This Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake is over-the-top delicious. Three layers of tender low carb chocolate cake with sugar-free peanut butter frosting and a rich chocolate glaze. It’s a peanut butter lover’s dream!
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carolyn and I have an all-consuming obsession with chocolate and peanut butter. It’s genetic and I’m pretty sure I’ve had this condition since birth.
It’s actually a very common affliction that affects many people worldwide. Chances are good that you have it too! Otherwise you probably wouldn’t even be reading this post.
You know the best cure for this affliction? Cake. A really amazing cake that tastes like eating keto peanut butter cups. Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake is almost always the answer, no matter what the question!
If this flavor combo is your obsession, be sure to check out my Keto Peanut Butter Balls too.
You will love this cake!
I originally dreamed up this beautiful Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake back in 2014. It was delicious back then but my keto baking skills have vastly improved and I decided it needed an update.
I made the cake similarly to my Keto Devil’s Food Cake, as it’s so wonderful and chocolatey. I also re-vamped peanut butter frosting by folding in whipped cream to give it lightness and structure. It was both airy and luscious, and reminiscent to Keto Peanut Butter Mousse.
Finally, I created a chocolate glaze to decorate the cake. It was the perfect consistency to drip down the sides decoratively.
The final cake is just as delicious as the original, but with even fewer carbs! It’s definitely worthy of all your special occasions.
Ingredients you need
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- Almond flour: Make sure to use a good finely ground almond flour for the best cake texture. You can also use sunflower seed flour for a nut-free version.
- Sweetener: I used granular Swerve in the cake and powdered Swerve in the frosting and glaze. I also used a little allulose in the glaze to keep it shiny and soft. See the Expert Tips section for other sweetener options.
- Cocoa powder: If you want a dark chocolate cake, use dark cocoa powder.
- Protein powder: Added dry protein like whey protein powder gives keto cakes a lighter texture and more structure. I don’t recommend skipping it, although you can also use egg white or plant-based protein. Do not use collagen as it will make the cakes gummy and hard to cook through.
- Sour cream: Full fat sour cream adds wonderful tenderness to keto cakes and muffins.
- Peanut butter: Any creamy natural peanut butter should work for the frosting. I really like the Santa Cruz brand.
- Cream cheese: Cream cheese gives the frosting more structure without having to add copious amounts of powdered sweetener.
- Whipping cream: Folding whipped cream into the frosting gives it a luscious mousse-like texture.
- Unsweetened chocolate: The chocolate drip glaze really is the perfect finish to a cake like this. Unsweetened chocolate is not the same thing as sugar-free chocolate like ChocZero or Lily’s. Those have been sweetened already.
- Kitchen staples: Eggs, butter, baking powder, vanilla, salt.
Step by Step Directions
1. Prepare the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the water one tablespoon at a time until the batter is thick but pourable.
2. Bake the layers: Divide batter evenly among 3 greased 8-inch cake pans and bake at 325ºF for 15 to 20 minutes, or until just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool completely in the pans.
3. Prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, cream cheese, and butter together until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in the sweetener and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold into the peanut butter mixture until no streaks remain.
4. Frost the cake: Place one layer of cake on a serving platter and spread with about one quarter of the frosting. Top with another layer of cake and another quarter of the frosting. Add the remaining layer of cake and spread the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Refrigerate for one hour to firm up.
5. Prepare the glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit a few minutes to melt. Add the sweeteners and whisk to combine. Let cool a few minutes to thicken.
6. Decorate the cake: Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake along the edges, letting it drip down the sides. Smooth the remaining glaze over the top of the cake. Top with keto peanut butter cups and sprinkles, if desired.
Expert tips
Always make sure to prep your cake pans properly. This includes greasing the pan and lining them with parchment paper circles. And then greasing the parchment as well. This ensures that your cakes flip easily out of the pans.
Don’t overbake those cake layers! It’s easy to do and they will end up dry. I touch the tops of my cakes multiple times during baking. The minute they feel dry on top with a little bounce underneath, I get them out of the oven. Watch my video for the Best Tips on Baking Keto Cakes.
Sweetener Options
You can use almost any granular sweetener in the cake layers, but the baking time may change so keep your eye on them. Additionally, any confectioners-style sweetener should work in the frosting. I do find that allulose can make things a little softer so allow it to firm up properly in the fridge before adding the glaze.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not all peanut butter is created equal. Some of the commercial brands are highly processed and full of sugar and preservatives. But natural peanut butter that has no added sugar has only about 5 to 6 grams of carbs per 2 tablespoon serving. Most people find they can use it sparingly on a keto diet without issue.
Keto friendly cake like this Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake is made with alternative flours and sweeteners. In this case, almond flour forms the base of the cake, along with protein powder and sweetener.
If you want to prepare this keto cake ahead, make the cake up to the point of adding the chocolate glaze. Then wrap carefully and refrigerate for up to 5 days. Add the glaze a few hours before serving.
Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups (224 g) almond flour
- 3/4 cup (136.5 g) Swerve Sweetener, or other granular sweetener
- 6 tbsp dark cocoa powder, or Dutch process
- 1/3 cup (36 g) unflavoured whey protein powder, or egg white protein powder
- 2 1/2 tsp (2.5 tsp) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/2 cup (115 g) sour cream, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 to 4 tbsp (2 tbsp) water
Peanut Butter Frosting
- 3/4 cup (193.5 g) creamy peanut butter
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (136.5 g) Swerve Confectioners, or other powdered sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (178.5 g) heavy whipping cream
Chocolate Glaze
- 1/4 cup (59.5 g) heavy whipping cream
- 1 oz (28.35 g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 1 tbsp Swerve Confectioners
- 1 tbsp allulose, granular
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325ºF and grease three 8-inch round cake pans well. Line the bottom of the pans with circles of parchment and grease the parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir in the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the water one tablespoon at a time until the batter is thick but pourable.
- Divide batter evenly among prepared cake pans and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until just firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool completely in the pans.
Peanut Butter Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, cream cheese, and butter together until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in the sweetener and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whip the cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold into the peanut butter mixture until no streaks remain.
To Assemble
- Place one layer of cake on a serving platter and spread with about one quarter of the frosting. Top with another layer of cake and another quarter of the frosting.
- Add the remaining layer of cake and spread the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Refrigerate for one hour to firm up.
Chocolate Glaze
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit a few minutes to melt.
- Add the sweeteners and whisk to combine. Let cool a few minutes to thicken, and then slowly drizzle over the top of the cake along the edges, letting it drip down the sides.
- Smooth the remaining glaze over the top of the cake. Top with keto peanut butter cups and sprinkles, if desired.
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 there. I plan to try it with natural peanut butter tomorrow since that’s all I have. Do I whip the frosting after adding the cream and vanilla so that the cream thickens?I hesitate because I know that overwhipping cream cheese cab make it too runny… But it just says to beat until smooth… can you advise? Thanks
Beat until smooth, don’t whip. Yours won’t be completely smooth if you’re using natural PB, though.
Hi!
I just made this cake yesterday and it is SO good!! One of my favorite things ever, thanks for sharing! I have a question though – my layers cracked something awful and once the filling was in, it split… Do you know what I did wrong? I am thinking I may have to turn it into a trifle next time if I make a mess of layers again, lol!
Thanks!! :-)!
Did you follow the recipe as written or change anything up? Next time, you could try spritzing the oven every so often with water to add some moisture while baking. That could help.
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you for the wonderful recipes. I have tried so many of your recipes and its because of you, I now know how to cook 🙂 I do have a question and please forgive me if you have answered this question at some point.
Why do you use two different sweeteners? Is it for texture in cakes? I have tried Swerve and like the sweetness but not the cooling. I found that I love Xylitol, maltitol and Ideal sweetener. I just bought NuNaturals liquid stevia yesterday because others have said that it is less bitter than the others that I have tried.
Anyway, if I use the NuNatural and xylitol would I use the same conversion as you used above for instance? I keep making food but more desserts using real sugar to determine if the flavor is good before I use these very expensive bags of sweeteners on the “for real” low carb version. I need to find the correct balance so that I can stop going back and forward. Thank you again for the great instructions, clear and easy web site and your funny stories.
I use two in part because I used to use regular erythritol and I found that using some stevia enhanced the sweetness with less cooling effect. I don’t get a cooling sensation from Swerve, so I can use it full strength but it’s also expensive. A bottle of stevia lasts a loooooong time so it is much more cost effective. So that way, people can stretch out their erythritol for longer.
But Xylitol and stevia would also work just fine and you can use it the way I use swerve and stevia. And you can always taste test your batter to see if it’s sweet enough and then add more. Use pasteurized eggs if you’re worried but taste-testing the batter saves a lot of time and energy! 🙂 And I’ve found my recipes very forgiving…I can add something more at the end and mix it in without any change to the consistency of the result.
Not only can you cook but you are a mind reader. I don’t taste test because of the fear of consuming raw eggs 🙂 Great information. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.
If they have Safest Choice eggs any where in your area, get those. They are in the shell but their pasteurized. It’s been good for a inveterate taste tester like me!
I’d like to make this for my dad’s birthday tomorrow, but my nephew is allergic to both coconut and tree nuts. I wonder if I could just use all-purpose flour in place of the almond and coconut flours and regular milk for the almond milk? Would I have to change any of the proportions? Some day, when the little bundle of allergies isn’t around, I’ll have to make it the regular way too, it sounds and looks delicious!
No, the proportions won’t be the same at all using regular flour. I’d suggest following a traditional chocolate cake recipe, subbing the sugar for Swerve, and then using my frosting and chocolate ganache recipes.
Awesome — thank you so much for the quick response!
Welcome! 🙂
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
I have all the ingredients to make this cake I only have whey chocolate protein powder can I use that.
Yes, I think that will be fine.
This was delicious! I didn’t want to make the three-layer cake, since that would be a lot for us to eat, so I made all three cakes but planned to freeze two and just use them later. One of them stuck, though (I didn’t use parchment like you recommended), so I took the pieces that stuck and mixed them into the extra frosting I had. They were like little frosting balls- and they were amazing!!!
Also, I did use natural peanut butter and I thought it tasted fine. It probably wasn’t as smooth/fluffy, but I didn’t mind.
Your site is now my favorite! i’ve made some of your recipes and they blew me away! I’m so amazed with the texture and taste to think that its low carb. I’ll definitely try this soooooon! I can’t bake it today though because I have lots of treats stock in my fridge for the whole week. haha! This will be my next target. Thanks! 🙂
Hope you like it!
My husband made this came for me as a surprise for Valentine’s day. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe how wonderful it tasted. Thank you so much for posting all of these recipes. It has made the difference in my weight loss. I am 60 lbs down and you have really helped to make that happen.
I am so glad and go husband for making this!
This cake is phenomenal! I made it yesterday for my husband’s birthday and he agrees! I sifted my dry ingredients beforehand and used the baking soda/apple cider vinegar/cream of tartar and the texture and moisture was just fantastic. Great flavor. I served it to some non-low-carbers and they couldn’t believe it was sugar and grain free. Excellent job, Carolyn!!
Can I use unsweetened cocoa powder, on the container it has a conversion of 3 tbls of cocoa with 1 of oil for each ounce. If so, do I use both oil and then add the butter in the recipe. Do not have the bar chocolate and unable to get out. Lots of snow….
thanks
Do you mean for the chocolate ganache? I’d think that would work well enough…
Yes for the chocolate ganache. Do I use the oil and the butter both?
Yes, I think you would have to. Unsweetened chocolate has cocoa butter in it, which is what you are replacing when you put oil in with the unsweetened cocoa powder. Then you’d need to add the butter in for my recipe. If you find the end product too thin, I’d add a little more cocoa powder to help get the right consistency.
Thank you. Have tried your low carb cinnamon roll coffee cake – people have asked me for the recipe and can’t believe that it is made with almond flour. Have made your cupcakes, hazelnut cake, chocolate cake, crab cakes and others. The pancakes are the best – my husband can eat pancakes again. He can’t have sugar or wheat products. Keep the great recipes coming. Have modified a cookie recipe for him as well.
Thanks, Sally!
This looks amazing!
Is Swerve a must? Can I just use erythritol?
You can certainly try regular erythritol but I cannot guarantee the results.
I saw this on Facebook a few days back and it blew my mind!! Looks so awesome!
Is there a substitute for the almond flour?
Are you allergic to almonds?
Carolyn, you are the BEST low carb recipe wizard on the internet, hands down!
I have a son with an allergy to almonds. I usually sub out sunflower flour, but do you have a better substitution? Thank you, I am thinking I’m going to invent a new holiday just for this cake! 🙂
No, I don’t really have a better substitution but you could follow my recipe for chocolate coconut flour cupcakes for the cake part itself. You’d have to triple it, probably.
I made this cake today for my son, he turned 27 and is on a low carb diet. There are others in the family that are gluten free, this cake was amazing!! My cake was not as pretty as yours was, and I did not have to refrigerate after frosting but the taste was wonderful. I have one son who is gluten free and low carb who does not like chocolate but loved this cake. Thank You!! We all enjoyed it!!
So good to hear, thanks for the feedback!
Oh, my! I am sitting here celebrating reaching my goal of losing 30 pounds thanks to eating low carb (using MANY of your recipes, by the way). I wanted to make myself a cake, and looking at your pictures is almost good enough! I am enjoying a celebratory glass of red wine as I scroll, and I was actually praying the whole time, hoping the recipe would not involve artificial sweeteners. I simply cannot stand the chemical-aftertaste-gag-bug spray-what am I eating-thing that goes on with fake sugar. However, I WANT CAKE! If truth be told, I have tried everything but Swerve. If you can pinkie swear that I will not have the above mentioned reaction, I will make this cake. (Tomorrow. I lied….I’ve had 2 celebratory glasses and can’t get to the store right now).
I’m sorry about my delayed reply, this comment got buried somehow and I only just found it. I can’t, of course, pinky swear that you will not have an aftertaste with Swerve, because every palate is different. I do not, and many others do not, but I can’t guarantee for you.
Please keep in mind that Swerve is NOT artificial sweetener. I agree with you on the artificial ones, I cannot stand the taste of sucralose or aspartame.
We made this last night and it was astoundingly good. You are a wizard. The peanut butter frosting is to die for. Thanks for posting your recipes!
So glad you liked it!
When you say unsweetened cocoa you me a hard chocolate and not cocoa powder, correct? I am making a list for the store and want to make sure I have everything. I think this could be a new birthday cake for me!
Totally disregard my previous question. If I would have read the recipe first, I would have seen the answers to my questions. LOL
As long as you’re sure you’re all set! Don’t want you to come home without the things you need… 🙂