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    Home » Keto Cakes » Keto Gooey Butter Cake

    Published: Sep 27, 2018 · Modified: Apr 15, 2021 by Carolyn

    Keto Gooey Butter Cake

    This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake gets a keto makeover! This easy cake recipe is rich and incredibly buttery, but still low carb enough to fit into your healthy keto diet. Sugar free and grain free.

    Keto Gooey Butter Cake slice on a wooden table with strawberries in the background

    I feel like I have been waiting forever to make a good keto gooey butter cake recipe. I’ve seen so many glorious conventional gooey butter cakes, which really are more like bars than cake, and I kept eyeing them, wondering if I should take a stab at making a healthier, low carb version.

    What was stopping me, you ask? Simple. The lack of good low carb boxed vanilla cake mix. The original St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake takes boxed cake mix and when I re-make a recipe, I like to pay homage as much as I can to the original recipe.

    But now, with the advent of not one but two really good keto cake mixes on the market, I decided it was time to give it a go. Both Good Dee’s  and Swerve make really good vanilla cake mixes that are perfect for a low carb version of gooey butter cake.

    Easy St Louis Gooey Butter Cake in a pan with one piece cut out

    What is Gooey Butter Cake?

    You have to admit, it’s such a great name, it makes you want to run to your kitchen and make it straight away, doesn’t it? But what exactly IS gooey butter cake? Well I’ve been doing my research on that!

    • It originated in St. Louis, Missouri, and like any traditional recipe, it seems to have many iterations. But generally it’s a flat, dense cake topped with a gooey sweet filling of cream cheese and butter.
    • The cake portion is usually made with boxed cake mix, but you add a lot more butter, fewer eggs, and no additional liquids, so it doesn’t rise much but stays dense and buttery.
    • The filling is made by beating cream cheese, butter, eggs, and powdered sugar (or sweetener) together and pouring it over top. Then it’s baked just enough so that the topping stays ooey and gooey.
    • You then sprinkle it with a liberal amount of powdered sweetener/sugar.
    • It’s also often baked in 9×13 pans and cut into squares, so you may see it referred to as gooey butter bars.

    Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

    Pieces of keto gooey butter cake on a stack on a white cake stand

    How to Make Keto Gooey Butter Cake

    I tried several different versions of this cake so I could give you some options.

    The first time I made it, I used the Swerve Vanilla Cake mix for the crust, and simply followed the rest of the recipe I found on the Tidy Mom blog, swapping powdered Swerve for the sugar. Cheryl is actually from St. Louis and I figured she knew what she was talking about!

    I took that version to the Oregon Coast when we went away with friends and it was a huge hit.

    But knowing that not everyone wants to use, or can afford, the keto cake mixes, I decided to also make it with one of my own basic keto vanilla cake recipes. I did cut the amounts back by one third so it wasn’t too much cake and not enough filling.

    I also tried adding some butter to the filling on the second go, to make it more gooey. I’d seen several variations with the added butter and given how much I love butter, I figured it couldn’t be a bad thing.

    A fork going into a piece of keto gooey butter cake on a white plate

    That version got taken to CrossFit, where it was also a huge hit. But they are hungry people, those crazy CrossFitters.

    As I said, you have options here. You could make it with boxed cake mix or with my vanilla cake. But I highly recommend the added butter in the filling. Because low carb sweeteners aren’t like sugar, the filling is more firm when it’s just cream cheese and eggs. Sugar keeps things softer, so the additional butter really helps this keto version.

    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.

    That’s really it! It’s a remarkably easy cake, whether you use boxed cake mix or not. And with these low carb ingredients, how can you go wrong?

    Want more gooey dessert recipes? Check out my Keto Desserts Page!

    A fork going into a piece of keto gooey butter cake on a white plate

    Keto Gooey Butter Cake

    St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake gets a keto makeover! This easy cake is rich and incredibly buttery, but still low carb enough to fit into your healthy keto diet. Sugar free and grain free.
    4.97 from 31 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: gooey butter cake, gooey butter cake recipe
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 40 minutes
    Total Time: 55 minutes
    Servings: 15 servings
    Calories: 268kcal

    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 powdered Swerve
    • 2 large eggs
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Powdered Swerve for dusting

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 325F and lightly grease a 9x13 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. 

    Video

    Notes

    To make this with keto boxed cake mix (Swerve or Good Dee's), simply mix the cake mix with 1 egg and ½ cup melted butter. Then press the crust into the pan and follow the filling directions. 
    Nutrition Facts
    Keto Gooey Butter Cake
    Amount Per Serving (1 serving = 1/15th of cake)
    Calories 268 Calories from Fat 218
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 24.2g37%
    Carbohydrates 4.2g1%
    Fiber 1.6g6%
    Protein 6.1g12%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

     

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    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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      Recipe Rating




    1. Donna says

      October 16, 2018 at 4:23 pm

      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.

      Reply
    2. Kristen says

      October 11, 2018 at 11:57 pm

      This sounds amazing! Can’t wait to try it!

      Reply
    3. Shannon Maurer says

      October 11, 2018 at 8:53 am

      5 stars
      A new favorite!!! Super yummy and not too sweet. Thank you

      Reply
    4. nancy says

      October 08, 2018 at 8:53 pm

      Could I use THM baking blend inplace of almond flour?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        October 09, 2018 at 8:14 am

        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.

        Reply
    5. Jennifer says

      October 07, 2018 at 9:04 am

      5 stars
      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.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        October 07, 2018 at 9:12 am

        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.

        Reply
        • Jennifer says

          October 07, 2018 at 10:13 am

          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… 😉

          Reply
          • Carolyn says

            October 07, 2018 at 11:16 am

            I hear ya! You do as it works for you. 🙂

            Reply
    6. Dawn A Gresham says

      October 03, 2018 at 1:19 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        October 03, 2018 at 1:25 pm

        Hope you love it!

        Reply
    7. KetoKeaton says

      October 02, 2018 at 11:58 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        October 03, 2018 at 11:35 am

        You’re welcome to try but I think it might make the bake batter too thick.

        Reply
    8. Ashley says

      September 30, 2018 at 11:32 am

      Can you use vanilla protein powder? I don’t have unflavored.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        September 30, 2018 at 2:26 pm

        Sure, that would be fine. Cut back on the additional vanilla.

        Reply
    9. Liz says

      September 28, 2018 at 7:24 pm

      5 stars
      My family loves gooey butter cake! So glad you developed this wonderful keto recipe!

      Reply
    10. Connie Gutierrez says

      September 28, 2018 at 4:40 pm

      5 stars
      Absolutely brilliant! Running to the kitchen to make with Good Dee’s 🙂

      Reply
    11. Jennifer Blake says

      September 28, 2018 at 10:32 am

      5 stars
      Mmmm… so good! Love this treat while still staying on course.

      Reply
    12. Katie says

      September 27, 2018 at 9:37 pm

      5 stars
      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!!

      Reply
    13. Suzanne says

      September 27, 2018 at 8:51 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        September 28, 2018 at 7:27 am

        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!

        Reply
        • Suzanne says

          September 28, 2018 at 1:05 pm

          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!

          Reply
          • Carolyn says

            September 28, 2018 at 2:37 pm

            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.

            Reply
            • Jill says

              October 18, 2018 at 1:25 am

              5 stars
              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

              October 18, 2018 at 5:02 am

              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?

    14. Koshie says

      September 27, 2018 at 7:38 pm

      OMG! I’ve been waiting 10 YEARS for this recipe! THANK YOU!

      Reply
    15. Athena says

      September 27, 2018 at 10:29 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        September 27, 2018 at 11:59 am

        It’s already in the recipe! I did the filling two ways and liked it best the second way.

        Reply
      • Jen Beck says

        September 28, 2018 at 12:06 pm

        Athena, could you please share how much pumpkin you put in your cake? That sounds delish! Thank you

        Reply
        • Judy says

          October 03, 2018 at 8:22 am

          5 stars
          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.

          Reply
          • Just says

            October 03, 2018 at 4:41 pm

            5 stars
            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! ????

            Reply
            • Carolyn says

              October 03, 2018 at 5:33 pm

              So glad to hear it!

            • Jennifer says

              November 13, 2018 at 4:50 pm

              I just got on here to see if anyone had added pumpkin. Thanks for sharing!

            • Sunni Jeffers says

              November 20, 2019 at 11:39 pm

              Looking for how to add pumpkin. Is it added to the cream cheese mixture? Just want to be sure. Thanks!

            • Carolyn says

              November 21, 2019 at 8:03 am

              https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-pumpkin-gooey-butter-cake/

    16. Susan Pelter says

      September 27, 2018 at 9:37 am

      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!

      Reply
    17. Kathy Silber says

      September 27, 2018 at 9:20 am

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
      • Aly says

        March 08, 2020 at 3:41 pm

        So good! Thanks for sharing!

        Reply
    18. Dorothy Cuell says

      September 27, 2018 at 8:49 am

      5 stars
      Looks amazingly delicious! Can you freeze it?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        September 27, 2018 at 8:50 am

        I didn’t try but I can’t see why not.

        Reply
    19. Patti says

      September 27, 2018 at 8:34 am

      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?

      Reply
      • Linnea Welker says

        December 15, 2018 at 8:05 pm

        same question

        Reply
        • Carolyn says

          December 15, 2018 at 8:28 pm

          Unsalted is standard. However, I like salt so I often uses salted.

          Reply
    20. Cat says

      September 27, 2018 at 6:30 am

      Recipe looks delicious! I was just curious as to how the whey protein powder affects the end product?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        September 27, 2018 at 8:11 am

        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.

        Reply
        • Tiffany says

          September 30, 2018 at 10:06 am

          5 stars
          Hi Carolyn,
          Would collagen protein powder work you think?

          Reply
          • Julie says

            January 29, 2019 at 10:19 am

            5 stars
            I would like to know the same. I have to stay away from whey.

            Reply
            • Carolyn says

              January 31, 2019 at 9:17 pm

              I’ve already provided subs and suggestions in other comments.

      • Cynthia says

        August 16, 2019 at 10:23 am

        Can you use whey protein isolate in place of the whey protein?

        Reply
        • Carolyn says

          August 16, 2019 at 10:52 am

          Sure.

          Reply
      • Donna says

        April 19, 2021 at 11:11 pm

        Can whey protein isolate be used gear instead of whey protein powder?

        Thanks

        Reply
        • Carolyn says

          April 20, 2021 at 7:51 am

          Yes, that’s fine.

          Reply
    Newer Comments »

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