These homemade, cheesecake brownies are SO good and they are gluten-free and flourless by using almond meal in place of wheat flour, then swirled with a cheesecake topping!
Flourless Cheesecake Brownies
I love brownies, and am always testing new ways to make a moist and delicious brownie that won’t cost me a ton of calories. If you’ve tried my Amazing Flourless Brownies made with black beans, or my PB2 Brownies which replace flour with peanut butter powder, I think you will LOVE these new almond flour brownies!
How To Make Brownies Healthier
These brownies have less calories, sugar and fat than traditional brownies yet taste decadent and delicious! How do I do this? I started by swapping the wheat flour for wholesome almond meal which really makes them moist from the natural oils in almonds, with no need to add any butter or oil! I lightly sweetened them with honey and just a touch of sugar, as the chocolate chips are sweet enough. They turned out moist and absolutely delicious, even my daughter Madison claimed they are her new favorite brownie!
How To Make Cheesecake Brownies
How To Freeze Brownies
Brownies are delicious, but if you’re not cooking for a party you make want to freeze whatever you don’t plan on eating to avoid eating to many.
- You can freeze the brownies for up to 3 months. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil to reduce the risk of freezer burn.
- To thaw the brownies, unwrap them from the foil and plastic and let them stand at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
More Chocolate Treats You May Enjoy:
- Chocolate Chip Yogurt Muffins
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
- Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones
Flourless Cheesecake Brownies
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup finely ground almond meal or flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened in the microwave
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a nonstick 9 x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and line with two strips of parchment 8 inches wide and long enough to leave a 2-inch overhang on all sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk 1 large whole egg with 1 egg yolk (separate the whites and reserve, set aside).
- Add 1⁄4 cup water, the honey, and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and stir with the spatula until combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
- Pour the egg mixture into the bowl with the dry mixture and mix well with a spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Soften the package of cream cheese in the microwave, mix in sugar, reserved egg white and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla.
- Pour over the brownie mix and spread over the top with a spatula, marbelize the with a toothpick.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
- Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 12 bars.
Love these! Substituted sugar with baking Splenda to cut a few calories and carbs.
Reduced fat cream cheese is a nice idea… but now totally disgusting with all its nasty gums and other ingredients… yuck.
I would love to try these , however, I am unable to consume honey- Would swapping out the same amount of sugar work?
Can you have agave nectar? I’m not certain but that would have a similar consistency to the honey
Could have eaten the whole pan in one sitting! Seriously, these are decadent, moist, and so tasty. I did add a tsp of espresso powder with the dry ingredients. Can’t wait to share with my daughter and a few favorite friends.
Loved this!!!
Can you sub another flour for the almond flour? Thanks!
Would this work using Greek yogurt instead?
Warning ⚠️A key step is missing in the instructions. ugh…after mixing the water, honey and vanilla — Somewhere around Step 5 perhaps this should be added to the “brownie” mixture. I ended up with that bowl left over and was wondering why the brownie mixture needed to be pressed instead of poured. Aye Yi Yi. I hope it tastes ok…
Ooohhh I see. I read to set aside the eggs and mixed the the honey cc in a separate bowl…oh brother.
Most of the GF/almond flour baked goods I have attempted to bake have come out dry, dense, pasty on the tongue or all of the above. This recipe worked great the first time. I liked it as written but preferred the flavor a little more when substituting 1/3c – 1/2c monkfruit sweetener for the honey divided between the brownie mix and the cream cheese, and the second time I made it I added a single serving packet of instant coffee into the cream cheese mixture which gave it a nice little mocha kiss. Like others I did give it a little more time in the oven (roughly 40 minutes) and with or without the chips it’s still delicious. It’s hard not to eat 1/2 of the pan with a fork in one sitting……
The perfect “Birthday cake”! My wife made this for my birthday and it was the BEST replacement; rich, chocolatey, perfect for a chocolate lover, watching their nutritional intake, and, by her reports very easy to make.
Glad you both enjoyed it! Hope you had a happy birthday!
These are very tasty and my guests loved them and everyone asked to take some home. I did have to bake them longer like most commenters mentioned. I didn’t have almond meal so I used up my almond flour and a little coconut flour.
Hard not to eat more than one serving.
Came out a bit underdone. Might be my error. Stronger honey taste in the brownies; not sure I like that. Not terrible, but I don’t think I will make again because not a lot of bang for 9 points. But I like the idea and I thank you for trying!
I used almond flour and they came out perfect! Really delicious recipe!
These are SO good!! I’d been craving something chocolate and decided to give these a shot. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious they were!
I’ve been craving chocolate… Gonna make these this weekend 💜
these taste so good i wish i had these before i would like to try them someday with and my boyfriend.
Delicious! Even the kids loved it!
Made this with about 1 teaspoon more sugar in the cream cheese topping because I’ve made it a few times without and I like it just a tiny bit more sweet. Other than, exactly the same recipe. I cooked it for about 7 minutes longer than the recipe calls for, and jiggled the pan a little before checking the filling. Give the pan a good shake and if the filling sloshes around in the pan, it’s not done. A tiny jiggle is fine. I like my brownies very slightly undercooked because I like them fudgy. These were perfect and a fave. 🙂
I made these once in a brownie pan and they were delicious. Question: Has anyone made these in mini cupcake pans? I was thinking it would be easier to turn them into something bite-sized for a group. I saw someone else posted that they made them in a cupcake pan and only had to cook them for 18-20 minutes, but figured I would ask if someone had specifically used a mini cupcake size.
These are delicious! I followed the exact recipe and the time was perfect – no need to bake longer. I used almond flour instead of almond meal because that’s what I had. I will make again. 🙂
These were delicious. Like others, I had to bake them for 50 minutes but then they were perfect.
Is almond meal the same as almond flour?
Love this recipe! I have friends with gluten sensitivities so I’m always looking for tasty treats that I can make to bring to group events that they can eat and that the non-gluten-sensitive people like too. These brownies were such a hit when I made them!
One of my gluten sensitive friends recently had major surgery so we were bringing food over to her and I was in charge of making a desert. I made these and she was so happy!!
Perfect! Hope your friend heals quickly!
Followed the recipe to a T except baked them a tad bit longer and they are delicious without the guilt! Another winner Gina!
I did exactly what the recipe said, and once I cooled the brownies they were a gooey mess and I could not cut them. Not sure what I did wrong, but was really disappointed in the mess that I ended up with.
Wish I knew!
Cook them longer until a toothpick comes out clean.
These brownies were delicious……I had to cook them a bit longer more like 50 mins. but found the chocolate flavor soooooo good. Recommend them!
Can I make this with a different type of flour? My husband is allergic to tree but.
Loved how these turned out!! Dessert without the guilt 🙂
I made this–but with a variety of alterations! I subbed in oat flour and a Tbs of olive oil instead of almond meal. I used mashed banana and stevia instead of honey in the brownie and just stevia instead of sugar in the cheesecake part. My batter seemed too think so I added 1/3 C almond milk. The results were lightly sweet and delicious! bake time was 45 minutes!
That sounds like a different recipe. 🙂
This went well! I was really craving chocolate but not all the calories while I agree the texture was more cake like, it turned out really pleasant! Definitely something I would make again.
This recipe was a disaster. After baking for an hour and 15 minutes, everything was still soupy. We allowed it to cool and then refrigerated, hoping it would set-up. The next day, it was still chocolate soup. We had planned to serve it to guests and had to run to the store instead.
I made this with all purpose flour, as I don’t keep almond flour on hand. Interestingly this resulted in a few less calories per slice. I baked in a 9 inch pie plate for 27 min and they came out wonderfully – felt a bit more like cake in texture than brownie, but was delicious and the marble topping perfect. I really love how it looked bake in the pie plate, I lined with parchment paper so it was easy to pull completely out of the plate to put on a board and cut. Definitely will make again!
I recently made your black bean brownies (AMAZING!) and I was wondering if you’d be able to use that as the brownie base and just use the cream cheese portion of this recipe to top that one?
I haven’t tried, but I think it should work? Let me know if you try it!
Delicious and not overly sweet! Needed to cook for 40-45 minutes instead of 30. I used almond flour.
Any suggestions for incorporating a whey chic protein powder ito these?
I was very particular in my search for the perfect brownie to indulge in while on WW.
It had to:
1) be worth the cost of any special ingredients, like almond flour
2) be worth the time & effort to bake
3) be a good value of WW points—not a just teeny square of brownie for a meal’s worth of points
This brownie meets all those criteria and is deliciously decadent treat!
I used an 8 X 8” Polish pottery dish and backed for 38 minutes at 6500 feet altitude.
Thanks for another great recipe!!
Just made these, amazing!!! Wondering could I do a straight swap with cream cheese and do a peanut butter version? Would you still mix it with the egg white?
These brownies were good, but were great after sitting in the fridge overnight! I did think the cheesecake portion was too much as it turned out a bit oddly textured after baking, but overall a great brownie recipe! On a side note, I also had to bake them a total of 40 minutes to set.
um…these are amazing…I also had to cook mine for about 50 minutes. I wonder if the temp was higher, then 30 min would work? Thanks for a great recipe and letting me stay on plan! 🙂
No water listed in ingredients though it is added in video? Can you please add amount of water?
Really don’t wait to have a 4th type of flour taking up space in my cabinets, could all purpose, whole wheat or rye flour be used instead of almond??
I’m in Europe and tried this recipe. I do own US cups, but my oven uses Celsius so I don’t know if my 160 C didn’t quite cut it or if it was my glass baking pan, but I needed to bake the cake for almost 50 minutes to get a clean toothpick. I guess I could’ve taken it out after about 40-45 minutes because the smell was absolutely wonderful in my kitchen and the toothpick was just a little sticky from the cake. Anyhow, it was absolutely DELICIOUS and I will definitely make it again. This will now be my new go-to cake when I need to make something sweet without sugar and fat.
I’m going to try and make these Keto ! Stay tuned and I will
Update ????
How did your keto version turn out? What did you use?
I’m wanting to make keto as well, wondering how to replace the honey.
You can try monkfruit, but I have not tried it. If you do let me know how it comes out!
I’m going to try to make it a keto version as well. ChocZero has a keto honey that they sell. I’ve tried their sugar free chocolate chips and their chocolate hazelnut spread. Both amazing.
I followed this recipe exact, first time I made them with flour a few months back and it was good. I tried almond flour this time, 40 min in the oven and the patter is still super wet. I’m confused.
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I’ve been on a healthier lifestyle since March ‘18 and have successfully lost 90 lbs in 9 months but I haven’t had a real brownie till now…I’m a chocolate lover and these are amazing!! So moist and chocolately…Just like regular brownies ???? All your recipes have helped me stay on track.
Congrats Annamarie! That is awesome!! So glad you enjoyed these!
I forgot to add the chocolate chips and these brownies were still great. Even my picky kids ate them up. I will definitely be making these again!
So easy to make. I have never been a fan of Almond Flour until now. These were devoured by my friends at our monthly gathering.
I don’t have almond flour, can I use regular? I was going to do the cranberry bars but we had a guest list change for tonight.
Didnt quite work out for me – any common mistakes to avoid? Mine we pretty meal-y and just weren’t as sweet as normal brownies. Also pretty wet in the middle despite 40 min in the oven.
I’m having a difficult time with the center not setting And the edges getting to done. Any suggestions?
I’m making these now—have cooked for 35 mins and it’s still completely liquid. Keep checking to make sure I did all ingredients, oven is in fact on ? did anyone find the timing was way off? Does it need to sit for 30 mins to set?
Can garbanzo bean flour be used instead of almond flour? Nut allergy.
I made these for the third time today. I love them. I did use a sugar free honey because regular honey gives me dumping syndrome. Also regular sugar so I used Splenda. (Please no nasty remarks about Spkenda). My boyfriend even loves them and I always have to make 2 pans so he can take one to work. Best brownies ever.
Thanks Diane!
I made with cupcake pan. I would cook 16-18 mins. Drop down the cheesecake to 4oz if you decide this method and adjust sugar and vanilla extract to taste.
Very good.
Really wanted to love these, but I must have done something wrong. Used almond meal/flour but the brownies tasted kind of grainy. (Maybe it wasn’t finely ground enough?) Also, all the cream-cheese topping sort of ran toward the center during baking. I found I couldn’t spread it effectively with a spatula before baking; it just mixed into the batter. Tried to move it around with the toothpick but that didn’t help much.
These are totally delicious! They are very decadent and rich tasting. I found them especially tasty chilled in the fridge, since the weather is warm right now. My partner, who is lukewarm about desserts, loved them too!
Can I use coconut sugar in place of regular sugar?
sure
These are honestly the BEST brownies I have ever made – thank you!!!!
These look fabulous – I’m making them right now. How should I store them? Is the counter top fine or do they need to be refrigerated?
refrigerate
Could you use regular honey instead or raw? Just happens to be what I have on hand….
Sure
This may be a stupid question but do you spray the pan and then put the parchment paper or do you spray the parchment paper ?
I made Cheesecake Brownies and they are awesome everybody loved them.. 🙂
Thank you for the recipe.
awesome
Tasty! I’ve made these twice now, once with ground flaxseed and once with whole wheat flour instead of almond meal cuz that’s what I had on hand. Both turned out great!
I don’t like cooking with almond flour at all. So I made the amazing flourless brownies and used the cream cheese topping from this recipe. They were YUMMY!
Could this be made keto friendly with sugar free chocolate chips and artificial sweetener instead of the honey and sugar?
Would Stevia in the Raw work in place of the honey?
Would fat free cream cheese work as well as the 1/3 less fat cream cheese?
Swoon worthy. Moist and fudgey.
Made these for a family party – they disappeared in no time! I substituted coconut sugar in the cream cheese and it was so yummy. I also doubled so took more time to cook. Loved them!
Took me closer to 40min for the middle to set!
I had some challenges with this recipe. I didn’t have any parchment, so that may have contributed to my downfall. The flavor was good, but the cream cheese pooled in the middle and fell through to the bottom. Also cooked for 40 minutes and the middle was not done. I will try it another time and see if I can make adjustments for my oven. Great taste!
I just made these! Wow so delicious and easy, too!
I just made these and they were AMAZING! My local grocery store did not have almond meal in stock, so I substituted hazelnut meal. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but the hazelnut meal did a great job! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I didn’t have the items for the cheese cake part of this dessert so we just made the brownie. It was delicious that my kids and my husband loved it! Thank you 🙂
great!
These came out very good. Made almost exactly as written (used half honey/half maple syrup because its’ what we had). They were fluffier than your typical dense/fudgy brownie, but they tasted great and we ate the whole pan in an embarrassingly short amount of time.
Lol glad you enjoyed them!
Made them today. They are good but mine turned out more spongy while yours looks more dense. Any suggestions?
Did you change anything?
Made these today! AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! will post pic tomorrow on IG! XOXO
These are delicious! Made for Mother’s Day and cut them into smaller squares for brownie bites. Everyone loved them. Thanks!
Made these yesterday and wasn’t too thrilled with them. I feel like the balance of the bitter cocoa powder to the sweet raw honey was off. I usually love dark chocolate but these just tasted super bitter. Moist, yes, but needs more sweetness unfortunately.
Not sure why it was bitter, what kind of chip/cocoa powder did you use? Perhaps it was the cocoa powder?
These were so good. I put the leftovers in the refrigerator because of the cream cheese. Was that necessary? Didn’t enjoy them as much cold. Suggestions?
I don’t have any almond meal or almond flour today, so I am going to try to hack this using Kodiak Cakes dark chocolate mix. I’ll let you know how it comes out
These are FABULOUS! I made them for my gluten-free daughter, but we are all enjoying them. I used baking powder instead of baking soda, and subbed a good Dutch processed cocoa for the natural. Repeater for sure!!!
I love skinny taste but wasn’t a big fan of this one. Maybe I did something wrong. I did use superfine almond flour (because that’s all they had at the store). My batter wasn’t brownie like at all, more like cake batter and the cream cheese mixture kind of fell into the middle of it. There was something about the final product I wasn’t a fan of, I think it was the almond flour – made it taste kind of nutty/greasy. I love the banana chocolate chip muffins though, I guess I’ll just go back to those!
Just made these they are so delicious and moist!
I made these with flax seed mill because i did not have almond mill. I skipped the salt as I read somewhere that flax seed is more salty already. They turned out delicious although probably a bit more greasy and fibrous than they would have been with the almond mill. I liked the results but my kids didn’t. Oh well , more for me 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe!
Can you increase the sugar instead of honey?
Thank you so much for this recipe! I needed to make it Keto friendly so I substituted sugar free syrup for the honey and Lily’s dark chocolate chips for the semi sweet chocolate chips. They turned out amazing!!
Can you use Greek yoghurt instead of the cream cheese or would that be to soggy?
I have not tested this
These look great! I’m thinking of baking them in silicon cup cake holders. No fuss over cutting that way. Any suggestions how long to bake?
Not sure without testing
Thank you for all of the great recipes! These look really good.
Have a Happy Mother’s Day!
Thank you!!
I made these for my garden club tonight and they all agreed it’s a WINNER recipe! Thanks so much Gina!
These look so yummy! Having recently been diagnosed with Celiac i really appreciate seeing GF recipes. Thanks so much! i love your site and cookbooks!
Thanks Diane!
These look so good! We have a little boy in our circle of friends that is allergic to tree nuts, but have other friends that need to eat GF. Do you know if with the smaller amount of flour it could be swapped for Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF Baking Flour? I use that a lot for baking when I need to do GF. Thanks!
This recipe works so well because of the natural oils in the almonds. Perhaps a seed meal like this pumpkin seed meal? https://www.amazon.com/Ground-Pumpkin-Seed-Meal-Gerbs/dp/B00EQB55QI?th=1
It looks so delicious and attractive! I cannot wait trying to cook it! I think almond flour makes it exclusive. I’ve got a question: have you tried cooking it with wheat flour? I’m interesting in the result, as almond makes my husband a little bit allergic
I have not tested it with flour, what makes them moist is the almond meal so if you do it might need some oil? Not sure how they will turn out though!
Can you use oat flour instead of almond flour?
I have not tested it
Two of my favourite desserts rolled into one? YES PLEASE ?
🙂
One of my favorite desserts. Can regular flour be substituted for the almond flour for those of us with nut sensitivities?
Could you incorporate black beans?
I would use my other recipe if you want black beans.
Thanks, I love your black bean brownie recipe!!! It makes me feel good sneaking in protein into a dessert for my son. Any other ideas to boost protein here? Or just enjoy? 😉
I have just made this and looks absolutely a winner and great taste also Cheers ??
Hi Gina
Could you use the black beans instead if almond meal?
Thanks
I would use my black bean recipe if you don;t want to use almond meal.
What can you use for a different flour? My son has tree nut allergies
I think a seed meal would work such as this https://www.amazon.com/Ground-Pumpkin-Seed-Meal-Gerbs/dp/B00EQB55QI?th=1
Is there an alternative to the almond meal if you have allergies.
Thank you.
Perhaps something like this pumpkin seed meal would work? https://www.amazon.com/Ground-Pumpkin-Seed-Meal-Gerbs/dp/B00EQB55QI?th=1
For the egg mixture for the brownies, would it be possible to replace the whole eggs with egg whites? Have you tried the recipe with whole wheat flour?
I have not tested either so it is hard to say?
I love using almond flour in baked goods! That texture though!
These look amazing! Thoughts on coconut flour VS almond flour?
I don’t think it would be as good but I have not tested. If you do let me know!
I have made these today for my mother’s birthday and used the coconut flour instead….you have to tweak the recipe a bit but turns out great for every cup of flour or meal use 1/4 cup of coconut flour instead and add an extra egg to the rrcipe for every 1/2 cup used on top of the eggs it already has listed.
these look AWESOME! thank you! PINNED 🙂
Would love to try? Nut allergy. Any suggestions for remake without almond flour?
Perhaps a seed meal like this pumpkin seed meal? https://www.amazon.com/Ground-Pumpkin-Seed-Meal-Gerbs/dp/B00EQB55QI?th=1
These look delicious! I have everything except for the raw honey. Can you use maple syrup instead of it?
Hi Gina! I’ve looked for Almond flour and meal and at around $10 lb it’s not cost efficient for us. How would using regular wheat flour change the nutrition/points on this?
I don’t know if it will be moist, I would use my black bean brownie recipe instead.
Nature’s Eats Blanched Almond Flour, 32 Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y6HB4L4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YHXaBbKNQ36AA
I used this and they came out wonderful
Can I use regular honey in place of raw?
Hey Jess, I’m wondering the same thing! Did you try making the recipe with regular honey, how did they come out???
any way to make this lower carbs? Trying to do Keto diet and this is one days worth of carbs.
You can swap the honey for xylitol or another keto friendly sugar.
Can you use almond flour in place of almond meal?
It says almond meal or flour so I’m assumjng yes?
yes
These look amazing, Gina! I’m going to make them SOON!
OMG my husband’s two favorite desserts! I cannot wait to try this out for him! (and me 😉 )