Key Lime Cheesecake with a Hazelnut Crust

This key lime cheesecake dessert has a hazelnut crust! It’s the perfect combination of tangy, sweet, creamy, and crunchy. Your brunch guests will be begging you for this recipe!

This isn’t the variety of key lime cheesecake that I normally make. One of the Brunchweek sponsors is Bob’s Red Mill. If you’ve been around this blog before, that name should ring a bell.  They’re responsible for the Low-Carb Baking Mix that I’ve used in nearly all of my baked goods lately, and they also make the steel cut oats that I used in my recipe for Carrot Cake Steel Cut Oatmeal.

Anyway, they sent over some hazelnut flour for me to try, and I was so excited about it!  Oh, and to make this key lime cheesecake especially sweet, I had help from another sponsor…I used Dixie Crystals sugar!

FOOD FACTS – Hazelnuts and Hazelnut Flour

Origins and Fun Facts

Hazelnuts (also referred to as Filberts) date back to 283  B.C. That’s when, according to a manuscript found in China, the filbert took its place among the five sacred nourishment that God bestowed on human beings.

In the early days, the filbert was used as a medicine and a tonic. More than 1,800 years ago, Greek physician Dioscorides emphasized the properties of the filbert: “It cures chronic coughing if pounded filbert is eaten with honey. Cooked filbert mixed with black pepper cures the cold. If the ointment produced by mashing burnt filbert shells in suet is smeared on the head where hair does not grow due to normal baldness or to some disease, hair will come again.” Oregon grows 98% of hazelnuts produced in the US—but only a fraction of the world’s supply of hazelnuts are grown here; the vast majority of hazelnuts are grown in Turkey, Spain, and Italy.

Nutrition

• Hazelnuts are a healthy source of Vitamin E and monosaturated fat. They’re also a good source of protein, and they’re low in carbohydrates.

• Hazelnuts are naturally gluten-free. (Bob’s Red Mill packages their Hazelnut Meal Flour in a gluten-free facility, too, which makes it safe for gluten-free eating!)

• According to the Bob’s Red Mill website, “Replacing 30% of the flour in your baking with hazelnut meal will add wonderful texture and flavor while reducing the total carbohydrates. This makes it perfect for those following a low carbohydrate or paleo diet.”

CLICK HERE to see nutritional values for hazelnut flour

Please don’t think that I’m a horrible person for making this key lime cheesecake a full fat, calorie loaded dessert.  I just figured that Mother’s Day and Sunday brunch are a time to indulge a little bit.

Watching our waist line and calorie counting can happen again tomorrow.  Today, I think we should feast on the indulgence!

Key Lime Cheesecake with a Hazelnut Crust

Key Lime Cheesecake with a Hazelnut Crust

Preparation 20 min Cook Time 2 hr Total Time 2 hrs 20 mins

Serves 8     adjust servings

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A creamy, sweet, tangy, and crunchy experience with every bite, this key lime cheesecake will be a huge hit for dessert!

Ingredients

• CRUST
• 6.6 ounces (1.25 cups) hazelnut meal or flour
• 3 ounces (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• FILLING
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2.5 ounces (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• zest of one lime
• juice of one lime
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or lemon extract)
• 2 eggs
• whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. To a medium bowl, add hazelnut flour, sugar, and melted butter. Use a spoon to stir until combined. Press mixture into the bottom and barely up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
3. Place into heated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and allow crust to cool while you prepare the filling.
4. To a large mixing bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, and extract. Use an electric hand or stand mixer to blend on high speed until mixture is combined and creamy. Add eggs and mix on medium speed, just until combined.
5. Pour mixture into crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Remove from oven and leave pie in springform pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with whipped cream and lime slices or zest before serving.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
Amount Per Serving	As Served
Calories 401kcal Calories from fat 302
% Daily Value
Total Fat 34g	52%
Saturated Fat 12g	60%
Transfat 0g
Cholesterol 94mg	31%
Sodium 120mg	5%
Carbohydrate 22g	7%
Dietary Fiber 3g	12%
Sugars 18g
Protein 7g

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:

	Calories	2000
Total Fat	Less than	65g
Sat Fat	Less than	25g
Cholesterol	Less than	300mg
Sodium	Less than	2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate		300g
Dietary Fiber		25g

Thank you so much for visiting me today!

If you make this recipe, I'd love it if you'd share a photo and/or give your feedback over on my Facebook page, Cooking with Chef Bec!

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Brunch Eggs:

• Mexican Carrot Fritters with Bacon and Eggs, from Food Faith Fitness.

• Breakfast Casserole Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers, from The Spiffy Cookie.

Brunch Main Dishes:

• Crab Imperial Peppers, from The Vintage Cook.

Brunch Sides:

• Roasted Pepper and Ricotta-Stuffed Peppers, from Culinary Adventures with Camilla.
• Carrot and Apple Slaw, from Real Housemoms.

Brunch Breads and Grains:

• Carrot Cake Muffins, from That Skinny Chick Can Bake.

• Lemon-Poppyseed Cornbread Mini Muffins, from Foxes Love Lemons.

• Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cherry Muffins, from Chocolate Moosey.

• Strawberry Cheesecake French Toast Roll-Ups, from Cupcake & Kale Chips.

• Raisin Craisin Cinnamon Rolls, from Big Bear’s Wife.

• Chipotle Peach Cheese Danish, from {I Love} My Disorganized Life.

• Spring Vegetable Danish, from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner.

Brunch Desserts:

• Key Lime Cheesecake with a Hazelnut Crust, from me!
• Sacher Torte, from Roxana’s Home Baking.

UPDATE: The giveaway ended and the entry form and rules were removed from this post.