Perfectly thick and creamy, this grain-free New York style cheesecake is a treat you’ll be wanting again and again. Top it with a triple berry topping and whipped cream, or leave it plain. It’s a hit either way!
New traditions.
This past week was my oldest son’s birthday. Usually for our family birthdays we feast on homemade angel food cake. Even though that’s our family tradition, I always ask what cake my kids want, just to make sure. And this year my son wanted a cheesecake with fruit and whipped cream on top.
I was a little intimidated by the request, especially since all my cheesecake recipes were small ones and I had 10 people to feed. So I set about making the biggest cheesecake I could. And it was a huge hit!
Grain-Free New York Style Cheesecake.
Though I don’t live anywhere near New York, this extra large cheesecake is pretty much just a real food version of a New York cheesecake. It’s rich and creamy, and the only flavoring is a little vanilla extract I added in. It fits perfectly into a primal diet, and can be GAPS if you are careful about the “extra” ingredients that sometimes come in cream cheese. I recommend using Nancy’s Organics for the cream cheese. You can buy it on Amazon for an arm and a leg, or Organic Valley.
To keep it primal/GAPS, I also switched out the normal graham cracker crust for an almond flour one. You could always leave off the crust, if you want it to be nut-free, too.
The berries on top are a doubled batch of my Mixed Berry Chia Seed Jam. It’s so delicious on top of this grain-free New York style cheesecake! I find it’s best to make this ahead of time, but it’s probably not necessary if you don’t have time. And to top it all off, I mixed up a batch of whipped cream sweetened with honey and “frosted” the cake with it. You can definitely leave that off if you want, because again, you gotta be careful of all the extra ingredients!
Other healthy goodies.
Love this grain-free New York style cheesecake and still on the lookout for more healthy primal/GAPS-friendly goodies? Here are some other delicious options…
- 3-Ingredient GAPS Angel Food Cake
- Honey Orange Pumpkin Pie in the Instant Pot
- Dark Chocolate Eggnog
- Personal Pan GAPS Apple Pie
- Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
- Paleo No-Bake Chocolate Avocado Tart
- Creamy Lemon Ice Cream
- Dark Chocolate Mexican Blender Brownies
- Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
In the recipe card I’ve linked to some of the products from my affiliate partners that I like to use. Purchasing through these links won’t cost you anything extra. Thanks!
Grain-Free New York-Style Cheesecake
Free from grain, gluten, and refined sugar.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
For the cheesecake:
- 4 – 8 ounce packages organic cream cheese at room temperature! (please read notes for GAPS)
- 16 ounces organic sour cream
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla (I like to make my own)
For the optional topping:
- 2 pounds mixed berries
- 1/4 cup chia seeds
- 1 pint organic whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
For the topping:
In saucepan, cook berries until smoosh-able, stirring frequently.
Simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce slightly.
Remove from heat and stir in chia seeds.
Cool, then refrigerate until set.
Whip the whipping cream with the vanilla and honey until peaks form.
Preheat oven to 350.
For the crust:
Mix almond flour with melted butter and press into 11-inch springform pan.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove and cool while preparing cheesecake filling.
For the cheesecake:
In a large bowl, beat temperature cream cheese and sour cream with a hand mixer until super smooth. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR CREAM CHEESE IS ROOM TEMP!!!
Add in vanilla and honey.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Pour cheesecake filling into crust.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350, then reduce heat to 325 and bake for 1 hour longer.
Let the cheesecake cool until it’s not warm to the touch anymore, then refrigerate it for at least 4 hours.
Assemblage!
Carefully remove cheesecake from springform pan ring. Please don’t try and take it off the bottom part of the pan!
Pour cold berry mixture over cold cheesecake and spread up to the edges. You probably won’t need all the berries mixture.
Place large dollops of the whipped cream on the top of the berry mixture and carefully spread to cover the entire top of the cheesecake. Smooth the edges with a knife or scraper.
Enjoy!
Notes
Please note that cream cheese is not necessarily ok for someone strictly following GAPS, due to the softness of the cheese and the usual added ingredients. If you can’t use cream cheese, please use homemade kefir cheese as a substitute. This can be made from straining all the whey out of milk kefir. It is a little softer than cream cheese, so you might want to bake the cheesecake a little longer, if you go this route.
This cheesecake looks incredible and has my mouth watering! I love that it is grain free.
Thank you, Bintu!
Looks amazing! I’m more intrigued by how the almond flour holds up. I usually use ground almond with shredded coconut to make my base.
It holds up very well, Charla! Grounds almonds and coconut sounds delicious, too!
This sounds fabulous. I love that the crust is made of almond four and that it’s gluten free. And the mixed berries just take this over the top.
Thank you, Stephanie!
The topping on this really takes it over the top (get it!)? So flavorful, and the chia seeds add an amazing texture.
Hahaha. Thanks. 😉
Can I just say WOW???? I mean, seriously – this cheesecake is a work of art! I’m drooling!
Aw, thanks so much, Daniela!
My mom used to make cheesecakes alot but has stopped since she switched to almond flour for her baked goods. I’m going to share this recipe with her, which I’m sure she’ll enjoy. 🙂
I hope she enjoys it, Jo!
I love this cheesecake; everything about it is amazing! So silky and smooth with the delicious berry jam topping!
Thank you, ChihYu!
I love this!! Your son rolls how our kids roll. Their birthdays are the opportunity to ask for every little extra thing, meaning the whipped cream on top of jam on top of cheesecake 😉 — sounds amazing and perfect. He definitely knows what he’s doing. Beautiful Raia, it looks SO yummy. And love that it’s GAPS-friendly.
Haha! He definitely knows how to get the most of the day. 😉 Thank you, Megan!
what a great combination you have come up with this cheesecake. Superb
Thank you, Zuzana!
This is so creamy and luscious, and that topping! Such an easy way to make it special.
Thanks, Don! My family sure was happy about it. Haha!
I have a weakness for cheesecake! This looks absolutely perfect!!
Haha. My hubby’s in the same place. 😉 I hope you get to enjoy this one, Kristen!
DROOLING. This looks so perfect! We LOVE cheesecake at our house so I’m excited to surprise my husband with this!
I hope y’all enjoy it, Jean! 🙂 My family was definitely drooling over it… 😉
Oh my word. I can’t believe how easy that crust is! So amazing. What an excellent birthday cake! 😀
Thanks, Erin!
Wow, I love cheesecake & this looks so creamy, sweet & rich! Glorious toppings too!
Thanks, Stacey!
You have one lucky birthday boy!
That cake looks over the top amazing!!
Aw, thanks, Carol! He was sure happy!
This looks amazing Raia! I love how you have put a healthy “GAPS” friendly twist on a delicious classic, yum!
Thank you! 🙂
This looks so insanely good — I’m going to make in for my hubby’s birthday next week. I honestly think the almond meal crust sounds better than traditional, yummy!
Thanks, Jennifer! I hope he enjoys it! It was a huge hit with my hubby. 🙂
Oh my, I want this cheesecake like right now. I’m imagining how delicious this tastes. Amazing recipe!
Haha! Thanks, Cheryl!
New York style cheesecake is by far and away my favorite dessert and my husband always asks for it on his birthdays! Love your toppings too, they look so good!
Thanks, Kari! My hubby is never going to ask for anything different from now on, I’m afraid. 😉 Haha!
That topping looks amazing! So rich and decadant!
Thank you!
I’m not a big fan of sweets, but I absolutely LOVE a good cheesecake! This one is awesome!
Thanks, Tina!
This looks beautiful! However, I am confused. Aren’t sour cream and cream cheese not allowed on the GAPS diet? I tried making this with dry curd cottage cheese and my own homemade GAPS approved yogurt and it was merely okay, tasted much like an SCD cheesecake I made before. Maybe I will try it again with homemade full fat sour cream. Thanks!
Thank you for asking, Stacey. 🙂 Sour cream is definitely allowed on the GAPS Diet, if you can handle it. I know that cream cheese is not usually allowed because of the added ingredients and how soft of a cheese it is. My family handles cream cheese just fine, so I use it, but I will make a note in the recipe that you can use homemade kefir cheese made from straining all the whey out of milk kefir. It is a little softer than cream cheese, so you might want to bake it a little longer, but it is still delicious and would taste better than cottage cheese, in my opinion. 🙂 Anyway, I hope that you enjoy your second try of it! Thanks so much for stopping and letting me know how yours turned out. 🙂
Sorry Raia, but regular sour cream is not allowed on GAPS diet. To make it 100% GAPS friendly, you must use homemade 24-hour sour cream. You were right about using yogurt/kefir cheese instead of cream cheese. Also, baking will destroy the probiotics in the yogurt/kefir and sour cream. Can I make this a no-bake recipe and exchange the eggs with gelatin to keep the probiotics active? Thank you!
You don’t have to be sorry! 🙂 I assume that when people on the GAPS diet read my GAPS-safe recipes they will understand what kind of sour cream to use. But perhaps I need to be more clear with that… If you want to try and make it with gelatin instead, you can totally try! You’d still have to heat it up to dissolve the gelatin, though, so it really wouldn’t make a difference in keeping the probiotics in the sour cream and kefir cheese alive.
According to GAPS/SCD no-bake raspberry yogurt cheesecake, make sure the gelatin is no warmer than 40C/104F to keep the probiotics alive. You should also put that on the menu.
Also, Nancy’s probiotic cream cheese contains dry milk (which is a significant health risk), so could you please take that option off and replace it with Sierra Nevada Cream Cheese (which has no stabilizers? Thank you!
You can feel free to use whatever kind of cream cheese best fits your dietary needs, David!
Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt in the filling would give it plenty of protein, and replacing the honey with stevia or monk fruit will make it low-carb.
Hi there!
I’m thinking about making this for my mom for Mother’s Day – she is grain free and loves cheesecake, so I think it will be perfect! I’m having trouble finding an 11” spring form pan. I’m assuming it will still work in a 9”, it will just need more time to bake. Any suggestions on how much time to add or other modifications?
Thanks!
Hmm… the filling might overflow a 9-inch pan, so I would probably use about 2/3rds of the filling recipe (the crust will probably be fine). I hope your mom enjoys it!
Have you ever done mini cheesecakes with this recipe?
I haven’t! But that’s a super fun idea!
I have looked up an even cleaner cream cheese than Nancy’s and Organic Valley: Sierra Nevada. It sells organic dairy products: butter, cheese, cream cheese, crème kefir, crème fraîche, and yogurt. Its cream cheese uses just milk, cream, sea salt, and cultures. You should go and check it out!
Also, are all of your desserts refined sugar free?
Thanks for sharing that, David! Yes, all my desserts are refined sugar-free – minus a few from back when I started the blog. 😉
Is this frozen mixed berries or fresh? Want to make this for Valentine’s Day!
I’ve used both and either way it works fine. 🙂
Thank you so much!!!