A Paula Deen classic goes keto! You’re going to love this delectable low carb Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake. Sugar-free and grain-free. This post is sponsored by Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs.
Gooey butter cake! Isn’t that just the loveliest phrase you’ve ever heard? Let me say it again for you. Gooey butter cake!
Want to make it sound even better? How about this: Keto Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake! Now that may be the most delicious combination or words I’ve ever heard.
I thought I was done with new keto pumpkin recipes this season. I have so many in my recipe archives already and I added a few new ones this fall, most notably the keto pumpkin crumb cake and the keto instant pot pumpkin cheesecake. I felt I’d sufficiently fulfilled my pumpkin duties for the year.
And then a reader messaged me over Instagram, begging me to makeover Paula Deen’s famous pumpkin gooey butter cake. And then it became all I could think about for several days. I knew it had to be done.
Reinventing Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
Gooey butter cake relies heavily on three things for its delicious gooeyness: cream cheese, butter, and eggs.
So it’s of the utmost importance that your ingredients are good quality. I make sure to source organic cream cheese and butter, and I always rely on Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs for my holiday baking. Their eggs are Certified Humane Free Range, so I can feel good about doing my part to support smaller family farms that practice humane and sustainable farming.
The crust of a conventional gooey butter cake is made with vanilla cake mix, but I make mine from scratch with some of the same ingredients I would use for a cake. Then, I add one egg and a whole stick of melted butter, staying true to the idea of gooey butter cake. It essentially takes cake mix and turns it into a firm but tender crust.
Then, to get that super gooey pumpkin filling, I followed Paula Deen’s recipe pretty closely with 8 ounces of cream cheese and another stick of butter. I cut back on the pumpkin a bit to make sure it wasn’t watery, and added 2 Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs.
I also used quite a bit less sweetener. The original takes a full pound of powdered sugar, which is two full cups! Like many keto dieters, my taste for sweets has changed tremendously, so I used only 1 cup of sweetener in total. I used mostly powdered sweetener, with a little brown sugar substitute to deepen the flavor.
The Ultimate Keto Pumpkin Cake
I was expecting to like this, but I honestly didn’t expect to like it this much. The crust was tender but sturdy, and the filling was truly gooey and full of amazing pumpkin flavor.
You’re not going to like hearing this, but you absolutely must let this keto cake cool completely before cutting it into bars. I know, I know, I wanted to dig in right out of the oven, too! But because of the pumpkin, this is even more gooey and moist than my regular keto gooey butter cake.
Mine took the full 60 minutes to bake through and could possibly have baked even 5 minutes longer. I took it out when the sides were set nicely within about 2 inches of the edge of the pan, but the center was still quite jiggly. I deliberately underbaked because I wanted true gooeyness.
So it really needs to sit and cool for a few hours to avoid being mushy. You can pop it in the fridge to help it firm up a little faster.
Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup Swerve Granular, or other granulated eryrhritol
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pumpkin Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup Swerve Confectioners, or other powdered erythritol
- 1/4 cup Swerve Brown, or other brown sugar replacement
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325F and lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ glass or ceramic baking dish (metal is not recommended).
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, granulated sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Add the melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract, and stir well to combine. Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish and press into the bottom and up the sides.
- Press this mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared baking dish.
Pumpkin Filling
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and softened butter until smooth. Beat in the powdered and brown sweeteners until well combined, then beat in the pumpkin, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the filling over the crust. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until the sides are set about 2 inches from the edges of the pan, while the center is still a little jiggly.
- Remove the cake from oven and let cool completely before cutting into squares. Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream 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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I made this today and only baked it for 50 minutes in a glass 9×13 pan and the crust looks way browner than yours, almost burnt. The center was still giggly. I haven’t tried it yet because I made it for tomorrow. Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen?
What kind of pan did you use? And what sweetener?
My family likes this better than regular pumpkin pie! Delicious!
This recipe looks AMAZING! I have a couple of questions…In the cake and pumpkin filling ingredients, the butter amount is listed as 1 cup 1/2 stick butter. Is that 1 cup plus another 1/2 cup butter? Also, could I brown the butter at all? I cannot wait to give this recipe a try! Thanks in advance! 🙂
Could you pls help me figure out how to make the crust without Almond flour? Could I substitute coconut flour instead?
No to the coconut flour, but you can try sunflower seed flour. But you will need to add some lemon juice to offset the green reaction.
These are so delicious! I froze most of them and they thaw beautifully and taste so fresh! Will definitely add this to my regular rotation! Thanks for another delicious recipe.
What if I only have a 9 x 9 inch glass pan? Will it just come out thicker? Do I cook it longer?
WOW, so GOOD! I didn’t expect this pumpkin Gooey Cake to taste this yummy! Quick and easy preparation. A Keeper!
I’m really looking forward to making this today. it’s a bit chilly out today so it’s a perfect baking day. My question is if I don’t have unsalted butter available, can I use salted butter and reduce the amount of salt I use?
Absolutely!
I make this a lot it’s wonderful!
Thanks!
Hi Carolyn.. How could I make this for someone that has a nut allergy?
thanks, Dawn
You can try sunflower seed flour.
As usual, another amazing recipe! This was easy to make and absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Disregard my question, just saw it is based on 15 servings!
Oops, disregard my answer, I saw this after!
So I scrolled through all the comments and didnt see anyone asking this so I willll, BTW this is delicious! But re: the nutritional info, was this based on the pan cut into 12 or 18 bars?
Love your website and recipes! Thank you!
So right above where I listed the nutritional info, it says “serves 15”.
Excellent!!!!
Well, we are getting ready to make this for the third time! My hubby and I are both Keto and this has been our have a piece every night and enjoy the season dessert, and we have not had to feel bad indulging. Delicious recipe Carolyn, thank you for all you do! Your recipes are always the best.
Thank you! You know, I froze half of one when I was testing this recipe and turns out it freezes and defrosts nicely! We are finishing up the last of it over the weekend.
I came to comments to find out if these were freezable. This answers my question – thank you! ????
This was delicious!