Low-Carb and Low-Sugar Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

I recently noticed something about myself.

It may be a combination of my OCD or the fact that I almost always feel overwhelmed but more than once a day it seems that I check my phone with the intentions of finding out the time only to realize a few short minutes later that I was not paying attention and did not in fact have a clue what time it was.

I feel like this isn't normal.

Someone help me.

Maybe I can blame Instagram. Yeah, Instagram distracts me.

See? Anybody have any ideas on how to justify taking random pictures of nothing and spending too much time uploading them using various fun settings and looks? No?

I'll work on it.

This here recipe is one that took a lot of work. I actually made it for Christmas.

Procrastination what?

I offered to bring dessert (shocker) and was told my uncle recently started a low-carb/low-sugar diet. I started racking my brain on how to transform a cheesecake recipe to fit his dietary needs.

I wanted to make something festive and my mind instantly went to this little "hole in the wall" Italian restaurant that man of mine and I went to months ago. I had this smoked gouda mac and cheese with sausage and we finished our delightful meal sharing a mint chocolate chip cheesecake.

Yeah, it exists.

But not so much in "recipeland" so I decided to come up with one myself...that's also low in sugar and low in carbs. I combined about 997 recipes online and prayed to the cooking Gods...

Pretty sure I held my breath the entire time but low-and-behold (is that the appropriate phrase? meh...) it worked out! It was a hit and nobody could tell it was not only reduced sugar and carbs but also reduced fat.

Merry Christmas to all!

Low-Carb and Low-Sugar Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Dame Good

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 ½ cups ground almonds (or pecans or walnuts)
1 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute
4 tablespoons melted light butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Cheesecake:
3 (8 ounce) boxes neufchatel cream cheese , room temp
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 teaspoons green food coloring (or more if preferred)
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
3 eggs
20 (1 g) packets Splenda sugar substitute or 1 ¼ cups Splenda granular
1/2 cup andes mint chips (optional)


Directions:

Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" springform pan with cooking spray.

Place nuts in bowl of a food processor; pulse until ground into a meal. Add Splenda, butter and cocoa powder (optional) pulse to combine.

Transfer nut mixture to a 9" springform pan and gently press to form a crust on bottom of pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes Remove from oven and cool.

Cheesecake:
Mix cream cheese in mixer until smooth. Add sour cream. Add 1 egg at a time.

Add splenda, peppermint extract, green food coloring and mix until smooth. Add chocolate chips and mix until combined.

Spray that sides of springform pan with cooking spray and pour in cheesecake mixture. Top with andes mint chocolate chips. Place cheesecake in a larger pan with enough water so that the water goes up 1/3 to 1/2 up the side of your cheesecake.

Bake 38-45 minutes at 375 degrees until cheesecake is set.