Dirt cake is a fun no bake dessert made with a combination of cookies, pudding, and other sweet ingredients. This 3 layer keto dirt cake recipe will blow your mind! Crumbly grain-free chocolate crust with layers of creamy sugar-free peanut butter and chocolate filling. So decadent.
Dirt cake: not a very attractive name for a dessert, is 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 but a delicious, creamy, no bake dessert only made to look as if it contains dirt. Which surely appeals to the kid in all of us.
Dirt Desserts
I’d never actually heard of them until relatively recently, perhaps because of my “north of the border” upbringing. But I have to admit, they look ridiculously good. Who can argue with crushed chocolate cookies and pudding? Not me, that’s for certain. Dirt dessert recipes come in all shapes and varieties. Like this adorable Dirt Pudding from NeighborFood.
It’s not always about chocolate dirt cake, although because of the dirt-like appearance, chocolate’s the most popular flavor and cake is the most popular form. Some people prefer to make single-serving flower pot dirt cups, while others go a step up, into the land of dirt poke cake recipes. And if they are exceptionally gifted in the dessert making department, they make dirt ice cream brownies!
A reader recently reached out over Facebook to request one because her mother always made them on her birthday. And she linked to a delightful one with a peanut butter layer too on The Cookin” Chicks.
Wait, what? Chocolate cookies, peanut butter AND chocolate pudding? Well that just jumped to the head of the to-make list! Of course, I wasn’t about to make it with the Oreos or packaged pudding that conventional dirt cakes contain.
But a quick look at the ingredients let me know it really wouldn’t be tough to de-carb, in the end. I just had to make all the layers from scratch. A bit more work, perhaps, but definitely worth it.
How to Make Low Carb Dirt Cake
When converting her recipe into a low carb dirt cake recipe, I tried to adhere to the spirit of the original peanut butter chocolate dirt cake recipe as much as possible, including making it a no-bake treat. Summer is coming and we should all be able to enjoy some deliciousness without turning our kitchens into a furnace.
So the crust requires no baking, just some firm pressing into the bottom of the pan, and it holds together beautifully. The only part of the dirt cake that gets cooked here is the chocolate pudding, but that’s right on the stove top and doesn’t take more than about 10 minutes. Then the whole thing gets popped in the fridge to set.
I made mine in a springform pan because I figured being able to release the sides would allow for easier serving. But you could also make this in a square pan or even a trifle bowl, and serve in big scoopfuls.
You could even do individual servings in little plastic flower pots for a fun kid-friendly dessert. Dirt desserts don’t get more fun than that, right?
- 1 1/4 cup almond flour Honeyville
- 5 tbsp cocoa powder
- 5 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 3 1/2 tbsp tbsp butter melted
- 3/4 cup whipping cream divided
- 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 3 tbsp butter in 3 pieces
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, and sweetener. Add melted butter and stir until well combined.
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Remove about 1/4 cup of crust mixture and set aside.
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Press remaining crust firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
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In a large bowl, whip 1/2 cup of the whipping cream with the stevia extract until it holds stiff peaks.
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In another large bowl, beat cream cheese with powdered sweetener until smooth. Beat in peanut butter and remaining whipping cream until well combined.
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Gently fold in whipped cream until combined.
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Spread peanut butter mixture carefully over crust. Refrigerate while preparing pudding layer.
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In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine almond milk, whipping cream and sweetener. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sweetener.
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In a bowl, whisk egg yolks until smooth. Slowly whisk about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolks to temper. Then slowly whisk tempered yolks back into saucepan.
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Reduce heat to medium low and sprinkle surface with xanthan gum, whisking vigorously to combine. Whisk in cocoa powder and cook until thickened, about 3 or 4 minutes.
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Remove from heat and stir in chopped chopped chocolate and butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
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Let cool about 15 minutes and then spread evenly over peanut butter layer. Sprinkle with reserved crust ingredients.
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Refrigerate until 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.
Serves 16. Each serving has 8 g of carbs and 3 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 5 g.
335 Calories; 32g Fat (81.8% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 115mg Cholesterol; 162mg Sodium.
