This No Bake Keto Dirt Cake recipe will blow your mind! It’s a decadent no-bake dessert with chocolate pudding, peanut butter cheesecake, and a chocolate cookie crust!
Dirt cake isn’t exactly the most attractive name for a dessert, is it? It sounds like something you might have made in the sandbox in kindergarten, or something the school bully might make you eat on the playground after school.
Thankfully, it is neither of those things. Instead, it consists of a creamy, no bake layered dessert made to look as if it contains dirt. Which surely appeals to the kid in all of us.
I first made this Keto Peanut Butter Dirt Cake back in 2014 and it became an instant hit. I decided to update it after not making it in years. The only question is, why did I wait so long? This dessert is amazing!
If you love creamy layered desserts, be sure to check out Keto Sex in a Pan and Keto Lemon Lush too!
You will love this low carb no bake dessert!
I have to admit, I had never even heard of dirt cake until a reader asked me to make a low carb version. She sent me a link to a high-carb recipe she wanted me to re-create.
I took one look and I knew I had to try it. Chocolate cookies, peanut butter AND chocolate pudding? Well that just jumped to the head of the to-make list!
This recipe brings together a few of my most popular keto desserts. It takes a batch of my Keto Peanut Butter Mousse and one recipe for Keto Chocolate Pudding. The crust is the same one I use for x. And the crumbly dirt topping can be made from scratch or you can just crumble up some keto brownie bites!
Reader Reviews
“This is one of the best desserts I’ve ever made! It’s so rich and creamy and feels naughty! ha ha I LOVE it! Thanks for sharing it!!!” — Holly
“This is my 3rd time making this dessert and I just want to say, it is superb! I honestly would never know that it was sugar free had I not prepared it myself!” — Tara
“Made this last night and here twenty four hours later and only two small pieces remain! This is one incredible recipe! Turned out just perfect!!” — Chris
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: The base of the crust is made with almond flour. For a nut-free option, you can use sunflower seed flour.
- Cocoa powder: For a rich chocolate flavor, use Dutch process cocoa powder.
- Sweetener: Use powdered sweetener for both fillings, as it will provide a smoother consistency without any grittiness. I like to use a little allulose in the pudding to keep it glossy and soft.
- Whipping cream: You need this for both the peanut butter layer and the chocolate pudding layer.
- Cream cheese: Soften the cream cheese properly before beating it. You should be able to poke it lightly with a finger and leave a good dent in it.
- Peanut butter: Choose a sugar-free peanut butter to keep the carb count low. Natural peanut butter has a tendency to separate, so mix well well before mixing it with the cream cheese. Some of my readers have used almond butter instead.
- Low carb milk: I usually use unsweetened almond milk but any low carb milk will be fine. This helps give the pudding layer a lighter consistency.
- Egg yolks: You need one egg and two egg yolks for the chocolate pudding layer. Save the egg whites to make recipes like Keto Coconut Cake.
- Glucomannan: This helps thicken the chocolate pudding and helps it set. You can also use xanthan gum.
- Unsweetened chocolate: Make sure to choose chocolate that is 100% cacao, with no sweeteners at all. It is lower in carbs and also helps the fudge thicken and set properly.
- Chocolate cookie crumbs: I used some crumbled HighKey brownie bites for the topping. If you don’t have that, you can make a little extra of the crust mixture.
- Pantry staples: Butter, vanilla extract, salt
Step by Step Directions
1. Prepare the crust: In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, sweetener, and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until well combined. Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
2. Prepare the peanut butter cheesecake: In a large bowl, whip half a cup of the whipping cream until it holds stiff peaks. In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese for a minute or two, until extra creamy. Add the peanut butter, sweetener, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the remaining two tablespoons of heavy cream and beat in to thin out the mixture.
3. Fold together: Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until no streaks remains. Spread carefully over crust. Refrigerate while preparing pudding layer.
4. Simmer the cream: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream and hemp milk. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and whisk in the sweetener.
5. Temper the eggs: In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and egg yolks together until smooth. Slowly add half a cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs, whisking continuously. Slowly whisk the tempered eggs back into the saucepan of hot cream mixture.
6. Cook the pudding: Stir in the cocoa powder and return the mixture to medium low heat. Continue to whisk continuously until the mixture is smooth and begins to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Then sprinkle the surface with glucomannan and whisk vigorously to combine. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla extract, whisking until smooth. Let cool about 15 minutes and then spread evenly over peanut butter layer.
7. Chill until set: Sprinkle the top of the cake with crushed brownie bites. Refrigerate until completely set, at least 3 hours. To serve, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan and remove sides. Run the knife under hot water to cut nice even slices.
Tips for Success
Make sure you give the pudding time to set properly, especially if you are using some allulose as the sweetener. It can take longer to set if you do but I think the results are a little better. It’s less likely to re-crystallize.
You can use any powdered sweetener in the peanut butter mousse layer, as it doesn’t rely on it for structure. Even liquid stevia works here. I think the crust works best with Swerve, but it doesn’t need to be crisp so you can use what sweeteners you like best.
If you don’t have the HighKey Brownie Bites, you can make a little bit of extra crust for the dirt topping. Simply whisk 2 tablespoons of almond flour (or sunflower seed flour for nut-free), 1 tablespoon of powdered sweetener, ½ tablespoon of cocoa powder, and ½ tablespoon of melted butter. Once it begins to clump together, sprinkle it over the cake.
This is a really rich dessert and very satisfying. Although it says it serves 16, you could easily cut it into 18 or 20 slices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dirt cake is a fun layered dessert that includes cookie crumbs, pudding, and no bake cheesecake. This Keto Dirt Cake has a creamy peanut butter layer topped with sugar free chocolate pudding and low carb brownie bites.
This keto chocolate peanut butter dirt cake recipe has 6.5g of carbs and 1.8g of fiber per serving. That comes to 4.7g net carbs per slice. But it’s a really rich dessert so you may want to cut the cake into 18 or 20 slices!
Store the cake in the fridge, covered up, for up to 5 days. It can also be frozen for several months. Wrap it up tightly to avoid freezer burn.
More keto peanut butter recipes
Keto Dirt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup Swerve Confectioners
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Layer
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons whipping cream divided
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup Swerve Confectioners
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Pudding Layer
- 1 ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk or any low carb milk
- 3 tablespoons Swerve Confectioners
- 3 tablespoons granular allulose (or more Swerve)
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- 6 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon glucomannan
- 3 tablespoon butter in 3 pieces
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 2.25 ounces HighKey brownie bites, crushed see Tips for alternatives
Instructions
Crust
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, sweetener, and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until well combined.
- Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
Peanut Butter Layer
- In a large bowl, whip half a cup of the whipping cream until it holds stiff peaks.
- In another large bowl, beat the cream cheese for a minute or two, until extra creamy. Add the peanut butter, sweetener, and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the remaining two tablespoons of heavy cream and beat in to lighten.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture until no streaks remain. Spread carefully over crust. Refrigerate while preparing pudding layer.
Chocolate Pudding Layer
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream and hemp milk. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and whisk in the sweetener.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and egg yolks together until smooth. Slowly add half a cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs, whisking continuously. Slowly whisk the tempered eggs back into the saucepan of hot cream mixture.
- Stir in the cocoa powder and return the mixture to medium low heat. Continue to whisk continuously until the mixture is smooth and begins to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Then sprinkle the surface with glucomannan and whisk vigorously to combine.
- Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla extract, whisking until smooth. Let cool about 15 minutes and then spread evenly over peanut butter layer.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake with crushed brownie bites. Refrigerate until completely set, at least 3 hours.
- To serve, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan and remove sides. Run the knife under hot water to cut nice even slices.
Vicky says
hee hee. that one I did NOT leave out, clearly.
Carolyn says
LOL! I think I need to try that, next time! 😉
Vicky says
wow wow wow! Made this yesterday and still enjoying it tonight. Really really good! Not a simple recipe but I enjoy cooking so that’s fine with me. Came out perfectly. The peanut butter layer is especially luscious. I halved the recipe (because I’m an oinker with no self control) and used Splenda (because I can’t take the Swerve “cooling effect”). I also reduced the xanax to a pinch because it gives me the heebie jeebies. It might not even be needed– lots of traditional custards get firm with egg yolk alone. This was A++++ ! Even the dubious hubbie liked it. I’m so impressed with all the work that must have gone into getting the right sweeteners and the right proportions of everything… Thanks!!
Melanie says
Maybe not xanax. haha 🙂
CJ says
I made just the pudding today, no other layers. FINALLY, a pudding recipe without corn starch! It turned out very well. I do think, though, that if you don’t need the pudding to “stand up” as a layer you can ditch the xanthan gum. I find it often makes things slightly lumpy, no matter how wildly I whisk. If you reheat the egg/milk mixture to about 170 (I used a meat thermometer, worked fine) it sets up beautifully to a pudding consistency, and I don’t think the xanthan added anything to it. Next time I make this (just as pudding) I’ll sift the cocoa pwder, and probably also strain it before putting it in little cups, to get out the chalazae. This may make it smoother. It makes about 500 ml total, or 6 containers at 80 ml or 1/3 cup each.
Carolyn says
Yes, I agree, you probably wouldn’t need the xanthan if you weren’t putting it into a cake that needs cutting!
Blaire says
I was wondering if the swerve in the chocolate pudding is going to re-crystalize? That seems to happen with my recipes when I use swerve.
Carolyn says
I did not find that it did in this recipe at all.
Blaire says
Carolyn,
This looks great. I did notice that swerve has a tendency to re-crystalize after baking, making a crunchy like product. Does this happen with the chocolate pudding in this recipe? The low carb products are very expensive and I hate when the food does not turn out correctly. Thanks so much!
Shannon says
My chocolate pudding never set! When I took off the outside of my springform pan, the pudding just oozed all over. Tasted fantastic, though! Can you think of what might have gone wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. 🙁
Carolyn says
I really don’t know, if you followed everything as is. I suspect it didn’t cook quite long enough to get the egg yolks to thicken. That’s all I can think.
Jane says
I just made this last night and I had the same problem with the runny pudding. It still tasted great but I wasn’t sure what I did wrong. How thick should it be when you take it off the heat?
BTW Carolyn, as a Canadian and diabetic I appreciate and love all the work you put into this site. I freaked out a bit yesterday when I found the Pumpkin Cream Cheese recipe had been “updated” but then I read your blog post and calmed down. They were perfect.
Carolyn says
It should be pretty thick…but not curdled.
maria hadgis says
love the pie, but my daughter has tree nut allergy, can i use coconut flower ??
Carolyn says
In this application no. But you can use sunflower seed flour, it should work very well.
SHELLY SULLIVAN says
Can we use THM baking blend instead of the almond flour in this do you think and what would the ration be ?? Thanks Shelly
Carolyn says
It’s drier so you may need more melted butter.
Lisa T. says
This looks wonderful! I can’t wait to try it. Thank you!
yehudit says
ecxuse me but I have another question-what is xanthan gum?
Does it has another name?
Can I make the cake without it?
Carolyn says
It’s a powder that thickens things without adding carbs. I don’t believe it has another name and in this case, you need something to help thicken. You could try a little gelatin.
yehudit says
Is swerve good for diabetics?
If no – what else can I use to sweeten the cake?
I didn’t received answer for this question.
yehudit
Melanie E. says
She answered that it’s good for her as a pre-diabetic, and I agree. As a type 1 diabetic, my blood sugars aren’t negatively affected by using Swerve as a sweetener. I don’t think you need to search for a different sweetener.
Carolyn says
Thanks for chiming in, Melanie!
yehudit says
Is swerve good for diabetics?
If no – what else can I use to sweeten the cake?
yehudit
Carolyn says
I am diabetic (pre-diabetic) and it doesn’t raise my blood sugar at all. But you need to test it on yourself. Here is the link to their info on the Swerve website:
http://www.swervesweetener.com/swerve-diabetes/
yehudit says
thanks.
Barb says
Hi Carolyn,
This sounds delicious!! I’m wondering if the almond flour can be subbed out for cashew flour? I bought a bag of cashew flour at TJ’s a bit ago, and have no idea what to do with it–any ideas of dessert recipes that can take that substitution? LOVE your blog!
Cecelia says
Do I need to use xanthan gum or can I use something in it’s place?
Ana says
HI! I would also like to know if it’s possible to use something else instead of xanthan gum as it is not sold in Slovenia.
Thanks for your reply!
Carolyn says
You could try a little gelatin.
Ana says
Thank you…and thank you for all the recipes.
Rachel says
Best. Dessert. Ever.
Carolyn says
Wow, thanks! 🙂
Angela says
Ok Carolyn, I have been lurking for awhile now. (Since I found your peanut butter/ice cream sandwich recipe… YUM!) I have to comment on this one because you have gotten me in SO much trouble… This is incredibly addicting!!!
I have always loved the Jell-O brand boxed mousse pies. Even as a child, when we got to choose a birthday cake, it was always these cold pies instead of cake. To me, this is almost identical, but BETTER, than the chocolate/peanut butter version of those Jell-O pies.
I used half the Swerve in every layer. For some reason, I am uber-sensitive to it and if I use full amounts, it’s overpowering sweet. I threw everything together on the 3rd, and had every intention of letting it sit overnight and taking it to our 4th of July picnic the next evening… It didn’t make it that far. My husband and I downed half of it after lunch. 😛 haha
The next time, I would love to make it in little individual serving tupperwares or something and freeze so I can grab one and take to work with me in my lunch. 🙂
Also, for anyone wondering, the longer it sits, the more it resembles cheesecake. 🙂 We finished it up last night, and it had sat a little uncovered in the fridge as well, but it had that firmer “cheesecake” feel and we absolutely loved it!
Thank you so much for all your hard work and your awesome treats.
Carolyn says
Thanks for your lovely feedback!
Erin says
I just made this today. I used THM Sweetblend and Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips, because that is what I had. I put a bit less sweetener in (because THM Sweetblend is a bit sweeter than straight Swerve, and hello, already sweet chocolate chips), and just tasted as I went. I am super excited to eat this in a few hours.
Carolyn says
Hope you love it!
Kathleen says
I made this and it was delicious! I made it in an 8″ square dish and glad I did because the chocolate layer didn’t thicken up enough (I used a little less cream because I ran out and a little more almond milk). Anyway, it still tasted wonderful and I’ll make it again.
Helene says
Loved, loved this cake. I used Truvia as sweetener. I didn’t care for the base, it was quite crumbly. I am going to use the base from your brownie cheesecake recipe with this topping. It should be amazing!
Amy says
Do you think I can use glucomannann instead of a Xantham? I know it is often used to make puddings. Also, if I don’t have chocolate can I use extra coco powder? I have almost everything needed and would like to try it. Thanks in advance!
Carolyn says
I have never used glucomannann but heard good things about it. It’s worth a try, I just don’t know the amounts.
Loretta says
Carolyn,
Help! Are you out there somewhere? I have guar gum. Getting all the ingredients together to make this for my birthday and only have guar gum not xantham gum. Is there a way to make this work??
Loretta
Carolyn says
I think it should work but you may need more of it in the pudding to help it set. I’d do 1.5 times the amount of xanthan.
Loretta says
Thank you that’s what I did. It worked out perfectly. So far so good. I’m waiting for the pudding to cool a bit so I can pour on the cake and then sprinkle with the topping and then set up in the frig. It looks so good!
Carolyn says
Hope it works! Even if it isn’t as stable, it will still taste amazing. 🙂
Loretta says
Carolyn,
I loved it. Worked out perfectly. It was delicious, creamy. Very rich. Also, had never used a spring form pan before. Thanks for these great recipes. 🙂
Happy Birthday to me! Loretta
Carolyn says
Happy birthday!