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
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Hi 🙂 do you think if I replaced the unflavored protein powder with oat fiber, it would work ok? I love oat fiber.
No, not a good substitution. Protein powder helps baked goods rise and hold their shape, but oat fiber is dense and heavy and isn’t going to do the same.
This was very good!!! I will be making it often , thanks!
Made this today for hubby returning home from Africa. He loves cinnamon and anything sweet. Well, he’s in for a real treat! Thanks, Carolyn. Another great recipe.
Hope you both love it!
I have tried so many low carb dessert recipes only to throw the finished product in the trash….they are always so dry and crumbly. This cake recipe is amazing. It doesn’t even need the icing. I had to use homemade low carb milk because I don’t have almond milk and I used a little monkfruit sweetener mixed with Swerve brown sugar substitute…again, it is what I had….so moist and no weird sugar sub after taste. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I’m so glad you like it!
I couldn’t wait for this to cool to try it, and I was not disappointed! So tender – great crumb!! I didn’t even make the frosting. Delicious! I did have to bake it a lot longer to get the center cooked, but not a big deal. I probably cooked it 15 minutes longer.
Glad to hear it!
Amazing recipe. Usually I don’t like swerve, but this recipe made it taste like real sugar. Personal preference of mine is to leave the cream cheese frosting unsweetened because I like the balance. I also subbed the whey protein she used with Isopure’s zero carb whey protein to lower the carb content. As well, I used a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of heavy cream, and just warmed it with the cream cheese to get it to blend. It still made a great frosting. Love this website, she’s so creative with her recipes and on point with keto baking!
Any clue how i’m Supposed to wait until it cools down ???????????????? can’t waaaiiiiiit
Occupational hazard!
Fantastic recipe – simple and delicious, using normal ingredients I already have in my house. And it tastes soooooo good. I needed 15 more minutes in my oven, I think my oven might be a tad off, but it came out perfect. So tender and moist. I’d been wanting coffee cake for a long time and this recipe is the winner!! Can’t wait to try your other recipes as well.
So glad you liked it!
first keto dessert that actually tastes good 🙂
nicely sweet, i loved it. but the fam thought it was a bit dry (they’re used to box cakes lol). think i could add a little cream to make it a bit smoother, a bit more moist? took it on vaca with us so i’d have a little something sweet while the fam was raiding the hotel’s snack machines!
Okay, if it was dry then you may have overbaked or something went a bit wrong. It’s typically overly moist! Just maybe try under-baking it a bit? Every oven is different so yours may be a bit hot. Hard to say.
Made this for breakfast for the second time. We found it a bit sweet using the original recipe. Added zest of 1 lemon this time & skipped the icing. Lemon zest did the job and the Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake was DELICIOUS. Loved the addition of the lemon zest. Definitely a keeper. Thanks so much for your recipes.
I am in love with this recipe – I just made it Monday morning and I’ve been eating it for breakfast with my coffee each morning this week. It tastes so good straight out of the fridge with a bit of butter on it, and it’s SO filling – I have about 1/10 of the pan for breakfast and then don’t need to eat until dinner. When it’s cold it tastes just like “regular” coffee cake.
Just a note: I amended this with only 2c of almond flour and 1c of coconut flour (because that’s all I had left), and added a bit of extra milk to compensate for the coconut flour’s increased moisture. I also wasn’t able to drizzle my cream cheese icing, so I just kinda spread it across the top. 🙂 Still delicious – thank you!
Okay so next time, you may want to only use 1/3 cup coconut flour to make up the difference in almond flour. That’s how I do it when I sub and I don’t need to add extra eggs or liquid.
This is going to be the perfect breakfast to go along with my morning coffee! I can’t wait to try it!
This looks like the perfect companion to my morning coffee! Perfect way to start the day.
I wish I had a slice of this cake right now! Delicious!
Loves these! They’re a combo of my two favorite breakfast foods.
Best Coffee Cake ever! Love it so much