This tender keto coffee cake has all the amazing flavor of a gooey home-baked cinnamon roll, but with far less effort. Grab a fork and dive in!
Sometimes I take a bite of one of my own creations and I think to myself “I am really good at this!”. That isn’t quite as self-aggrandizing as it may seem, since it genuinely takes me by surprise.
And this Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake is a prime example. I created it many years ago and I remember that exact reaction. It is the perfect combination of tender keto coffee cake and sweet keto cinnamon rolls.
And it’s a recipe I return to again and again. It meet with approval from everyone I serve it to!
You will love this easy cake recipe
Who doesn’t love an ooey gooey cinnamon roll? But the conventional kind are insanely carb-heavy. And the homemade keto variety, which is usually made with mozzarella dough, take quite a bit of effort to make.
This Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake offers those same wonderful flavors in an easy-to-make package. Simply prepare the almond flour cake batter, and layer it with a cinnamon “sugar” filling.
Bake to golden brown perfection, brush it with melted butter, and sprinkle with a little more cinnamon “sugar”. Then drizzle on a little cream cheese icing and you are transported to sweet cinnamon roll heaven.
I really did bite into this keto cake recipe and think “yeah, I am really good at this!”. Call it egotistical if you will. I just call it delicious.
Reader Reviews
“Hands down this is best coffee cake recipe ever! It even tops my favorite recipe from my pre keto days! I used a glass pan so I had to bake a bit longer, but turned out fine. And I added chopped walnuts to filling and topping, fantastic! Definite 5 star rating!” — Jes
“This is a Winner! Thank you Carolyn for such great recipes! You are my “go to” site (and I also have one of your cookbooks) for delicious Keto! I made the salmon and vegetables for dinner tonight!! Cinnamon Roll coffee cake for breakfast tomorrow.” — Janet
“Made this one today… holy cow it’s moist. Melts in your mouth! No chewing required lol Ended up taking some to neighbors and will be taking some to a girlfriend in the morning wrapped up with your dessert cookbook. Now I have none left. Guess we’re making another tomorrow!” — Elizabeth
Ingredient Notes
- Almond flour: As with any almond flour recipe, the finer your flour, the better the consistency of the cake. I always have good results with Bob’s Red Mill.
- Sweetener: I recommend using an erythritol based sweetener for the cake, as allulose can cause it to darken very quickly. But you have options for the filling and frosting!
- Cinnamon: Do yourself a solid and use a good ground cinnamon. If your’s isn’t fresh, consider adding a little more to punch up the flavor.
- Protein powder: Using unflavored protein powder helps the cake rise better and have a fluffy consistency. You can also use egg white protein powder.
- Almond milk: I use a little almond milk to thin out the muffin batter but you can also use water.
- Cream cheese: A little cream cheese drizzle makes this all the more cinnamon roll-esque. Let it soften first for smoother mixing.
- Heavy whipping cream: A little cream is used for the cream cheese icing.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, butter, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Step by step directions
1. Prepare the filling: In a small bowl combine the sweetener and cinnamon and mix well. Set aside.
2. Prepare the cake batter: Whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract. Add the almond milk and continue to stir until well combined.
3. Assemble the cake: Spread half of the batter a greased 9×9 inch baking pan, then sprinkle with about two thirds of the cinnamon filling mixture. Spread the remaining batter over top and smooth with a knife or an offset spatula.
4. Bake the cake: Bake at 325ºF for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown the top is just firm to the touch.
5. Add the topping: Brush the cake with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon filling mixture. Let cool in pan.
6. Drizzle with frosting: In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sweetener, cream, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Pipe or drizzle over cooled cake.
Tips for Success
I use a metal pan for my coffee cake recipe. You can use glass or ceramic pans, but they don’t conduct heat efficiently the way metal does. But once they heat up, they hold onto the heat so you risk burning the edges while the center isn’t cooked.
If you are NOT using a metal pan, you will need to lower the oven temperature by about 25 to 50 degrees, and bake 15 to 30 minutes longer. That way, the edges don’t get browned before the center is cooked.
Yes, the protein powder is important to this recipe. Gluten is a protein and in its absence, another dry protein powder helps the cake rise properly. That’s why my cakes are light and fluffy compared to may keto cake recipes. You can sub egg white protein powder if you prefer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Many readers outside of North America question why “coffee cake” don’t actually contain coffee. It’s easy to understand the confusion. American-style coffee cake is so named because it’s meant to be served with coffee. It’s often consumed at breakfast or brunch, or sometimes as part of a coffee break in the afternoon.
Because this coffee cake has a cream cheese frosting, leftovers should be covered and refrigerated. It will last like this for up to a week.
This keto cinnamon roll coffee cake recipe has 5.4g of carbs and 2.4g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.0g net carbs per slice.
More delicious keto coffee cake recipes!
Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling:
- 3 tbsp (21.3 g) granulated sweetener, (erythritol or allulose)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Cake:
- 3 cups (336 g) almond flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) erythritol sweetener
- 1/4 cup (27 g) unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) almond milk or water
- 1 tbsp melted butter
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 1/2 ounces (44.13 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp powdered sweetener, (erythritol or allulose)
- 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Combine the Swerve and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and grease an 9×9 inch baking pan.
- Whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract. Add the almond milk and continue to stir until well combined.
- Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan, then sprinkle with about two thirds of the cinnamon filling mixture. Spread the remaining batter over top and smooth with a knife or an offset spatula.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and just firm to the touch. Remove from the oven.
- Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon filling mixture. Let cool completely in the pan.
Frosting
- In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sweetener, cream, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
- Pipe or drizzle over cooled cake.
Notes
Nutrition
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I am allergic to Whey and Casein, which are the proteins in milk. Is there a plant based protein powder that I can use for your recipes?
My husband loved it! Thank you!
Hi can I use instead the whey protein replace it with egg white protein?
Yes, that works.
My entire family loved this. I will be making it again.
Love this coffee cake!
hi!
this taste so good.can i make from this recipe a muffins FORM?
THNAK YOU SO MUCH!!1
Made this one today… holy cow it’s moist. Melts in your mouth! No chewing required lol Ended up taking some to neighbors and will be taking some to a girlfriend in the morning wrapped up with your dessert cookbook. Now I have none left. Guess we’re making another tomorrow!
Another successful recipe! The only thing I did differently was for the Cream Cheese Frosting, as I did not have heavy whipping cream so I used Land O Lakes Whipped Cream and mixed those ingredients as per instructions. It came out fantasic! We loved it!
This is a Winner! Thank you Carolyn for such great recipes! You are my “go to” site (and I also have one of your cookbooks) for delicious Keto! I made the salmon and vegetables for dinner tonight!! Cinnamon Roll coffee cake for breakfast tomorrow.
Best low carb cake dessert ever! My husband even gave it rave reviews ???? Thank you for doing all the hard work to make it so easy for us to make such amazing desserts. Love your website.
I recently “found you” & love how your dishes look. However, I’m allergic to tree nuts so can’t use almond flour. Should I give up on the site, or do you have a general suggestion how to adjust?
Use the search box and type in nut free. I have TONS of recipes.
Can I use collagen powder in place of the whey powder? Can’t use milk products.
No, it would be much too gummy. The best sub is egg white protein.
Can you use allulose instead of swerve? Thanks
Possibly. I haven’t tried it myself.
You truly are good at what you do! I’m very thankful I found your blog when I learned my blood sugar was too high and I elected to NOT take meds. Been keeping my A1c under 100 for almost 2 years. Thank you.
congrats!
That’s great you’ve been able to keep your blood sugar under 100 for 2 years! Congrats! That sure beats being a fulltime diabetic!!!
The middle was mushy and uncooked no matter how much longer I cooked it. Ate the edges and tossed the rest. Glad I didn’t have company.
Let me guess: you baked it in a ceramic or glass baking dish instead of metal?
Yes! Does that make a difference? The edges were out of this world good but the middle just wouldn’t
bake.
It makes a HUGE difference. Ceramic pans don’t conduct heat efficiently the way metal does, but once they heat up, they hold onto the heat. So you need to lower the heat by about 25 to 50 degrees, and bake 15 to 30 minutes longer. That way, the edges don’t get browned before the center is cooked. I discuss this at length in my cookbook The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking.
Metal is always preferred, unless otherwise specified.
Thank you. Just bought the nonstick one you have from Amazon so will try again. Can’t read much due to double vision.
I haven’t baked this recipe (yet) but I’m shocked to find this out about ceramic baking dishes. I’ve used Corning Ware ceramic baking dishes for many years and always wondered why the center of my baked goods took longer to bake. I blamed myself for the under-baked cakes. Now, I know differently and will use only metal baking dishes going forward.
Thank you for the much needed info.
Well at least you figured it out now! You don’t have to ONLY use metal, but you do have to be ready to adjust for the ceramic.
This looks Amazing! But I have a question. Being single and only cooking for myself and hating waste, if I wanted a smaller version (say in a 4 inch ramekin) what would you cut the recipe by? 1/2? 1/3? 1/4?Thanks in advance for your response!
From an 8×8 pan to a 4 inch ramekin? I’m sorry but that’s a whole different recipe and would need to be cut down by far more than 1/4. This is a recipe that serves 16 and you are asking me to figure out how to make it serve 1. Baking simply doesn’t work that way and I’d need to test out everything myself to see what works.
You might prefer this recipe: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-snickerdoodle-mug-cake/
Can I omit they whey protein? Or use something else instead?
Whey protein (or egg white protein ) is critical for lighter, fluffier cakes.
This is so delicious that I had to keep myself from inhaling it! A mistake I made was using a glass baking pan. I’ll use metal next time because the center of my cake sank when it cooled and I think it may be a tad undercooked in the center. I’ll definitely make this one again and again!
Can I use this to make pancakes?
No, it won’t be the right consistency. Try this: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-almond-flour-pancakes/
JUST YUMMMMMMMMMMMM