change.
This showstopping low carb Turtle Cheesecake features my favorite pecan crust, a combination of decadent chocolate and vanilla cheesecakes, and luscious chocolate ganache, all topped with sugar free caramel sauce and pecans. It’s a winner for any holiday or special occasion.
THM S, sugar free
CHEESECAKE
In my experience, cheesecake is one of the best things to feed guests because it doesn’t rely on large amounts of alternative flours, which can take some getting used to. Everyone is impressed with a good cheesecake. I usually mark mine as sugar free with a little sign so 1) people who need to avoid sugar know there’s an option for them, 2) everyone has a heads up that this dessert contains alternative ingredients (since some people are allergic to things like stevia), and 3) so the people who may not enjoy it don’t waste it. 😛
Cheesecake gets even better with age. 2 days after baking is when it peaks, in my opinion. But it stays good in the fridge for even longer than that. You can try freezing cheesecake but it does get a bit more watery when thawed.
CHEESECAKE TIPS
To help prevent cheesecakes from cracking, use full fat cream cheese and sour cream and make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before mixing. I don’t mind cracks, so I always use reduced fat cream cheese. (In this turtle cheesecake, they’re covered up by ganache anyway!) Full fat cream cheese will give you a denser cheesecake, whereas reduced fat cream cheese will give you a less stiff result (which I prefer). Sour cream and Greek yogurt can be interchanged in cheesecake recipes, but I think full fat sour cream gives a creamier texture than Greek yogurt does.
This is my all-time favorite crust. I also used it in these Cinnamon Cheesecake Bars. The pecans… *chef’s kiss*
A little update
A turtle cheesecake recipe was originally posted to my website in December 2016. I wanted to give it an update to make it more “turtle-y” and decided to model it after this layered turtle cheesecake by Taste of Home. Mine features a pecan crust topped with caramel, a thin layer of decadent chocolate cheesecake, a thicker layer of “plain” cheesecake, all topped with chocolate ganache and decorated with more caramel and pecans.
You can find my original recipe on page 426 of Convenient Food.
Caramel
I’ve tested this recipe using the “Brooke’s 5 Minute Caramel Sauce” recipe from Nana’s Little Kitchen. I’ve also used a non-THM-friendly storebought sugar free caramel sauce when I was pinched for time. More specialty stores (Trader Joes? Whole Foods?) might have sugar free caramel sauces with better ingredients; if you know of a good option please share in the comments! Other low carb caramel recipes that look good (but I haven’t tried):
From All Day I Dream about Food
Tips for Brooke’s 5 Minute Caramel Sauce
This recipe is super easy and made in the microwave!
- Do not use the optional xanthan gum mentioned in the recipe.
- I recommend using THM Gentle Sweet to make this caramel sauce. Use a sweetener with at least the volume of Gentle Sweet to ensure that you have enough caramel sauce for this cheesecake recipe.
- I followed the recipe – microwaved for 2 minutes, stirred, then microwaved for 2 more minutes. Use a large ceramic or glass bowl as the caramel bubbles up in the microwave.
- One batch is about the perfect amount for 1/2 cup caramel over the crust plus some left to drizzle over the top of the cheesecake. I’m sure any leftovers won’t be a problem to dispose of….
- Warm the caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if needed to make it spoonable again.
Want more cheesecake?
You can see all my cheesecake recipes in a handy index right here!
Print
Turtle Cheesecake
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 14
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Low-Carb, Sugar Free
Description
This showstopping low carb Turtle Cheesecake features my favorite pecan crust, a combination of decadent chocolate and vanilla cheesecakes, and luscious chocolate ganache, all topped with sugar free caramel sauce and pecans. It’s a winner for any holiday or special occasion.
ORDER OF OPERATIONS: Make caramel first. Pre bake pecan crust then top with 1/2 cup caramel + chocolate batter + vanilla batter. Bake. Cool to room temp. Top with ganache + 3/4 cup caramel drizzle + chopped pecans. Refrigerate overnight.
THM S, sugar free
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups sugar free caramel sauce (divided)(see the blog post for recommendations)
CRUST:
- 1 1/2 cups (170g) pecan meal*
- 1/2 cup oat fiber
- 6 tablespoons salted butter (softened)
- 1 tablespoon THM Super Sweet Blend
- 2 teaspoons molasses
CHEESECAKE FILLING:
- 4 (8 ounce) packages Neufchatel cheese (room temperature)
- 1 (16 ounce) container full fat sour cream (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup THM Gentle Sweet (or more, to taste)
- 2 tablespoons THM Super Sweet Blend
- 1 teaspoon molasses (for brown sugar flavor)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 eggs (room temperature)
- 1/2 cup sugar free chocolate chips (melted)
GANACHE:
- 1/2 cup sugar free chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
GARNISH:
- Caramel sauce for drizzling
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans or pecan halves (or more, as desired)
Instructions
*To make the pecan meal, grind 170g pecan halves to a coarse meal texture in a coffee grinder, food processor, or blender. It’s important to use freshly ground pecan meal because the oils released from the nuts help bind the crust together. A few chunks are ok for texture.
CRUST: Mix the crust ingredients together with a fork or hand mixer. Press into the bottom of a greased 10 inch springform pan. (I didn’t bother pressing it up the sides.) Bake at 350* F for 8 minutes. Let the crust cool while preparing the cheesecake filling. Turn the oven down to 325*.
FILLING: Beat the room temperature cream cheese in a stand mixer until smooth and creamy. (You can also use a hand mixer.) Add the sour cream, sweeteners, molasses, and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition until the cheesecake filling is smooth and emulsified. Add more THM Gentle Sweet if you want a sweeter cheesecake.
Melt 1/2 cup sugar free chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double boiler. Fold 1 cup of cheesecake filling into the melted chocolate chips to create a chocolate batter.
ASSEMBLY: Make sure neither the crust nor the caramel are piping hot. Spread 1/2 cup of the caramel sauce evenly over the prebaked crust. Spread the chocolate batter over the caramel layer all the way to the sides of the pan using an offset frosting spreader. Spread the vanilla batter evenly over the chocolate batter. Jiggle the cheesecake to smooth out the top.
BAKE: Place the cheesecake pan into a piece of extra wide aluminum foil and wrap the foil around the sides of the pan, then place the contraption into a larger pan filled with 3/4 inch of water. (A pizza pan with sides works great.) This water bath will help the cheesecake bake more evenly. (It can also help prevent cracks, but we’re covering the top with ganache so that doesn’t really matter.)
Place the cheesecake in the center of the oven. Bake at 325* for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cheesecake still has a bit of a wobble but is fairly set. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 10 minutes to cool slowly. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and cool to room temperature.
GARNISH: I prefer to let cheesecakes refrigerate overnight before serving. You can garnish the cheesecake before or after this step. Just make sure the cheesecake has cooled completely before garnishing.
GANACHE: Bring the cream just to a boil in the microwave or on the stovetop. Dump the chocolate chips into the hot cream and give the container a shake to disperse them evenly. Let stand for a few minutes to allow the chips to melt, then whisk until smooth. Spread evenly over the cheesecake immediately using an offset frosting spreader. (Do not make the ganache ahead of time; it sets quickly.) Drizzle with the remaining caramel sauce (1/2 – 3/4 cup, or whatever amount you like). (Reheat it for a few seconds in the microwave if needed to make it spoonable, then whisk until smooth.) Top the cheesecake with chopped pecans or pecan halves. Refrigerate the cheesecake until serving.
Notes
This recipe was originally published in December 2016. It received an update in February 2026. You can find the original recipe on page 426 of Convenient Food.
This is what this cheesecake looks like using a homemade sugar free caramel sauce (Brooke’s 5 Minute Caramel from Nana’s Little Kitchen):
Is the molasses in the recipe, blackstrap molasses?
I prefer the taste of Grandma’s molasses, available from any local grocery store. 🙂 I believe blackstrap is preferred, but the nutritional info of the two are very similar and blackstrap has a really strong, bitter flavor to me.
Hi Briana,
Someone just shared this recipe with me, which looks wonderful and yummy, however the reason for my comment is to thank you for the spiritual encouragement in the middle of this page. I wanted to thank you for being willing to be bold and to encourage others to believe in the love and reality of Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection. As I tell my sons, even world history books give accounts of Jesus walking the planet. We all need to make a choice to believe in Him. HE loves us so much. Thank you for speaking and encouraging the truth. And of course, thank you for your awesome THM recipes. Your husband must be thrilled with your cooking and baking. 😆😄
Thank you for your encouraging comment, Karen!
Woooowwwww! I have to say this is the best cheesecake I have ever tasted – and I have made a lot of cheesecakes! Absolutely delicious!
Thank you so much, Ruth! I’m so glad you liked it!
I have never made a THM cheesecake before, or more than a couple at all. The flavors were lovely, but I was hoping for a smoother, creamier texture. Is this a mistaken hope, something I should have done differently, or a difference in preference that I could achieve with a modification or two?
I really do appreciate your recipes and the hard work of repeated modification (and consumption of repeated products!).
Blessings and peace!
I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were expecting! Mine are usually very creamy and smooth. What brand of oat fiber did you use? There are pretty big differences in brands. I use LifeSource brand from Netrition (affiliate link: https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/oat-fiber/) which has a very fine texture, light color, and no discernable flavor in something like this. Other brands like NuNaturals tend to be gritty, darker in color, and taste like Play-doh. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. Using full fat sour cream and cream cheese will give you a denser, creamier texture if that’s what you’re looking for. Mine usually turns out creamy enough with reduced-fat cream cheese so I use that to eliminate needless calories, but you may wish to experiment with full fat ingredients. 🙂
Hi! Do you have an estimate of the nutrition facts on this recipe?
Hi! I don’t usually calculate nutrition info since the healthy eating lifestyle I follow (Trim Healthy Mama) doesn’t require it, but you can put the link into MyFitnessPal and get the facts very quickly!
Can oat fiber be substituted with anything else? I don’t have any at the time…
I’m afraid oat fiber is a unique flour with a very fine, dry texture. Some people substitute it 1:1 with psyllium husks, but I haven’t tried that personally. If you don’t have it, you could try substituting another low-carb flour in the crust, adjusting the amount until you get course crumbs to press into the pan. I would just omit it out of the cheesecake part because you don’t want to use another flour that may add a grittiness to your cheesecake layer. It may not set up quite as firmly but should still work. 🙂
This is the BEST THM cheesecake recipe that I have come across!!! Thanks for posting so many great recipes.
I’m so glad to hear that, Rachel! Thanks for making it!
Any chance I could speed things up with the Instantpot? This looks delicious!
I’ve never used an InstantPot, so I’m afraid I don’t know!
Hi there Briana. Is there any alternative to oat fibre? I am from South Africa and cannot find it anywhere locally.
Hi Sanet! I can’t find it locally here in the USA either; we always order it online. I know some people substitute psyllium husk for oat fiber, but I haven’t personally tried that. If you can find that locally, it would be worth a try, though! Oat fiber can be kind of hard to substitute for because it’s a really fine, dry flour and most low-carb flours are quite different from it.
Merry Christmas Briana !! May God Bless You and Your Family !! I enjoy your recipes and look forward to using your cookbook recipes in 2017 !!
Merry Christmas from My Family to Yours
Angela Grice and Family
Thank you so much, Angela! Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!
Thank you!
Can you use Gentle Sweet in place of Super Sweet using only the one sweetener?
Yes, you could use all Gentle Sweet. 🙂 When replacing the Super Sweet with Gentle Sweet, use twice as much Gentle Sweet. Taste the batter before baking and add more if you like to make sure it’s sweet enough for you (some people say I don’t sweeten things enough).
Merry Christmas Briana! I cannot get my family to stray from the regular Christmas menu this year, but I hope to get most of us started on THM this January. Maybe I can try it for Valentine’s Day.
Christmas hugs,
Laura Lane
Hi! Wondering if there is any substitution for oat bran in your recipes? I have your new cookbook, love cooking your recipes, but oat bran, without fail, has consequences (lots of gas!) for me. ? Will my body become accustomed to it? Anything else I can use in it’s place? Thanks!
Hi Rachel! First thing to check – are you using oat *bran* or oat *fiber*? They’re two completely different flours with different properties. 🙂 My recipes use oat fiber, not oat bran.
Ok Brianna…. this is unrelated to this but I am being so impatient to get your book!!! I got an email early last week and said it shipped! I still haven’t gotten it… just hoping it all went through fine and there isn’t any problems!!! Sorry I am so excited about your book! I have been waiting FOREVER :)!!!!!!! So thanks for all you do!!!
Hi Lana! You should be getting it any day now! I know there are some other people who are still waiting as well. If you don’t get it by the end of the week, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the distributor.
Awww really….. just got it in the mail today 🙂 thank you so much!!!!! I will leave an awesome review :)!!!
On 12-16-2016 I ordered your 365 booklaunchbundle for $17.99. I am unable to download it because I use an ipad. I just found where I can buy your spiral-bound book (YEAH!), but I need you to refund my original payment through PayPal first. Order ID 0013871856
Gateway Transaction ID 8A073135EX8053812
Martha A Rogers
I am just getting ready to begin the THM eating plan, and I need all the help I can get! I am so looking forward to getting your book in my hands! I wish you great success with this book. Merry Christmas!
Hi Anne! I just sent you an email. I think you’re getting me mixed up with Jen over at WorkingatHomeschool.com. She’s the one who published the meal plan ebook. You can contact her by emailing [email protected]. =)