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!
Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling:
- 3 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cake:
- 3 cups almond flour
- ¾ cup Swerve 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
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 3 tablespoon cream cheese softened
- 2 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.
- For the filling, combine the Swerve and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- For the cake, whisk together 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 35 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached.
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon filling mixture. Let cool in pan.
- For the frosting, beat cream cheese, powdered erythritol, cream and vanilla extract together in a small bowl until smooth. Pipe or drizzle over cooled cake.
Notes
Sharon says
Thank you for a great recipe. I did not have protein powder but wanted to make this so badly that I just added another 1/4 cup almond flour. Worked perfectly. Rose nicely. A favorite.
Bethany says
Could you use a vegan based protein powder instead of whey?
Carolyn says
Probably
Carolina says
Wow! Just made it and it tastes amazing, great flavor, moisture, sweetness, everything you want, can’t even believe it’s low carb, definitely I’ll make it again, and again, and again! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe <3
KLBCOS says
Thanks! I just made this. Everyone in the family loves it. Kids and adults alike. I highly recommend it. So, moist and tasty, plus it fills you up. No need for seconds.
Jennifer says
This is a beautiful coffee cake! I ended up baking for 55 minutes on 325, and the center did get done , but I felt the edges and underside were a tad burnt. I also ended up covering with foil at the 35 minute mark because the top was getting too done. I used Jay Robb protein powder and a mixture of erythritol, xylitol, and pure Stevia powder(thm). I don’t know if that made any difference at all. Regardless, this turned out beautifully and we really enjoyed it! Any hints on the bottom burning issue would be appreciated. 🙂
Carolyn says
So one thought is that xylitol is more hygroscopic than erythritol, meaning it attracts moisture. That could potentially be part of the issue, I can’t say for sure.
Yomi says
Also, move your rack up higher in the oven.
Sarah says
Hey there, I have made breads/cakes with almond flour before and not sure the best way to store still to be most fresh the next morning. I wanted to make this a day or two ahead and then have it in the fridge or freezer to be ready to warm up Christmas morning. Any thoughts?? Apologies if this is already answered I looked through many posts and didn’t see bake-ahead questions answered so thought I’d just ask myself! Thanks!
Carolyn says
So this one…make the cake a day or two ahead but don’t do the frosting. Keep it in the pan but wrap it up tightly. And then let come to room temp or gently warm in the oven and frost before serving.
Sarah says
Thank you so much! Will do and will report back how it goes! 🙂
Jamie G says
How did it go? I’m thinking of making this ahead for New Year’s!
Debbie says
Hi, I’m running low on almond flour, do you think halving the recipe and baking it in a 8 x4 ” loaf pan would work? i realize it will be cake not a loaf . Any idea of how long i would bake it in a smaller pan? I really want to try out the recipe. Thanks
Carolyn says
In a 9×5 with half the recipe, it should be about the same baking time but watch it really just in case.
Jamie says
How do you store cooked cake?
Carolyn says
On the counter is fine for a few days…then in the fridge.
Kay says
I just made this Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake and am wondering what went wrong. I followed the recipe exactly and baked the cake for 55 minutes in 325 deg oven and the middle was not done. The out sides were very moist and crumbly but the taste was decent. I find I am not a fan of artificial sweeteners as the part of the cake I ate left an after taste. Is that normal? I have never cooked with them before. I was so looking forward to taking this to our ladies club for Gluten Free members.
Carolyn says
Hi Kay. I can’t say for sure what went wrong but what brand of almond flour and sweetener did you use? One of those are often the culprits.
Edna says
hi Carolyn………a rainy day here in tiny and I thought I would bake this afternoon……going through the posts for today I found this recipe and although I probably saw it many times before it just never jumped out at me but this morning it was like holy moly a perfect day for this so I pinned it……..as for your blog I so enjoyed reading it and as usual always seem to learn something new about you…………….all I truly want to say is that most of your recipes do not call for odd out of the normal everyday baking items……..as you know here in Canada our baking essentials are really pricey and it is so great not to have to run out a buy something that you might never use again in another recipe……I really thank you for that…………..have a great day………
Marissa says
My son loves to bake. More for the eating than the baking, but you know. He could mix up chocolate chip cookie dough practically from memory at this point. It’s something we do together; we bond-bake.
That’s why it was extra hard when we got his diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes last week. He took it stoically, and is adapting like a champ to the regimens & needles, but it nearly broke his heart to lose his sweets. We looked for a boxed mix, but it was either sugar free (with the carbs of flour) or gluten free (with the carbs of sugar)… then my sister showed me this blog, and lo: a combination of his two very favorite treats, coffee cake & cinnamon rolls. I was nervous as we made it, because I knew how disappointing it would be if it tasted weird; he (and I) just wanted something to signal that he was still normal, that life could be normal, and we could enjoy it in the ways we used to. We tried your recipe–and it was fantastic. Better than both of us expected.
Thank you for giving us that bit of sweet hope during a hard week.
-Marissa
Carolyn says
Wow, Marissa. Many thanks for this because I know EXACTLY how your son feels. My diabetes and my decision to go low carb really rocked my baking-loving heart. I hope you will try my other recipes. <3
MerryChristmas Claus says
This is my first attempt at baking low-carb and my goodness! I made this for breakfast over the weekend and there are still a few pieces left….very few. I used Erythiritol and coconut sugar. I replaced the erithritol in the cinnamon mix with coconut sugar because I don’t find the “aftertaste” with coconut sugar that I taste with erithritol. I have not tried Swerve but figure it is the same “alcohol” sugar aftertaste which is much better than the artificial sweeteners taste I abhor.
I found very inexpensive whey protein at my local natural grocer for $4.19 for a 2# bag. Not knowing the difference, I decided to try it and it was perfect. The texture and flavor are amazingly close to my favorite coffeecake recipe. I have to have raisins (just a few) in my coffeecake so it adds a few carbs but it is so worth it. Being diabetic and eliminating as many carbs as I can, I was nervous to try this. I am so glad I did. Cooking Keto with Kristy recommends your site and this is the first recipe I tried. I will definitely be back.
And, yes, that is my legal name. My husband’s name really is Santa Claus.
Thanks for sharing.
Linda says
Thanks so much for the recipe, Carolyn! Made this yesterday for our 4th of July picnic. This was hands down one of my favorite low carb cakes ever! Used Bob’s Redmill super fine almond flour since I can now buy it locally and it gives the cake a wonderful texture.
One question: After cooling the middle of my cake sunk. Any idea what causes this? The only thing I could think of is over beating the eggs?
Carolyn says
More likely it wasn’t totally cooked through in the center. What brand of whey protein powder did you use?
Linda says
I used Bio Chem protein powder and Swerve sweetener.
I did have trouble getting the middle to cook through. Took almost 15 extra minutes in the oven. Amazingly it was still moist! Guess I should check my oven temp.
Carolyn says
Might be your oven, might be the protein powder (never heard of that one!) it’s so hard to say!
MerryChristmas Claus says
I had the same problem. It took a bit longer to get the center cooked through but did not seem to affect the taste or texture, as far as I know. Perhaps the whey protein is the problem but since it came out so perfectly, I did not mind at all.
Melissa says
My daughter and I tried this coffeecake last week and it was great! However, it’s the first time we’ve used erythritol, and both of us seemed to have unpleasant reactions afterward (headache, feeling spacey, a bit of gastric discomfort). Could you recommend another low-carb sweetener that’s not a sugar alcohol? Maybe Stevia in the Raw? We’d really like to be able to make a lot of your recipes. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Sure, stevia in the raw would be fine.
Kim says
Hello! Can I use egg protein powder instead of the whey protein powder? I have dairy free alternatives for everything else. Please let me know if you think this will work. I’d like to take with me as breakfast for an upcoming trip. Thank you!
Carolyn says
Yup, that will work just fine.
Kerri says
Delish! Just made this and it’s gone in a few days. Got rave reviews from myself and several other non gluten free eaters! Will try the biscotti next! Thanks.
Lindaseibert2@gmail.com Seiber says
I made this cake today and I just had to write you and tell you how delicious it is!
Thank you, for all your work, making all these recipes and for this wonderful site!
Do you have a book you have published? I would be very interested in purchasing it, if you have.
Gabby Canine says
I made this cake last night, and after baking it, the middle part was still kind of “wobbly”. It wasn’t properly done, even though the rest of it was cooked through. When I went to flip it out of the pan, it broke in half where the cinnamon sugar crunch was placed. I’m not sure why it didn’t cook properly. Any suggestions? The taste is phenomenal but I don’t want to use up more ingredients and it fall apart again.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
First of all, it’s not supposed to be flipped out of the pan. It’s the sort of cake that’s meant to be cut into pieces and served out of the pan. So that’s the issue there. 2nd of all, you should always test the center of the cake to see if it’s done. Different ovens run at different temperatures.
Gabby Canine says
I did test the center, but obviously something went wrong where the outside cooked and browned and the middle didn’t. I guess I will figure it out myself or find a different recipe.
Thanks anyways.
Carolyn says
Maybe try a bigger pan to spread the batter out more. I am not sure what you have available to you.
Marcia Schmitt says
I made this for my knitting group at the library and it was a hit. These ladies and one gentleman are not low-carbers and they thought it was wonderful. They know I use them as testers (and they love it), but it helps that your recipes are absolutely wonderful. Thank you for sharing your recipes with us.
Julie says
This sounds amazing. I have Pyure, do you know if I would use the same amount or how would I change it if I needed a different amount?
Carolyn says
Well, I think Pyure measures cup for cup like sugar, right? So does Swerve so it should be a direct replacement.
Julie says
Pyure is sweeter than sugar so you use less. Knowing that Swerve measures cup for cup with sugar helps. Thanks!