St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake gets a keto makeover! This easy keto cake recipe is rich and incredibly buttery, yet still low carb enough to fit into your healthy diet.
I feel like I have been waiting forever to make a good keto gooey butter cake. I’ve been eyeing so many glorious conventional recipes, wondering if I should take a stab at making a healthier, low carb version.
Then I took the plunge and I wondered what took me so long. This cake, which is really more like bars, is deceptive in its simplicity. It doesn’t look like much but it tastes so good. And if you love keto cheesecake, you’ve got to give this a try.
Pair it with a few fresh berries and perhaps a little whipped cream, and everyone will love it!
Why this recipe is so awesome
You have to admit that the name Gooey Butter Cake is simply mouthwatering. It makes you want to run to the kitchen and get baking! It originated in St. Louis, Missouri, and it features a flat, dense cake with a filling of cream cheese and butter.
In the conventional recipe, the cake portion is usually made with boxed cake mix. And there are some pretty great keto cake mixes available these days. But I know not everyone has access to these products.
So I have provided two different version of this recipe, one with cake mix and one with the cake made from scratch. I used my almond flour cake as a guide, but scaled it back a bit to fit the recipe.
Both versions of Gooey Keto Butter Cake are easy to make and absolutely delicious. Both live up to the promise of the real deal. And if you choose a good cake mix like Swerve or Good Dee’s, the overall carb count is about the same.
It does make quite a few servings, but it’s also freezable. So you can make it to share, or just for yourself!
Reader reviews
“Such a delicious treat! Another fantastic recipe that will be saved. The consistency was as promised (gooey goodness), flavor was very real to a non-keto dessert. Downsides will be how to keep myself from eating too much of this!” — Veronica
This is by far THE best Keto dessert I have made to date! I followed the directions to a tee and my husband and I almost fought over the last piece!! That would explain why I’m making another one today! Going to try the pumpkin or maybe lemon additions but the original is fantastic!!!!” — Mary C.
“I just made it and hubby and I were absolutely delighted with it. The texture of the base is like a delicious cookie and the filling is absolutely heavenly. Even my neighbours (who are not ‘keto’ dieters) loved it. This is a real keeper.” – Hana
Ingredients needed
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- Keto vanilla cake mix: If you want to go the cake mix route, I recommend using either Swerve Vanilla Cake Mix, King Arthur Keto Cake Mix, or Good Dee’s Snack Cake. All of these are brands I like and trust.
- Almond flour: If you want to make the cake from scratch, use good fine almond flour for the best consistency.
- Sweetener: The cake portion takes a granular sweetener and the filling needs a powdered sweetener. I use Swerve for both. See the Expert Tips for more sweetener options.
- Protein powder: A little protein powder gives the cake part better structure. Both whey protein and egg white work well, and most plant based powders work too.
- Butter: You need butter for both the cake portion and the filling.
- Cream cheese: The filling is a little like cheesecake, except softer and gooier.
- Eggs: The cake takes a single egg, so it acts more like a crust. But the filling takes two eggs.
- Pantry staples: Vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt.
Step-by-step directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter, egg, and vanilla extract and stir to combine well.
2. Press into the bottom and partway up the sides of a 9×13 greased baking pan.
3. In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Beat in the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth.
4. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake at 325ºF for 35 to 45 minutes, until the filling is mostly set, but the center still jiggles, and the edges are just golden brown.
5. Remove and let cool completely, then dust with powdered sweetener and cut into bars.
Expert tips
If you truly want a gooey butter cake, make sure to under-bake it. Don’t wait for that filling to firm up, take it out of the oven while the center is still quite jiggly. Keep your eye on it as every oven is different and baking times are only ever a guide.
I highly recommend the added butter in the filling. Because low carb sweeteners don’t bake like sugar, the filling can end up more firm than the conventional gooey butter cake. The additional butter really helps this keto version.
Get creative with this recipe! Some readers have added zest of one lemon plus and a teaspoon of lemon extract to make it a lemon gooey butter cake. I also created a Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake recipe, which is super popular during the holidays.
Sweetener Options
The sweetener you choose can make or break many a recipe, but this Gooey Keto Butter Cake is a bit more forgiving. You can use any granular or powdered sweetener, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Changes in sweeteners can affect the baking time, so keep your eye on them. Allulose can also cause the cake to brown a little more quickly. Erythritol will make the filling a bit more firm, whereas allulose may make it softer and gooier.
Recipe FAQs
A conventional recipe for Gooey Butter Cake has about 35g per serving. However, this recipe for Keto Gooey Butter Cake has only 4.2g of carbs and 1.6g of fiber per square.
Classic Gooey Butter Cake contains boxed cake mix, butter, eggs, cream cheese, and powdered sugar. This keto version offers a boxed mix option as well as making your own vanilla cake from scratch.
You can store leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the cake for up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
Keto Gooey Butter Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups almond flour
- ½ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon unflavored whey protein powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup butter softened
- ¾ cup Swerve Confectioners
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Powdered Swerve for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter, egg, and vanilla extract and stir to combine well.
- Press into the bottom and partway up the sides of the prepared baking pan.
- In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Beat in the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the eggs and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the filling over the crust. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until the filling is mostly set, but the center still jiggles, and the edges are just golden brown.
- Remove and let cool, then dust with powdered Swerve and cut into bars.
Donna says
Actually, the story in my family is that my grandfather was the inventor of the St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake. I think it was back in the 30’s or 40’s. He owned 2 bakeries. And the gooey butter cake was an accident. Apparently he was trying a new recipe and it kept flopping, the butter all sunk to the center of the cake. Times being what they were,(no wasting) the flopped cakes were put out on a sale rack, and ended up being a hit. People would line up to get the cakes. Not sure what happened, but the story is he was approached by someone to sell the recipe. My grandpa was not a businessman, so he sold it to this guy who ended up selling it to Kroger for a fortune.
I remember those cakes when I was a kid, always leftover baked goods at my grandparents house. We would eat the gooey center and leave the crust, haha.
Kristen says
This sounds amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Shannon Maurer says
A new favorite!!! Super yummy and not too sweet. Thank you
nancy says
Could I use THM baking blend inplace of almond flour?
Carolyn says
I honestly can’t guide you here, I don’t use it. When I tried it in the past, it was much much more dry than almond flour so it would not be a great sub here.
Jennifer says
Carolyn – I got my grandmother’s Gooey Buttercake recipe out and yours is almost identical. Except for one small detail – the original recipe calls for a yellow cake mix that makes two 8in rounds. The swerve cake mixes only make one 8in round. So to duplicate the real McCoy, you will want to use 2 cake mixes. I only had a vanilla and a chocolate so I made both, split the filling into two bowls so I could add 4oz of melted Lily’s chocolate into one. Then I made a 1/2 and 1/2. I’ll post a pic on the facebook post when it is out of the oven.
Carolyn says
Hi Jennifer… be that as it may, I worked from other “traditional” recipes and used exactly the same amount of cake mix as they did. I would definitely not try to do a larger cake mix, I think it would be too heavy on the cake.
Jennifer says
I’ll let you know how it turns out – the original recipe was never a 50/50 cake and filling. It was mostly cake with a layer of filling. At least that is the way my family has made it for 4 generations. In St. Louis… 😉
Carolyn says
I hear ya! You do as it works for you. 🙂
Dawn A Gresham says
Just whipped this up and popped it into the oven. I licked the beaters clean! So yummy!! I can’t wait until after dinner to have some! Thanks!
Carolyn says
Hope you love it!
KetoKeaton says
Could you use peanut butter powder indstead of the protein powder? I have a large container of it and have been trying to find ways to use it.
Carolyn says
You’re welcome to try but I think it might make the bake batter too thick.
Ashley says
Can you use vanilla protein powder? I don’t have unflavored.
Carolyn says
Sure, that would be fine. Cut back on the additional vanilla.
Liz says
My family loves gooey butter cake! So glad you developed this wonderful keto recipe!
Connie Gutierrez says
Absolutely brilliant! Running to the kitchen to make with Good Dee’s 🙂
Jennifer Blake says
Mmmm… so good! Love this treat while still staying on course.
Katie says
This is such a great recipe! I’ve had the original gooey butter cake, and if you can have it while eating keto- that’s heaven!!
Suzanne says
Wow. I’ve email you twice over the years about this cake! And as recently as last week asking you to help me out. I’m sure you didn’t see it, but it was well timed. It sounds like all I needed was two eggs to fix the recipe! Thanks!
Carolyn says
Oh I am sure I have seen, you are definitely not the only one to ask for this cake. 🙂 Did I not respond? I try to respond to almost all of my emails and requests but it gets overwhelming. Often I just try to answer specific baking questions. But I had never made one before and needed to do my research so I may have been putting you off until I had done so. Sorry!
Suzanne says
No worries! I was the crazy lady asking if I could mail you the real deal so you could taste it once and see why it’s so darn good! I know you are super busy and answering all that can take forever.I was not upset, sorry if my internet tone seemed so! I’ve made many a crystallized gooey butter cakes over the years lol. I’m so excited to bake this tonight and see. I’ve been so close so many times but that darn swerve would crystallize the next day or if it was put in the fridge. We always left real STL gooey cake on the counter for a few days…do you think this guy could do that too? I was about to try Bocha sweet next week in it but I’ll swerve it one more time! Thanks so much!
Carolyn says
Ours was totally on the counter for a few days. Mine never recrystallized but again, we ate it within a few days (or some I took to CrossFit) so I can’t promise you it’s not going to happen. But using powdered Swerve in the filling should help. If you do get Bocha Sweet, try using half that and half powdered Swerve.
Jill says
I had this same question but also, love the flavor of this, but it completely stuck to the glass 13×9 pan! There’s just no way I can keep a piece together. I know I’m not explaining well, but the crust is moist and just not set…but done around the edges and the filling done perfectly! Help!
Carolyn says
Well that’s a bit odd because no one has had an issue with it sticking. What kind of 9×13 pan? If it was metal, that could be part of it. What did you use for the cake part…my recipe or the swerve mix?
Koshie says
OMG! I’ve been waiting 10 YEARS for this recipe! THANK YOU!
Athena says
This coudn’t have come at a better time for me! I love gooey pumpkin butter cake at Halloween and now I don’t have to cheat!! You mentioned extra butter did you already include that in this recipe? If not, how much extra should I include. Thanks so much for all you do.
Carolyn says
It’s already in the recipe! I did the filling two ways and liked it best the second way.
Jen Beck says
Athena, could you please share how much pumpkin you put in your cake? That sounds delish! Thank you
Judy says
I’m going to make this today. I’m going to add an entire can of pumpkin, an extra egg along with some cinnamon,ginger, cloves and allspice. Of course, you can always substitute with pumpkin pie spice. I know this works as it’s the fluff from an old Paula Deen pumpkin gooey butter cake recipe.
Just says
And it worked like a charm. My son inhaled a slice and, even though it wasn’t as sweet as the original he said he’d be happy to eat this version from now on. I used a regular 15 oz can of pumpkin, 3 eggs instead of 2, a tsp of cinnamon and a tsp of nutmeg. I baked it at 350° for 40 minutes. My oven automatically sets at 350° and I forgot to set lower but it was perfect. Thank you, Carolyn! ????
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Jennifer says
I just got on here to see if anyone had added pumpkin. Thanks for sharing!
Sunni Jeffers says
Looking for how to add pumpkin. Is it added to the cream cheese mixture? Just want to be sure. Thanks!
Carolyn says
https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-pumpkin-gooey-butter-cake/
Susan Pelter says
Oh Carolyn, you have made me so happy! This is one of my favorite desserts and I have been wanting a keto sub for ages. Cannot wait to try! Thank you!
Kathy Silber says
Thank you for this recipe, Carolyn! After living away from St. Louis (and Gooey Butter Cake!) for thirty years,
I’ve happily returned to St. Louis. Now I’ve decided to go Keto and I can’t eat a Gooey Butter Cake! So this is
really a welcome recipe! I can’t wait to make it! Thanks for all of your delicious recipes! I’m quite sure this one will measure up!
Aly says
So good! Thanks for sharing!
Dorothy Cuell says
Looks amazingly delicious! Can you freeze it?
Carolyn says
I didn’t try but I can’t see why not.
Patti says
Hi, Carolyn. My son loves this cake. I’m so happy to have a Keto version. Thank you. Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Linnea Welker says
same question
Carolyn says
Unsalted is standard. However, I like salt so I often uses salted.
Cat says
Recipe looks delicious! I was just curious as to how the whey protein powder affects the end product?
Carolyn says
I always add whey to my cakes to mimic gluten, which is a protein. In this case, you could easily skip it since the cake is supposed to be dense.
Tiffany says
Hi Carolyn,
Would collagen protein powder work you think?
Julie says
I would like to know the same. I have to stay away from whey.
Carolyn says
I’ve already provided subs and suggestions in other comments.
Cynthia says
Can you use whey protein isolate in place of the whey protein?
Carolyn says
Sure.
Donna says
Can whey protein isolate be used gear instead of whey protein powder?
Thanks
Carolyn says
Yes, that’s fine.