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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Luscious Low Carb Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

Peppermint and chocolate are a flavor match made in heaven, especially around the holidays! These luscious, big, fudgy low carb peppermint cheesecake brownies feature a yummy a mint cheesecake swirl and are topped with a melted peppermint chocolate bar topping.

My new low carb peppermint cheesecake brownies recipe is so rich and decadent, no one will guess they are a keto friendly treat unless you tell them. You, your family and your holiday guests of all ages will love them!

Here’s my review of this quick and easy low carb keto mint brownies recipe.

Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies - Keto, Low Carb and Luscious

Although this image show them in an 8-inch square pan cut into 16 squares, which I did for the first batch, I now bake them in a 9-inch square pan and cut them into 20 rectangular bars (four "columns" and five "rows") for a larger serving, which is how I have written the recipe.

However, these are so rich that you can easily cut them into smaller portions and still have a very satisfying portion with fewer calories and carbs if you prefer.

How to Make Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies

Makes 20 brownies.

Tools, Supplies and Equipment

9" square pan (I love my heavy-duty USA Pan Bakeware 9-inch Square Cake Pan, Nonstick & Quick Release Coating)

If You Care unbleached baking parchment

Electric mixer with mixing bowl

A second mixing bowl (I used the 3-quart bowl from my OXO Good Grips 3 Piece Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set with non-skid bottoms, which I love)

Silicone spatula

Table knife (for swirling the cheesecake and brownie batters)

Cooling rack

Aluminum foil

Ingredients

Butter or coconut oil (to grease the corners of the pan and the baking parchment)

For the peppermint cheesecake batter:

8 oz full fat cream cheese, softened

1 egg, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon Watkins pure peppermint extract

3 tablespoons BochaSweet sugar replacement granulated sweetener (my favorite, but often out of stock) or Swerve granular sugar replacement

For the chocolate fudge brownie batter:

1 bag Good Dee's Soft Baked Keto Brownie Mix, Double Batch Bag 1 lb bag

1 cup (2 sticks) Kerrygold salted butter (or other grass-fed butter), melted and cooled

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon Watkins pure peppermint extract

56g (132 chips) Lily’s peppermint white chocolate baking chips (no sugar added)

For the mint chocolate topping layer:

2.5 oz (70 g) bar of The Good Chocolate zero sugar 65% dark chocolate peppermint

Directions

Preheat the Oven and Prepare the Baking Pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Cut two lengths of unbleached baking parchment to fit the 8-inch square baking pan, leaving at least one piece long enough for the ends to hang over the edges of the pan. (I like to cut both pieces long.) The overhanging ends will serve as handles to help you lift out the baked and cooled brownies.

Grease the corners of the pan and the baking parchment (excluding the overhanging flaps) with butter or coconut oil. Set the prepared pan aside.

Make the Peppermint Cheesecake Batter.

Put the softened cream cheese into the bowl of the electric mixer and beat until soft and smooth, scraping the bottom and sides often with the silicone spatula.

Add the egg, peppermint extract and BochaSweet sweetener. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Set the peppermint cheesecake batter aside.

Make the Peppermint Chocolate Chip Brownie Batter.

Empty the 1-lb. bag of Good Dee's Soft Baked Keto Brownie Mix, Double Batch into the second mixing bowl. Stir in the melted and cooled butter with the silicone spatula until well combined.

Stir in the 4 eggs and peppermint extract until well blended. (Do not beat, whip or overmix the brownie batter.)

Stir in the peppermint white chocolate baking chips.

Layer and Marble the Brownie and Cheesecake Batters.

Spread half the chocolate brownie batter in an even layer in the prepared pan. Top with half the peppermint cheesecake batter, dropping it onto the brownie batter layer in large, evenly spaced dollops.

First layers of peppermint brownie batter with dollops of peppermint cheesecake batter

Scrape the remaining chocolate brownie batter into the pan, covering the peppermint cheesecake batter without disturbing it too much.

Remaining peppermint brownie batter dollops covering the peppermint cheesecake batter dollops

Then, drop dollops of the remaining peppermint cheesecake batter over the top. If possible, try to stagger the locations of these dollops to place them in between the previous cheesecake dollops. (If you can’t tell where the lower dollops are when they are covered by the brownie batter, no worries!)

Remaining peppermint cheesecake batter dollops added

Swirl a table knife through all four layers of batter so it’s loosely marbled, taking care not to mix the batters too much. You want the chocolate brownie batter to remain brown and the peppermint cheesecake batter to remain white as much as possible.

Peppermint brownie and peppermint cheesecake batters marbleized in the pan

Bake the Brownies and Add the Mint Chocolate Topping.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake at 350 °F for 30–40 minutes, just until the center tests almost done with a toothpick. The brownies will continue to bake in the hot pan as they cool.

As soon as the brownies test done, move the pan to a cooling rack.

Immediately unwrap The Good Chocolate dark chocolate peppermint bar and break it along the score lines into six squares. Place the chocolate squares on top of the piping hot brownies, spacing them evenly about 1.5 inches away from the edges of the pan.

Hot, baked peppermint cheesecake brownies topped with squares of The Good Chocolate dark chocolate peppermint bar

Carefully lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the hot pan, tenting the foil loosely so it doesn’t touch the surface of the chocolate. Do not try to crimp/seal the edges of the foil to the edges of the pan.

Remove the foil after about 15 minutes and set it aside. Carefully spread the melted chocolate over the brownies in a thin, even layer.

Melted peppermint dark chocolate squares spread over top of brownies in pan

Finish Cooling, Chill Briefly and Cut Into Squares.

Allow the brownies to continue cooling in the pan on the cooling rack for at least an hour.

Cover the cooled pan of brownies with the reserved foil and place it in the refrigerator for 60-90 minutes, just until the surface of the mint chocolate topping layer firms up.

Use a spatula to loosen the parchment from the edges of the pan, if necessary. Run a sharp knife under hot water and immediately wipe it dry, then use the warmed knife to slice through just the hardened mint chocolate coating layer to score it into 16 squares, as shown. Then score a line down the center of each square to make 32 rectangles (not shown).

Note: The photo shows the dark chocolate peppermint candy bar coating scored into 16 squares, which is how I had cut them before I photographed them. Once we tasted them and realized just how rich these brownies are, we subsequently decided to cut each big square in half to make narrower brownie bars.

Scoring the chilled and hardened mint chocolate topping layer while still in the pan

Use the overhanging baking parchment paper handles to lift the uncut brownies out of the pan and onto a cutting board.
Using the scored lines in the chocolate coating as a guide, cut the brownies into 32 pieces.
Place them in a covered food storage container, layered between waxed paper or parchment paper, if necessary, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Finished keto triple peppermint cheesecake brownies on a decorative Christmas serving platter

These low carb keto triple peppermint cheesecake brownies are so rich and decadent, we decided to cut them in half after I photographed them and we tasted them.

Nutrition Facts

Calories and Macros (Estimated)*:

Serving: 1 brownie (1/20 recipe)

Calories: 207

Net Carbs: 2.5g

Total Carbs: 23.9g

Fiber: 8.5g

Sugar: 0.2g

Added Sugar: 0.0

Sugar Alcohols: 3.2

Protein: 3.8g

Fat: 18.3g

Saturated Fat: 10.6g

Cholesterol: 79.1

*This nutrition data was calculated by the Carb Manager Premium app after I entered the ingredients and amounts into the Create Custom Recipe function.

A Delicious and Festive Christmas Gift (Especially for Anyone Following a Low Carb or Keto Diet!)

I have always loved giving homemade Christmas cookies and other festive baked goods to family members and friends around the holidays. A beautifully wrapped holiday-themed decorative tin lined with a doily and filled with these fabulous low carb keto triple peppermint cheesecake brownies would make a festive and much appreciated gift for anyone. For someone who is watching their sugar and carbs, make sure to include the recipe. Better yet, make up a low carb keto holiday gift basket including these brownies, the recipe and the ingredients so your gift recipient can make more of them after the ones you gifted them have been eaten!

The Perfect Pairing of Low Carb Keto Holiday Dessert Recipes

For the ultimate holiday sweet treats indulgence, pair my Low Carb Keto Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe with my Ultimate Keto Hot Chocolate Recipe!

Luscious Low Carb Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe by Margaret Schindel

Posts About My Keto Diet Journey

My First Year on The Keto Diet

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part One

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part Two

Low Carb Muffins & Cupcakes: Treats to Enjoy on a Keto Diet

Low Carb Keto Chocolate Yogurt Granola Chip Pudding Recipe

Good Dee’s Keto Cookie Low Carb Baking Mix Review

Hamama Microgreens Growing Kit Review & Success Tips

My Favorite Hamama Microgreens Seed Quilt Accessories

Keto Cheddar Cheese Biscuits With Chives Recipe

The Ultimate Keto Hot Chocolate Recipe

The Best Low Carb Keto Gift Ideas: Keto Gift Guide

The Best Low Carb Keto Cinnamon Muffins

Wholesome Yum Keto Bread Mix and Yeast Bread Recipe

The Good Chocolate 100% Organic No Sugar Dark Chocolate Review

The Best Advice to Maintain Your Keto Diet Weight Loss

My New Irresistibly Delicious Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe

Luscious Low Carb Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

Quick & Easy Livlo Blueberry Scones Keto Baking Mix Review

Snack Better With The Best Healthy Keto Cookie Dough Bites

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Pizza Recipe

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Shortcake Cupcakes Recipe

Comparing the Best Keto-Friendly Chocolate Hazelnut Spreads - No Added Sugars

The Best Low Carb Keto Sandwich and Burger Buns Mix

Blueberry Biscuit Scones — New, Easy, Low Carb Keto Recipe

The Best Keto Pizza Crust Mix With 0 Net Carbs

An Unusual, Delicious Strawberry Chocolate Tea With 0 Calories

Delicious Sugar-Free Keto Cookies That OREO Fans Will Love

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats Recipe

Easy, Decadent, High Protein, Sugar-Free Rocky Road Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

The Best Quick & Easy Low Carb Sausage and Ricotta Calzones

How to Make Refreshing Vanilla Italian Soda (With or Without Cream)

Reviews of the Keto Diet by Barbara C. (aka Brite-Ideas)

My Personal Keto Testimonial

How I Stayed Committed to the Ketogenic Way of Eating

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

My New Irresistibly Delicious Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe

Cheddar cheese crackers are one of the few things I've really missed since I embarked on a healthy ketogenic diet in 2019 (and lost nearly 60 pounds). The only acceptable replacement I've found for those famous, small, square cheese crackers in the bright red box with the cutesy name were Defy Foods' yummy keto cheddar crackers, which were sold only online, cost significantly more than their unhealthy, conventional cheese crackers counterparts and, sadly, are no longer made.

Recently, I began experimenting with my own homemade keto cheese crackers recipe, inspired by recipes from two of my favorite low carb recipe developers. I combined elements of both their recipes and added some powdered, dehydrated, real cheddar cheese for an extra flavor boost. This past weekend, I finally perfected my version. Both my husband and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results!

I am delighted to share my delicious new keto cheese crackers.

Crisp, Salty and Satisfying Keto Cheese Crackers

My healthy, homemade low carb crackers are bursting with real cheddar cheese flavor

My Inspiration for This Recipe

When I decided to try my hand at making homemade cheddar cheese crackers, I started by searching for recipes on my two favorite low carb keto recipe developers' blogs, Carolyn Ketchum's All Day I Dream About Food</ > and Maya Krampf's Wholesome Yum. Carolyn and Maya are two of my go-to gurus for reliable, delicious recipes that support my low carb lifestyle.

Carolyn's Keto Cheese Crackers with Pepper Jack looked great, but I'm not a big fan of pepper jack cheese or red pepper flakes. I also wasn't sure that adding garlic powder to the dough would give me the classic flavor I was looking for. The recipe also called for brushing the thinly rolled out dough with melted butter and then sprinkling it with coarse salt before baking. While it sounded delicious, I preferred to start with fewer ingredients and fewer steps for my first attempt.

Maya's Low Carb Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe had fewer ingredients and steps. However, the optional nutritional yeast "for cheesier flavor" wasn't something I had on hand, since I didn't care for the taste the few times I had tried using it as a substitute for grated cheese.

Recipe Experiment #1: Tasty, But Not Quite There Yet

Since I wanted my crackers to have a strong cheddar cheese flavor, I replaced the optional nutritional yeast in Maya's recipe with Vermont sharp cheddar cheese powder.

The resulting crackers were quite tasty. However, I wanted them to have a stronger cheddar flavor and be a bit more buttery and salty. In addition, the small, fragile squares of thinly rolled dough were quite prone to tearing as I transferred them to the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Recipe Experiment #2: We Have a Winner!

For my second batch, I changed a few things when I was making Maya's cheddar dough:

I substituted twice as much Vermont sharp cheddar cheese powder for the optional nutritional yeast.
I increased the amount of salt from 1/4 teaspoon to 3/8 teaspoon.
After stirring together the dry ingredients, instead of combining them with the egg first, I stirred them into the melted cheese along with the egg.

I also made several other changes based on Carolyn's pepper jack cheese crackers recipe:

The dough was rolled out on a silicone baking mat sprinkled with almond flour (using parchment paper on top to prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin). After pricking and cutting the dough, it was much easier to just slide the mat onto the baking pan instead of lifting and transferring the fragile squares of raw dough.
I used a pizza cutter to slice the sheet of dough into approximately 1-inch squares. (I also didn't worry about trying to cut perfectly parallel and perpendicular lines, since I wouldn't succeed in any event!).
Before putting the crackers in the preheated oven, I brushed them with melted butter and sprinkled them with coarse salt.
This time, I baked the crackers at 300 ℉ instead of 350 ℉, left them in longer, turned off the oven when they were barely golden brown and left them inside to finish developing their color, cool slowly and crisp up.

Maya and Carolyn are extremely talented, very experienced low carb recipe developers. Combining elements from both their recipes and adding the Vermont sharp cheddar cheese powder turned out to be a winning strategy. This new version produced dozens of perfectly crisp, deliciously salty, buttery cheddar cheese crackers that tasted absolutely amazing!

My husband adored them, too. (In fact, he might easily have devoured the entire batch on the spot if I hadn't set aside a small plate of these crackers to photograph for this recipe!)

Wholesome, Homemade Low Carb Cheddar Cheese Crackers That Everyone Will Love

I'm really excited to share my new keto cheese crackers recipe!

For the many people who follow a low carb or ketogenic diet and have been searching in vain for buttery, salty, flavor-packed low carb crackers that don't cost an arm and a leg, these scrumptious bite-sized savory snacks will satisfy those cravings. Unlike the conventional grocery store kind, these are made with minimally processed, "real food" ingredients.

These crisp, delicious, high protein cheese crackers are tasty enough for everyone can enjoy, whether or not they are trying to cut back on highly processed foods with empty calories.

They're wonderful to bring to holiday parties or get-togethers with family and friends any time of year. You can indulge without "cheating" on your low carb diet and no one who tastes them will guess that your homemade cheddar crackers are made with almond flour instead of wheat flour.

Who says you can't enjoy holidays treats without gaining weight?

How to Make Keto Cheese Crackers

These irresistible keto cheese crackers are quite easy to make. However, low carb baking is quite different from conventional baking methods. Here are a few important tips to keep in mind, especially if this is your first experience baking with almond flour.

Plate of keto cheese crackers surrounded by recipe ingredients

Choose High Quality Ingredients for the Best Taste and Texture

This recipe calls for only a few ingredients, so the quality of each one will have a major impact on the taste and texture of your homemade crackers.

For the best flavor, buy a block of good, sharp (or very sharp) Vermont cheddar cheese and grate or shred it yourself just before making this recipe. Cabot Creamery cheddar, which Carolyn Ketchum recommends, is one of my favorite brands, too.

I used King Arthur Better Cheddar Cheese Powder for these keto cheese crackers, which I had purchased for another recipe and like very much. King Arthur Baking Company (formerly King Arthur Flour) has a a well deserved reputation for excellence and baking expertise. I have relied on their products and recipes for decades.

It's important to use fresh, finely ground and blanched almond flour for most low carb keto baking recipes. My favorite is Maya Krampf's Wholesome Yum premium almond flour.

You will need two kinds of salt: fine sea salt (or table salt, if you prefer) and coarse or flaked salt. For the dough, I used Redmond Real Salt Ancient Fine Sea Salt, an unrefined, unprocessed sea salt with trace minerals and no additives. It's comparable to pink Himalayan sea salt, but has been "mined in Utah since 1958 from an ancient seabed protected from modern pollution."

After pricking, cutting and brushing the thinly rolled out dough with melted butter, I sprinkled the tops of the crackers with a combination of coarse sea salt and crushed Maldon sea salt flakes before baking. The Maldon sea salt flakes were too coarse to use straight from the package, but crushing them with my fingers and mixing them with the regular coarse sea salt turned out to be the perfect topping.

Use a Silicone Baking Mat and Unbleached Baking Parchment to Roll Out the Dough

Rolling out and cutting the dough on a silicone baking mat and then sliding it onto your baking sheet is much easier than rolling the dough between sheets of baking parchment and cutting and transferring the small, fragile squares to the pan. The best known brand, Silpat, commands a premium price. Fortunately, I've also had good luck with much less expensive silicone baking mats.

It's essential to cover the raw dough with a large sheet of baking parchment paper when you're rolling it out, so that it doesn't stick to the rolling pin. These days, I only use unbleached baking parchment. (Who wants to risk leaching chlorine bleach into their homemade baked goods?) I find the flat, 12" x 16" pre-cut sheets of unbleached baking parchment much easier to use than wrestling with a piece torn from a roll whose curl stubbornly refuses to flatten out.

Use a Large, Microwave-Safe Bowl and a Sturdy Silicone Mixing Spatula for Making the Keto Cheese Crackers Dough

I often use my 2-quart Pyrex measuring cup as a large mixing bowl, especially for recipes that require melting ingredients such as butter, chocolate or cheese in the microwave. The handle provides a good grip on the microwave-safe glass bowl as you incorporate the dry ingredients and the egg into the melted cheddar cheese.

The best tool for the job is a sturdy, stiff rubber spatula. I prefer the DI ORO Seamless Series Large Silicone Spatula for this purpose, which was named "Winner: Best All-Purpose Spatula" in Cook's Illustrated's March 2017 Silicone Spatulas Equipment Review (paid subscription required)

Roll Out the Dough as Thinly and Evenly as Possible

The thinner you roll the dough, the crisper your crackers will be. Try to roll out the sheet of dough to as uniform a thickness as possible, which will help the crackers bake at the same rate. (You may want to make the dough near the edges slightly thicker to prevent the outermost row of crackers from browning too quickly.)

Use a Pizza Wheel With a Plastic Blade to Cut the Dough Into Strips and Then Squares

The plastic blade cuts through the dough cleanly without slicing into your silicon baking mat. It's also faster, easier and safer than cutting the small squares with a knife. The OXO 1065872 Good Grips 4-inch Pizza Wheel and Cutter for Non-Stick Pans is very similar to the one I own (which is no longer made) and gets excellent customer product reviews.

If You Are Using a Countertop Oven, Divide the Dough Into Quarters and Bake It in Four Batches

The built-in double wall ovens that came with our 1950s ranch-style house died several years ago. Since then, we have been making do with a countertop oven. (If you are considering one, I encourage you to read Sylvestermouse Cynthia's recent Calphalon Performance Cool Touch Countertop Toaster Oven product review.)

Unbaked keto cheese crackers on silicone mat in small baking pan

Obviously, having to use a much smaller silicone baking mat and pan (approximately 8.5" x 12.5") that could fit inside my large toaster oven took much longer than using a large silicone mat and baking sheet and baking in a full-size oven. However, as you can see from my photos, it is certainly doable.

Keto Cheddar Cheese Crackers Recipe

These buttery, low carb crackers will satisfy your cravings without kicking you out of ketosis. They're yummy enough to share with carb-loving friends and family of all ages, so they're perfect for holidays, football games, parties, kids' lunchboxes and everyday snacks.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30–60 minutes

Total Time 50–80 minutes

Servings 8–10

Ingredients

6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups finely ground and blanched almond flour (plus extra for dusting)
2 Tbsp good quality sharp cheddar cheese powder
3/8 tsp fine sea salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten, at room temperature
1 Tbsp butter, melted
Coarse salt for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300 ℉. Place a large silicone baking mat on your counter, table or other work surface and sprinkle it with almond flour.
Grate or shred the sharp cheddar cheese into a large microwave-safe bowl or a 2-quart (8-cup) Pyrex measuring cup.
Stir together 1 ½ cups of the almond flour with the cheddar cheese powder and salt.
Microwave the cheese on High at 30-second intervals, stirring with a large, sturdy rubber or silicone spatula until the cheddar is completely melted and has a smooth consistency.
Stir in the almond flour mixture and the egg and use the spatula to "knead" the dough against the the sides of the bowl. Then, turn out the dough onto a lightly greased sheet of parchment or waxed paper and use your hands to squeeze and finish kneading the dough into a compact ball. The dough should be soft and pliable and feel a bit oily. If it's too sticky to work with easily, you can either chill it for 15 minutes or so or work in another tablespoon or two of almond flour.
Flatten the ball of dough and shape it into a square patty, then place it in the center of the prepared silicone baking mat. Cover it with a large sheet of baking parchment (or wax paper) and roll it out as thinly and evenly as possible (no more than 1/8-inch thick).
Use a pizza wheel with a plastic cutting disc to slice the sheet of dough into small squares or rectangles approximately 1-inch wide (although you can make them wider, if you prefer). You should end up with between 5 dozen and 8 dozen (60–100) crackers, depending on how thinly you roll the dough and what size you make your squares or rectangles.
Prick the tops of the crackers with a fork or toothpick, brush them with the melted butter and sprinkle them with the coarse salt. Then transfer the silicone mat carefully onto a large baking sheet and place it in the preheated oven.
Bake until the crackers turn a light golden brown and the edges begin to crisp up (approximately 15–30 minutes, depending on the size and thickness), then turn off the oven and allow them to remain inside until they are firm to the touch. Keep a close eye on the color of the pieces around the edges. If they are browning faster than the ones in the center, remove the darker pieces and let them cool at room temperature while the rest of the crackers cool down more slowly inside the warm oven.

I like to store these keto cheese crackers in single layers, separated by paper towel, inside an airtight tin or large Stasher silicone food storage bags, which are extremely easy to seal and unseal. Layering them with paper towels helps absorb ambient moisture and keep them crisp. However, if they last more than a day or two, you can just pop them back into a 300 ℉ oven for a few minutes. Just be sure to keep an eye on them so they don't get too brown.

My New Irresistibly Delicious Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe by Margaret Schindel

Posts About My Keto Diet Journey

My First Year on The Keto Diet

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part One

Preparing to Succeed on the Keto Diet, Part Two

Low Carb Muffins & Cupcakes: Treats to Enjoy on a Keto Diet

Low Carb Keto Chocolate Yogurt Granola Chip Pudding Recipe

Good Dee’s Keto Cookie Low Carb Baking Mix Review

Hamama Microgreens Growing Kit Review & Success Tips

My Favorite Hamama Microgreens Seed Quilt Accessories

Keto Cheddar Cheese Biscuits With Chives Recipe

The Ultimate Keto Hot Chocolate Recipe

The Best Low Carb Keto Gift Ideas: Keto Gift Guide

The Best Low Carb Keto Cinnamon Muffins

Wholesome Yum Keto Bread Mix and Yeast Bread Recipe

The Good Chocolate 100% Organic No Sugar Dark Chocolate Review

The Best Advice to Maintain Your Keto Diet Weight Loss

My New Irresistibly Delicious Keto Cheese Crackers Recipe

Luscious Low Carb Keto Triple Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

Quick & Easy Livlo Blueberry Scones Keto Baking Mix Review

Snack Better With The Best Healthy Keto Cookie Dough Bites

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Pizza Recipe

The Best Quick and Easy Low Carb Keto Shortcake Cupcakes Recipe

Comparing the Best Keto-Friendly Chocolate Hazelnut Spreads - No Added Sugars

The Best Low Carb Keto Sandwich and Burger Buns Mix

Blueberry Biscuit Scones — New, Easy, Low Carb Keto Recipe

The Best Keto Pizza Crust Mix With 0 Net Carbs

An Unusual, Delicious Strawberry Chocolate Tea With 0 Calories

Delicious Sugar-Free Keto Cookies That OREO Fans Will Love

Healthy Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cereal Treats Recipe

Easy, Decadent, High Protein, Sugar-Free Rocky Road Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

The Best Quick & Easy Low Carb Sausage and Ricotta Calzones

How to Make Refreshing Vanilla Italian Soda (With or Without Cream)

Reviews of the Keto Diet by Barbara C. (aka Brite-Ideas)

My Personal Keto Testimonial

How I Stayed Committed to the Ketogenic Way of Eating

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

The Best Advice to Maintain Your Keto Diet Weight Loss

Losing weight is a piece of cake (so to speak) compared to keeping those pounds from coming back. If you are following a mostly clean ketogenic weight loss diet for an extended period, figuring out how to maintain your successes after you reach your target weight can be even more challenging.

This time last year, after celebrating the one-year anniversary of the start of my successful keto diet weight loss journey, I shared my best advice for preparing to succeed on a keto diet.

Last week marked my second keto-versary, In honor of this important milestone in my transformational journey toward better health and wellbeing, I am sharing what I’ve learned during the past year about how to maintain the significant weight loss I achieved on a ketogenic diet.

image collage of woman at different weights between 2017 and 2020

The Best Tips to Maintain Your Keto Diet Weight Loss Success

In part one of my post about preparing to succeed on a keto diet, I shared my belief that there is no “one-size-fits-all” ketogenic weight loss diet that is optimal for everyone, that dirty, lazy and strict keto are not your only options, and that designing a personalized approach to this way of eating that best fits your unique needs, lifestyle, and priorities can improve your chances of success. Based on my own experience so far, I think it’s just as important to design a personalized plan to maintain your keto diet journey wins after you reach your target weight.

For the past 12 months or so, I have been working on and refining my long-term strategy to maintain not only my new, healthy weight but also the other profoundly positive changes that resulted from my switch to a mostly clean ketogenic diet. Although I will likely continue to experiment, evaluate and make further tweaks over time, I have gradually figured out a viable “new normal” that is meeting my needs, for now.

The best advice I can share is to learn as much as you can from people who have transitioned from a keto weight loss diet to a healthy, sustainable maintenance diet and kept those pounds from coming back. Use whatever aspects resonate with you to help you design your own personalized plan, tailored to your needs, priorities, and preferences.

To help you get started, here are the seven strategies that have helped me maintain my nearly 60-pound weight loss so far.

3 side-by-side photos of same woman before and after losing weight and keeping it off with a ketogenic diet

Make Small, Incremental Changes to Your Diet at a Time

Increase your carbs and calories very slowly, then wait at least a week or two to see how your body responds before deciding whether, what, and how much to change next. You also may want to try gradually decreasing your fat intake somewhat and evaluating the effects. I increased my carbs by 5 grams and added 50 calories every three weeks, very small changes to my calories and macros roughly every 3 weeks so my metabolism would adapt to each minor change without overreacting to a perceived food surplus or famine.

Use Most of Those Extra Carbs and Calories to Add Nutrients and Fiber

It’s okay to reserve some of your extra maintenance carbs and calories for a keto-friendly cheddar cheese and chive biscuit or a square or two from a healthy, sugar-free The Good Chocolate bar, but try to invest most of your carb and calorie “raise” into a broader range or slightly larger portions of nutrient-dense, fiber-rich foods, such as berries and root vegetables, especially if you plan to continue with a modified keto or low carb diet as part of a healthy lifestyle. You can also try introducing small amounts of high-fiber beans and legumes and see how they affect your blood sugar, insulin, energy level, mood, and mental clarity.

Pay Attention to How Your Body Responds

If you have (or had) a lot of weight to lose, start experimenting with very small, gradual increases to your calories and carbs when you are within three pounds of your target weight, even though it means waiting a bit longer to reach your “magic number” on the scale. Finding your personal nutritional “sweet spot” to maintain your new, healthier weight will require navigating uncharted territory. Switching your focus from losing those last few pounds to figuring out how to keep them off for good will give you a good head-start on testing the effects of those dietary changes and fine-tuning them by the time you reach your weight loss goal.

Don’t Revert to Your Former Bad Habits

To paraphrase Henry Ford, if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. So, if you go back to eating the things that caused you to put on weight and made it hard to lose—especially sugars, refined starches and highly processed foods—you will soon put back any pounds you dropped on keto, and probably a few more, too boot.

Build On Your New, Healthy Lifestyle Habits

If you have been following a "dirty keto" approach, consider eating fewer highly processed foods and buying healthier, fresh, whole, or minimally processed foods, such as organic fresh berries and vegetables and grass-fed (and, ideally, grass-finished) beef and dairy products.

If you your meals have relied heavily on fast food restaurant chains or packaged foods, try cooking more of your meals and eating out less to help you control the quality and quantity and enhance the flavor and nutrition of the foods you consume. (You will probably also save some money in the process.) To expand your repertoire of quick and easy, delicious and nutritious breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, I highly recommend Carolyn Ketchum's cookbook The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen: With More than 150 Inspirational Low-Carb, High-Fat Recipes to Maximize Your Health, Maya Krampf's The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook: 100 Simple Low Carb Recipes. 10 Ingredients or Less, Kyndra Holley's Craveable Keto: Your Low-Carb, High-Fat Roadmap to Weight Loss and Wellness, Natasha Newton's Southern Keto: 100+ Traditional Food Favorites for a Low-Carb Lifestyle, and Maria Emmerich's Keto Restaurant Favorites: More Than 175 Tasty Classic Recipes Made Fast, Fresh, and Healthy.

If you miss traditional baked goods and have been disappointed by the keto recipes or packaged versions you've tried, invest in a couple of cookbooks with reliable recipes from a keto baking expert, such as Ketchum's The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking: Master All the Best Tricks for Low-Carb Baking Success or Hilda Solares' Essential Keto Bread: Sweet and Savory Baked Goods to Satisfy Any Craving.

If you haven't been getting much exercise, look for ways to build a more active lifestyle.

Bagged piles of women's clothing to donate or sell

Get Rid of Clothes That No Longer Fit You

Don’t sabotage yourself by holding onto this safety net in case you gain back the weight you worked so hard to lose. Try on every piece of clothing you own and sort it into the appropriate pile: throw away, give away, donate, sell, or bring to a tailor to be altered to fit your new size, depending on the style and how much would need to be taken in. If you’re having trouble letting go of some favorite pieces that would require too much alteration, think about how much good you will do by donating them to someone in need.

Digital body weight scale and tape measure

Keep Paying Attention (for the Rest of Your Life)

Body weight can fluctuate frequently for many different reasons, so stepping on the scale too often when you’re on a reducing diet can be frustrating, demotivating and even misleading. However, once you are close to your goal, more frequent weigh-ins can provide important feedback as you experiment with and fine-tune changes to your diet to develop a successful eating plan to maintain your target weight.

Even after you have developed a maintenance diet framework that appears to work for you, it’s important to weigh yourself consistently, at the same time of day, at least twice a month. This is even more important if you stop tracking your calories and macros with nutrition tracker app such as Carb Manager after you reach your desired weight.

The longer it has been since you reached your weight loss goal, the more likely it is that you will start taking your ability to maintain that weight for granted. I learned this the hard way after Carb Manager’s initial poorly implemented redesign of this popular keto and low carb diet tracking app early this year forced me to stop using it for several months. Recording and tracking everything I ate or drank against my daily calorie limit and macros in the Carb Manager app had been one of the keys to achieving my target weight and maintaining it for the next eight or nine months. So, when the initial launch of the redesigned app made it too time consuming and frustrating to keep using, I was nervous about losing the main tool I had come to rely on to help me keep my weight and my healthy eating on track. But it didn’t take long to become confident in my ability to maintain my weight without tracking every bit and sip. Then, a few weeks ago, I noticed that my tummy wasn’t as flat as it had been a year ago, and the scale informed me that I had gained back four pounds. I realized it was time to start learning to use the new version of Carb Manager and get back to tracking my calories and macros. I have already shed two of those four pounds and returned to weighing myself every two weeks, so that if my weight creeps up a pound or two, I can nip that trend in the bud and return to my ideal weight quickly and easily, simply by cutting back on the carbs for a week or two.