This keto walnut coffee cake is a bakery style cake with a walnut cinnamon swirl and crunchy topping. An amazing low carb, sugar free brunch treat!
In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear yet, I love coffee cake. I have so many delicious keto coffee cake recipes and I am now adding another. And I can assure you that I won’t stop here.
The enduring charm of coffee cake is that it’s meant to be served with coffee. Which, by extension, means you can eat it for breakfast. And I like cake for breakfast.
You can also eat it with your afternoon coffee as a little snack. Or you can serve it with your after-dinner coffee as dessert. A versatile sweet treat indeed!
And this bakery-style keto walnut coffee cake plays all of these roles remarkably well. It’s delicious and tender, and not overly sweet.
Walnut Coffee Cake Inspiration
Inspiration for a recipe can come from a variety of sources. I am always open to it, always receptive, and I find I have more ideas for keto recipes than I could possibly make in a life time.
The inspiration for this cake comes from my husband’s aunt, who regularly sends us food as gifts. She’s generous beyond compare, but sadly, they are often things I can’t eat, such as the huge and gorgeous coffee cake she sent last Christmas.
My husband was loath to part with the cake, so he doled it out to himself and the kids, a little at a time. The kids adored the crunchy cinnamon walnut topping and my son asked if I thought I could make something similar with keto ingredients.
Challenge accepted!
Bakery-style keto coffee cake
This is a large and impressive looking cake that serves a lot of people. It has a tender crumb and a rich swirl of walnuts and cinnamon. It’s meant to mimic the coffee cake you might find in a bakery, the sort that you would bring into the office to share at a meeting.
Of course, many of us are working virtually these days, so you may be wondering what to do with it all. The good news is that it freezes really well, so you can divvy it up, wrap it tightly, and sock it away.
To make it more like an actual bakery cake, I used a tube pan. It’s the same kind of pan I used for my Keto Angel Food Cake, a tall circular pan with a center tube.
However, this walnut coffee cake is not dependent on the pan shape. You could also use a bundt pan, a springform pan, or even a 9×13 rectangular pan. The pan shape will change how long the cake takes too bake.
How to make keto cinnamon walnut coffee cake
- Grease the pan well and line the bottom with parchment paper (see recipe notes).
- Make the cinnamon walnut swirl by combining the walnuts, brown sugar substitute, and the cinnamon. Break up the clumps in the brown sugar substitute as much as possible.
- Whisk together all the dry ingredients first, before creaming the butter, sweetener, and eggs.
- The protein powder is an important component here, as it replaces gluten and gives the cake it’s lighter, fluffier consistency. The best substitute is egg white protein. If you must skip it, please know that your cake may not rise as well.
- Spread half the batter in the pan, then sprinkle with half of the cinnamon walnut mixture. Spread the remaining batter in the pan and then top with the remaining walnut mixture.
- The cinnamon walnuts will create a delightfully crunchy topping as they bake!
How to serve and store Keto Walnut Coffee Cake
As I mentioned before, this keto coffee cake is great as breakfast or brunch, but it’s also lovely as dessert. For dessert, try warming it up a touch and serving with keto ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
It’s large and makes 20 servings, so it’s great for parties and get togethers. But it also freezes really well. If it’s just you and yours, portion it up after it’s cool and wrap it up tightly for the freezer.
It will be good for several months, as long as it’s tightly wrapped to keep out the freezer burn.
More delicious keto walnut recipes
- Keto Chocolate Walnut Torte
- Keto Maple Walnut Biscotti
- Keto Maple Walnut Ice Cream
- Keto Walnut Bread
- Keto Cinnamon Walnut Muffins
- Keto Maple Walnut Blondies
This keto walnut coffee cake is a bakery style cake with a walnut cinnamon swirl. An amazing low carb, sugar free brunch treat!
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup Swerve Brown
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 3/4 cup almond flour
- 6 tbsp coconut flour
- 6 tbsp whey protein powder (or egg white protein powder)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 to 1 cup water
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Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9-inch tube pan (aka angel food cake pan) well. Line the bottom with parchment (see recipe notes).
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the walnuts, Swerve Brown, and cinnamon. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
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In a large bowl, beat the butter with the Swerve until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla extract, scraping down the beaters and the sides of the bowl as needed.
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Add the flour mixture and beat until well combined. Then beat in 3/4 cup of the water. If the batter is quite thick, add additional water as necessary. The batter should scoopable and spreadable but not quite pourable.
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Spread about half the batter in the prepared pan, and then sprinkle with half of the walnut mixture. Spread the remaining batter in the pan and sprinkle with the remaining walnut mixutre.
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Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until golden brown and just firm to the touch. A tester inserted in the center should come out clean.
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Remove and let cool in the pan, then run a sharp knife just around the edges to loosen and transfer to a plate.
To line the tube pan, you will need a 9-inch circle of parchment paper. Fold the paper in half and then in half again to create a cone. Cut enough out of the tip so that when it is opened, it first over the center of the tube pan. It does not need to be perfect.
Jo Jo says
Can’t wait to make this! I don’t have a tube pan, but will use my Bundt pan or my spring firm pan and put a glass in the middle. What do you think? That’ll work?
Carolyn says
Any of them will, I just can’t tell you how long to bake it. Start with less time and watch it carefully.
Sandra Buck says
Asking for the best whey protein product to use. Most I have seen have flavor and are very expensive. Thank you in advance for your reply. Enjoy your recipes.
Carolyn says
Hi Sandra, it’s linked in the recipe, I believe, but this is one I like a lot. And yes, they are pricy but they also last a long time and they keep well. https://amzn.to/35u8c37
Dorothy says
I don’t have a tube pan. I’m planning on. Using a bundt pan. Do I still need to Line the bottom?
Carolyn says
You can’t line the bottom of a bundt pan because of its shape so just grease it well!
Monica Stearns says
Hi Carolyn, I am planning on making your cake for a friend’s birthday. My question is about the regular swerve. When I make fat bombs using swerve I get a very odd flavor both from the fat bomb and when I drink water after eating. It’s not a cooling it”s just odd. Can I sub allulose or monkfruit for the regular swerve with the same results? Thanks for your help
Carolyn says
Yes, you should be able to do that. But you really want the brown swerve for the filling and topping. I do not get any aftertaste with Swerve but we are all different.
Diana says
Hi, my husband is allergic to walnuts. Is there a different nut you’d recommend for substitution?
Carolyn says
Honestly anything would be fine here. Both hazelnuts and pecans would be good!
Ana Paola says
Hi Can I use isolated protein?
Carolyn says
That should work.
Olga R Wheatley says
Best keto coffee cake out there! I made this using an 8X8 glass mold. It browned very nicely and I removed after 55 minutes.
I let it cool completely and served as desert after dinner… seriously, the hubs was beside himself :-D. I was not too far behind, this was really, really good. He asked that this stay on rotation forever.
I have several of your books, but I want to thank you for the free recipes tu so generously post on social media.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Jo-Anne Doher says
Thank you so much for all of your experimenting. It has really paid off. This was an excellent cake. I’ve really enjoyed it.
Alliecat says
This cake is fantastic! Thank you!
Dianestrn says
Wonderful. Next time I’ll put some nut mixture in bottom of pan. Will make again.
Rebecca Friedman says
This cake was so good, especially with a scoop of your keto maple walnut ice cream on top!
Carolyn says
Oh yum!
Nicole says
Do we have to use protein powder?? I would like to just omit it completely?
Carolyn says
Yes… but it won’t rise as well and have a good cake consistency.
Nicole says
So is there something else I can use?
Carolyn says
The tips section in the blog post outlines this…
Phyllis says
Carolyn I made this and followed the directions to a tee and it seemed in a Bundt pan it would not release as well despite greasing it well . Also to be honest my husband said the cake seemed slightly dry . I made it with pecans instead of walnuts . Added 1/3 cup of chocolate chips . I think it is missing more of a fat like content like sour cream or cream cheese or extra added butter . It should be moister even with the suggested increase of water to a cup which I did . I even lowered oven temperature too to 340 . Cooked it at 40 minutes . Really not sure why it was so darn dry . Does the brands of sugars use cause issue with dry textures . I would think not . I used a Stevia one not a monk fruit one or is it the almond or coconut flour . I purchased it on amazon and it is not almond meal but other . Please help !!
Carolyn says
Hi Phyllis, I am afraid you did not follow the directions to a T if you used a different sweetener. And that would indeed be the likely culprit here. As you can see from the other comments, no one else had this problem. And stevia sweeteners do tend to dry out cakes more. What brand did you use?
Beth says
This looks so yummy! My family is going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to give this a try! So excited!
Shelley says
Such decadence, but what I really loved most about this was the clever trick of using protein powder for the specific purpose of replacing gluten to create the light, fluffy consistency. I’ve never encountered that strategy and it’s so cool!
Krissy Allori says
This recipe not only bakes up beautifully, but it’s delicious!!
La says
This looks just like the coffee cake I grew up with, in a suburb of Boston. We made it with sour cream and also in a tube pan. Yours looks just like what I remember. It was even better the next day. Can’t wait to try this. Thanks.
Bob Gambill says
This coffee cake is an absolute Home Run. I have made it twice. Over the years I have made and loved many of your recipes, but this one is my favorite. Nothing like a cup of coffee and a piece of this cake at the end of a busy day. Thanks Carolyn!
Carolyn says
So happy to hear that!
Kathy says
Tried this today. Turned out beautifully. Nice texture / flavor. Thanks!
Marlies says
I just made it. Very nice on this sunday with a cup off coffee. Thank you
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Danielle says
This is the best Keto dessert I have made yet. The recipe works beautifully. I live at high altitude near Denver, CO and just had to bake it the full 55 minutes. It came out of the pan perfectly and I used a glass Bundt pan with plenty of butter. I am a pastry chef who recently found out that I have celiac disease and are prediabetic. My lifestyle of eating has had to completely change. Not knowing where to begin I came across your website. Carolyn I am grateful to you and your mission of cooking. I will keep trying your recipes!
Carolyn says
I am thrilled to hear that!
Jasmine says
The cake looked stunning and filled my house with such a beautiful scent. It was a tiny bit dry and I think next time I’ll add a bit extra sweetness but ooooooohhh, it is good. The texture is exactly like regular cake.
Another brilliant recipe.
Joan says
Hi Carolyn, Can this be frozen? There are only two of us and much as I’d like to eat the whole thing I need to save room for your pecan pie…. Thank you so much for making our life “sweet” again!
Carolyn says
Yup! I recommend portioning it out and wrapping each of those separately for when you want them. Maybe quarters of the cake?
Sierra says
Can I use collagen powder in place of the protein powder? All my whey protein is flavored and the collagen is unflavored?
Carolyn says
Nope. Sorry but for almond flour recipes, collagen makes things gummy and hard to cook through.
Angelique says
I made this today, and oh my gosh!!!! This recipe has just the right amount of sweetness, is tender, moist, and perfect with coffee!!!! Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. This now my favorite!