Moist cinnamon apple coffee cake drizzled with homemade low carb caramel sauce. Everything you love about fall in one recipe!
Okay, so today is supposed to be a Makeover Monday post but already I am getting off track and straying from the schedule. And here we are, only the second week in! Welcome to the world of Carolyn, disorganized blogger and hater of all things routine. That girl, she can’t stick to a schedule if her life depended on it! Although, truth be told, this one is due to circumstances beyond my control. I have a great makeover recipe for you, but because it is part of larger campaign, it’s being pushed to tomorrow or Wednesday. And so, Makeover Monday becomes Makeover Tuesday or Wednesday. Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?
However, to appease you, I offer up this delectable low carb Caramel Apple Coffee Cake. Apple season is in full swing here in New England, and apple-picking is one of my favourite things about fall. I have always loved apples and back in the day when I had a fully working pancreas, I ate at least one a day. Apples are surprisingly high carb, so I now limit myself to half an apple here aor there. Or I eat one before I go for a run or work out, since I will burn the sugars up quickly anyway. But they still rank among my favourite fruits and there are usually plenty of apples in our fruit drawer. They’re infinitely portable and great for kids’ lunches, since they won’t smoosh like softer fruit.
Even if I couldn’t eat apples at all, I’d probably still go apple-picking every fall. It’s a tradition in these parts and it was when I was growing up in Toronto too. Getting out of the city and into the apple orchards on a warm, sunny fall day makes the world seem like a friendlier place. And those sun-warmed apples picked right off the tree…truth be told, I’d run a whole marathon, just to be able to eat one. That crisp flesh, crunching under your teeth, releasing the tangy juice and sweetness onto your tongue. Yep, that’s worth some serious mileage in my books!
This recipe idea has been floating around in my brain ever since the kids went back to school, and I could hardly wait until we went apple-picking to make it. I knew I’d have to go light on the actual apple in the cake, to keep the carb count down. But I helped the flavour along a bit with some apple flavouring in the cake batter. Then I swirled in some homemade low carb caramel sauce into the batter, and sprinkled the top with a cinnamon crumb mixture halfway through baking. And then a drizzle of some more low carb caramel sauce to finish it off.
Now that’s what I love about fall!
Keto Caramel Apple Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cinnamon Crumb:
- ¼ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon butter
Cake:
- 3 cups almond flour
- 6 tablespoon unflavored whey protein powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon apple flavoring
- ¼ teaspoon stevia extract
- ⅔ cup almond milk
- 1 medium apple peeled and cored, chopped fine
- 1 recipe Sugar-Free Caramel Sauce
Instructions
Cinnamon Crumb
- Whisk together almond flour, Swerve and cinnamon. Cut in butter and use your fingers to rub together until small crumbs form. Set aside.
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9-inch springform pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, whey protein, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with Swerve until smooth. Beat in eggs, apple flavoring and stevia extract.
- Beat in almond flour mixture in two additions, alternating with almond milk. Stir in chopped apples.
- Spread batter in prepared pan. Drizzle half of the caramel sauce over top and swirl into the batter with a knife.
- Bake 25 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with cinnamon crumb mixture. Bake another 25 minutes, or until golden brown and center is set (if your cake is browning too quickly, cover with foil for the last 15 minutes of baking).
- Remove from oven and let cool. Then run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen sides. Remove sides and drizzle with remaining caramel sauce.
jean s says
Can you substitute 1/2 and 1/2 for the almond milk in your recipes?
Carolyn says
It adds more carbs. Try just replacing with water.
Felicity says
I’m about to make this. I was wondering whether there’s any reason why not to substitute your “The Best Low Carb Caramel Sauce” recipe for the one above? I am out of xylitol, and I know for a fact that TBLCCS works perfectly for me :). Thanks!
Carolyn says
Absolutely. I created this recipe before I perfected my caramel sauce so that’s why it doesn’t have it.
Erica says
Which do you prefer…this caramel sauce or your stand alone with molasses? I want to keep carbs low but my mom gave me a bag a very small (2.5-4oz) apples and I’m dying to have some. I saw the molasses recipe obviously had higher carbs but didn’t know if you felt it had better flavor/texture?
I’m afraid I’m probably getting too much fat for my probably moderate carb diet but trying to do this less stressful.
Carolyn says
I like the one that has a little molasses because the flavour is more true to caramel. If you just add even 2 tsp of molasses, the carbs aren’t much higher (maybe 1 extra gram per serving)
Christy says
This is a very beautiful cake. I want to make it, but I’m strict ketogenic. I can use apple flavoring, but no apples. I know apples take up a large amount of room in the cake. What can I replace it with? And instead of the whey protein, will egg white protein work? Thank you much-Christy
Carolyn says
They don’t take up a large amount of room and leaving them out won’t affect the consistency. And egg white protein should be fine.
Patricia Bell says
I love your recipes but they all use some type of sweetener that contains xylitol or eurythitol (sp). I can’t use any type of sweetener that ends in “ol” . It makes me miserable sick. Sorbitol and manitol are the worst for me and it is the sweetener used in sugar-free candy. I use Truvia or Stevia. Can I use these instead in your recipes?
Carolyn says
If you use Truvia then you ARE using erythritol! Check the ingredients. So clearly, erythritol is not an issue for you. This is common, all the sugar alcohols give people GI distress EXCEPT for erythritol. So yes…you can use Truvia in my recipes but it is sweeter than Swerve so you will need to cut back on the amounts some.
samantha says
i just made this in a 9×13 pan and it came out yummy!! SO moist and good! i had to make a few subs and it worked out perfectly, here is what i did [incase anyone is wondering :p]
I only had 2.5 cups of almond flour, so i used flax meal for the other .5 cups, its all i had and it turned out great!
i didnt have apples or apple flavor, but i really wanted apple so i used apple spice tea i had, i brewed like 6 bags in a half cup of hot water for a few mins and it was really strong, i used that in place of almond milk and it tastes appley and smells like apple cinnamon!!
i had to add a little almond milk because the batter was SO thick, maybe the flax? either way it turned out good, i also used maple flavoring because i wanted to see how it tasted lol. very yummy 🙂
the caramel sauce was not a success, it did taste very good but i did not have xylitol so i just left it out and it got hard fast and impossible to drizzle so it was clumped up all over the cake, and when it hardened it was crunchy, so i made a basic glaze from butter almond milk and powdered swerve.
so all in all it is very yummy and definitely hits the spot with a cup of hot coffee!! 🙂 thank you!!
samantha says
oh and thanks for being so detailed! the caramel did smoke a lot! i was like oh no what did i do wrong!! then i read your instructions again, haha!
Emma says
wow. just wow. I was worried the caramel sauce would recrystallize as I’ve had bad luck with LC caramels in the past – I used 1/2 swerve and 1/2 tagatose and added a drop of glycerin just in case – perfection. just had to heat it to drizzle!
This recipe was fool-proof. my medium apple was about 150g and the whole thing cooked up nicely but took about 25 minutes longer in my bosch convection oven (on standard bake setting, though) Everything turned out and the apple flavor, sweetness, and texture were all SPOT ON. HOORAY FOR CAROLYN’S GREAT INSTRUCTIONS & RECIPES!
My mom with a november birthday loved it. Not low-carber, either 🙂
Carolyn says
Wonderful to hear, Emma!
Emma says
I might add, my mother thought whipped cream was a necessary compliment 😉 can’t say no to that, myself!
Sue says
This recipe sounds and looks amazing! I love caramel and apples. Your site is by far my favorite (or should I spell it favourite – I am a fellow Canadian living in California and I smile every time I read your blog when I see the Canadian spellings). You have incredible recipes and great tips for LC baking. I am new to this lifestyle and couldn’t live without sites like yours. Thanks for all you do!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Sue! I have my spell check set so that it allows that U in favourite and flavour.
Amy S says
Just made this cake and ate it for the first time. DE-LISH-USH!!!! It was so good, and so moist and so apple-y. Going to try as muffins/cupcakes next time for easier freezing. You are a genius! Good luck on your move. I think you’ll like it here in OR, lots of runners and health conscious folks, in addition to LOTS of foodies. Hope to meet you someday!
Carolyn says
I know I will love Oregon…it’s just the getting there that’s the tough part right now!
Emma says
Going to make this soon! I assume ideal would work as xylitol for the caramel sauce. (it has some maltodextrin added, mostly xylitol)
After reading comments I presume 4oz is what you’re counting carbs on for the apple? “medium”?
Carolyn says
Yes, Ideal should work. “Medium” apple for whatever the standard is on the USDA nutritional website. Can’t remember what size that is.
Emma says
thanks Carolyn! For those wondering, USDA says 1 medium with skin is 182g, or 6.5 oz.
Carolyn says
Thanks for finding that out! 🙂
nicole thomas says
You are an incredible artist Carolyn, truly gifted. May God bless your move to my beloved pacific northwest! I pray that your family will make many memories, beloved traditions and lifelong friends there!! I’m jealous, I moved to the south , and though memphis is home now I find myself missing the more pronounced fall time….. this amazingly yummy cake will help though, reminds me of apple picking time from my childhood!!! again, thank you for all you do, your husband must be very proud of his creative wife!!
Lee says
I don’t use almond milk regularly and it kills me to open a container just for the little bit I’m going to use in a recipe because the rest of it will go to waste. I always have yogurt and whole milk on hand. Can I sub either of those for the almond milk?
Carolyn says
Yes, go ahead and use whole milk. Or a combo of whole milk and water.
Marcille says
This is the first THM thing that my husband has said that is good–you can make this again. He is very supportive. Just hasn’t been on board for eating the food.
Thank you!
Carolyn says
Wonderful compliment, thank you!
noreen says
Do you have an info sheet of all the different sweetner you use in your baking, including brand names, and how to use them effectively. I am so confused, swerve, xytiol, erythitoil, liquid, etc. Until I started this way of eating I only used sweet n low to sweetened my ice tea! I’m no a big added sugar person but I do bake tons and I don’t ice very sweet desserts, so I always adjust sweetness when sugar doesn’t matter. Thanks in advance.
Carolyn says
I don’t have such an info sheet, but I really should make them. However, I can tell my that my preferences are for Swerve (which is mostly erythritol) with a touch of liquid stevia extract (NuNaturals brand). I only use xylitol when I need a caramel sauce to stay liquid. Hope that helps for now!
Scarlett says
I know that a lot of people have asked about using erythritol/only swerve for the caramel sauce and you said it’ll re-crystalize. But do you think I could use only powdered swerve and make it more like a caramel glaze?
Your blog is hands down my favorite website. Thank you for creating/adapting such amazing recipes!
Carolyn says
You can use powdered and it will be good…but it will still re-crystallize more than with the Swerve/xylitol combo. Pour it over when it’s hot, though and it will be delicious!
Jennifer says
Do you know if Swerve and Truvia can be used interchangeably? I’ve never bought Swerve before…
Carolyn says
Truvia doesn’t caramelize quite as well but you can certainly use it. Your end product will likely be paler in colour but still tasty.
Cathy says
Hi,
Just wanted to let you know I am sharing your wonderful recipe tomorrow in my Gluten-Free Recipe RoundUp with a link back to your original post!
Have a terrific weekend!
Cathy from APeekIntoMyParadise.com
Brandi says
Do you think I could use coconut flour instead of almond here? And, of so, how muh less coconut flour would I use?
Carolyn says
No, this cake recipe is based on almond flour so you really should find a cake recipe that is based on coconut flour instead. I have a vanilla cupcake recipe that might work. https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/11/vanilla-bean-coconut-flour-cupcakes-and-teaching-children-about-kindness.html
Kate says
Could I leave out the protein powder or do have a substitute you would recommend? This looks so amazing! Thank you for any input:)
Carolyn says
In the absence of gluten, protein helps the cake rise properly. But you can use any sort of powdered protein…hemp, soy, even powdered egg whites.
Jennifer says
Carolyn, I used this recipe to make an upside-down cake — I just put sliced apples in the pan, covered with caramel sauce, and then poured in the cake batter. The cake performed beautifully, being substantial enough to support the topping, and flexible enough to absorb the apple juices as it was cooking.
Carolyn says
Wonderful. your version sounds delicious!
Barbara says
My family is having an early Thanksgiving dinner this Saturday, since family members will be vacationing over the holidays and we won’t all be together. I’m going to make this for dessert and my thought is to make on Friday, after I get home from work. Do you think I can leave it out on the counter until our early dinner the next day? Or should it be refridgerated?
Carolyn says
One day on the counter would be fine. Any more than that, and you should refrigerate.