This tender low carb coffee cake has a cinnamon filling and a sugar-free cream cheese glaze. An easy keto cake recipe that tastes like your favorite cinnamon roll! Now updated with a how-to video. And it’s even easier to make.
Please note that I have updated this keto cinnamon roll coffee cake ever so slightly to be even easier to make!
Sometimes I take a bit of one of my creations and I think to myself “I am really good at what I do”. That isn’t quite as self-aggrandizing as it may seem. Really, I am often just somewhat amazed at how I fell into this job, if you can even call it that. More to the point, I am often amazed at what I can create with ingredients I’d never even heard of only a few short years ago.
And I seem to have gained an innate sense of the characteristics of my ingredients that allows me to combine them in new and different ways, mostly to great success. Admittedly, occasionally I fail tremendously, but I still learn something from every failure that helps me in future recipes. I don’t feel limited by my dietary restrictions, and in fact I’d say the opposite is true.
They have opened up a whole new world of ingredients to me, and I daresay I am a better baker because of it. I am more creative, more sure of myself…and I clearly have a healthy appreciation for my own work.
How To Make Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
There is true joy in being good at what you do. I have been pretty good at a number of things in my life, some of which I even got paid to do. I was a pretty great academic advisor in my day and I enjoyed that most of the time. And at the time, I thought I’d work in higher education for the rest of my life.
Funny how life lays waste to the best laid, most carefully thought out plans. In this case, for the better, because as much as I enjoyed dispensing academic advice to unappreciative college kids, it simply doesn’t compare to the enjoyment I derive from this blog. I mean that with the utmost sincerity. I love the whole process, from the initial recipe concept to the actual execution in the kitchen. And then sharing it here with stories and pictures, and seeing what my readers think and if they have good results with it too.
With that sort of lead in, I am sure you must think I came up with the most astonishing, most amazing low carb, gluten-free recipe ever. The truth is that this actually yet another variation on my favourite low carb cake recipe. That cake turned out so well and has come to have a life of its own; it’s spawned so many other recipes and I just keep thinking of more and more things to do with it.
The idea for a coffee cake based on cinnamon rolls popped into my head one day and I knew instantly that my almond crusted butter cake was the perfect base recipe. It never fails me, that one. It’s the perfect low carb yellow cake recipe, with a light, tender crumb, that it makes a perfect building block for other recipes.
A little cinnamon “sugar” baked into the middle of the cake, then brushing the hot cake with melted butter and sprinkling more cinnamon “sugar”, then a cream cheese icing drizzle and you have yourself low carb Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake.
And I really did bite into this Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake and think “yeah, I am really good at this”. Call it egotistical if you will. I just call it delicious.
PLEASE NOTE! This delicious low carb cake recipe has been updated to be even EASIER to make. Same great flavor, I promise.
Love to bake? You need my new cookbook!
Keto Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling:
- 3 tablespoon granulated sweetener (erythritol or allulose)
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cake:
- 3 cups almond flour
- ½ cup erythritol sweetener
- ¼ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup butter melted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup almond milk or water
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 ½ ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoon powdered sweetener (erythritol or allulose)
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon 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 9x9 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.
Chantelle says
Hands down THE BEST low carb cake I’ve made so far (and I’ve made maaaaany). Didn’t even bother with the cream cheese topping because it was so good without it! Usually I still get that unpleasant ‘cooling’ sensation with all the low carb desserts I’ve baked, but almost NONE with this. YAY!!! 🙂 THANK YOU!!! 🙂
Carolyn says
Wonderful to hear! Thanks!
Marsha Huckins says
I cannot find the unflavored whey protein powder! Have searched everywhere. Where do you buy it? So many recipes call for this powder and I NEED to find it! Help!
Carolyn says
I usually purchase it on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FC76XC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B005FC76XC&linkId=818d3fa414ecf4929d542c2112949fab
Marsha Huckins says
Thanks, may have to resort to that!
Jacqueline says
If there is one thing I miss from starting a low carb diet, cinnamon cake would be it. I just made your recipe and was completely amazed with how it turned out. I live in China so running to pick up missing ingredients is a bit tough, so I subed 1/2 the almond flour with coconut flour, and used whole milk instead of almond milk. Unbelievable, my family can’t even tell its low carb. With the help of your recipes, I have been able to regain control of my food addiction and subdue cravings. Carolyn, you have done sooo much for me. Thank you!
Carolyn says
So very glad to hear it!
Amber says
Just made this this morning, following your recipe exactly (except for the icing; my BF doesn’t like the “cooling” effect of Swerve when it’s not cooked, so we added a few drops of Stevia to the icing bag and left it more of a savory icing.) For those wondering, the “cooling” effect mostly cooks out in this coffee cake, to the point that I didn’t notice it at all.
I am at high altitude (which makes coffee cakes of all varieties a challenge!) and because of that, and not changing the recipe at all, I had to cook this thing for nearly an HOUR covered in tinfoil. At 40-50 minutes I had almost lost hope but then it finally started to set!
The result is a great coffee cake that’s good enough to be considered “normal” by people who don’t know better. 🙂 It’s hard to stop with the tiny serving size, though!
Here’s a tip for those looking for 1/4 cup of unflavored protein powder: Garden of Life RAW PROTEIN (found at Sprouts) has a small single-serve pouch of unflavored protein powder that comes out to almost exactly 1/4 cup of powder per pouch. This is what I used and it tasted fine. That way you aren’t buying a 30lb bucket of unflavored protein powder just to make coffee cakes out of. 😉
Carolyn says
Good to know about the altitude and about the small packets of protein powder.
Sheral Brewer says
Wow this is awesome. Mine did not turn out as pretty but I am sure the taste could not get any better. How do I store the left overs? This is my first low carb cake I have ever made I will be trying a lot more in my future.
Carolyn says
It should be fine on your counter for a few days but after that, refrigerate.
Katie says
Amazing recipe, just made it today and I haven’t even drizzled with the frosting; I just had to have a corner! Sugar free/low carb baking hasn’t always been easy, but I am never disappointed with the recipes from All Day I Dream About Food! Keep it up and realize how much you are appreciated. I always loved coffee cake and hadn’t had any for years due to a healthier lifestyle. Well, now I get both:) Life is good?????
Carolyn says
Thanks for your kind words!
Molly says
Yessss. I am so making this. I will use sunflower flour (allergic to almonds), so it will be kind of green-ish but I don’t care!!!
Amanda says
How crumbly is this cake? Would I be able to line the pan with parchment paper and take it out of the pan after baking?
Amanda says
(disregard that comment) I actually ended up making this in a round spring form pan with parchment on the bottom piece. It turned out great! & I am able to serve it looking oh so lovely on a cake stand.
Thanks for a wonderful recipe Carolyn!
Carolyn says
It’s not any more crumbly than regular cake. Yes, you can do that, just be sure to let it completely cool before trying to lift it or it will bend and break.
Amanda K says
I don’t have unflavored whey, would a stevia sweetened vanilla isolate work? If I scaled back the sweetener a bit
Carolyn says
Yes, I think that would work.
Tatiana says
I have made this a few times as written and it is perfect!!! I was craving this the other day but didn’t have protein powder so I made up a sub based on what I’ve read in other recipes. Instead of the protein powder I used 1 Tbls coconut flour and 1 tsp xantham gum. It worked great!! I don’t scientifically know if I actually did anything to change the consistency lol but it did turn out great. Sunk a little in the middle but I think that was because I needed to bake it a wee bit longer.
Donna says
I was disappointed. What did I do wrong? Could it be that I used Almond meal/flour? It was kinda crumbly and not moist at all. I followed the recipe exactly. I’m so missing bakery items. Do you have any suggestions? I did buy some more Almond meal today that looked to me more fine. it has extra fine on the bag.
Carolyn says
Yup, it’s very likely the coarser almond meal. Did you change anything else? What sweetener did you use?
Marsha says
We made this coffee cake today and it is soooo delicious! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. 🙂
Carolyn says
You are most welcome!
Alec Akerele says
This recipe was amazing. I served it at work and people couldn’t keep their hands off it! I only told them after it was gone that it was 3 carbs per serving. #KetoLife
Shannon says
Is there anything I could sub for the protein powder? Gelatin? We don’t generally consume protein powder due to personal preference but I want to try this recipe!
Carolyn says
You’re certainly welcome to try.
Stella Laurel says
i am having trouble with the baking time. I have had it in the I’ve. For 55 minutes and it’s still not done in the middle.
Carolyn says
Strange. Sounds like your oven must run below temperature or some other factor like this. No one else has indicated this problem. I hope it cooked through eventually!
Peg Hall says
I am also having this issue 🙁 Idk what happened. I went over the recipe twice while preparing it and checked it at 35 minutes baked at 325 as the recipe specifies. When I realized it was still very wet in the middle, I read over the recipe several more times to make sure I didn’t make a mistake on the amount of ingredients and had not. I came to read the comments and see a couple more people had the same issue. I bake often with almond flour so I know what to expect but obviously something went wrong. My oven was recently calibrated so I know it’s baking at the right temp. I’m so frustrated.
Carolyn says
Two questions, Peg. What brand of almond flour and what sweetener? Thanks!
tiffany says
It’s official, my husband said “this is the best low carb thing yet!”
Carolyn says
Yay! Love hearing that.
Amy says
Hi Carolyn! I was so excited to try this recipe, but I wanted to plug in the numbers to find out the calories first, and Livestrong’s MyPlate came up with these nutrient stats: http://imgur.com/L4YHVh6
This is just for the coffee cake and not the icing.
This is showing that each square (1/16th of the pan) is 19.9g carbs with 2.4g fiber. How did you arrive at the numbers you posted? (5.4 g of carbs and 2.2 g of fiber)
With the swerve alone, approximately 45 servings (tsp) would be 225 carbs, or 14g per square. Are you using a brand of swerve that has less than 5g carbs per tsp? If so, let me know! Otherwise, this is a little too carb-heavy for my low-carb diet.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
I do not count the carbs in Swerve, as most low carb dieters do not. Why? Because they don’t affect the blood sugar at all. I have tested this on myself over and over (I am pre-diabetic and have a glucose monitor). But my nutritional software cannot compute “erythritol” out so I have to leave it out altogether. I have stated this in several places on my blog, but each person must decide for themselves. You should check out the Swerve website and also the many studies on erythritol that show that the “carbs” in it are completely non-effective.
Amy says
Thanks for clearing that up, that’s great news! I just found your website and am pretty new to the low-carb world, so I’m thrilled to find that out. With that, I’ll be baking this ASAP! Can’t wait!
Carolyn says
Definitely try it out and see what you think. Other sugar alcohols tend to have some glucose response but for some reason, erythritol just doesn’t. Still, all sweets are meant to be a treat so use sparingly 😉
Carolyn says
PS – here is the summary of an actual peer-reviewed study that shows that erythritol “carbs” do not affect blood glucose or insulin response. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8039489
Amy says
Seriously…..the BEST coffee cake I’ve made. It was so moist and fluffy unlike most baked goods using these ingredients. Even passed the husband/kids test….they loved it too. Definitely will be my go to coffee cake recipe….thank you!!!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
tess says
i’m drooling, just reading the recipe and comments. 🙂 gotta try to use your crockpot cake technique, so it’ll be fresh-baked when i get up in the morning….
thanks for all your great ideas!
Tanya says
Will this work if I use vanilla whey ? Or will it ruin the flavor?
Carolyn says
I think it will be okay but I would just go light on any additional vanilla.