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?
Low Carb Chocolate Peanut Butter Dirt Cake
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour Honeyville
- 5 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 5 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 3 ½ tablespoon tbsp butter melted
Peanut Butter Layer:
- ¾ cup whipping cream divided
- ¼ teaspoon liquid stevia extract
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
Chocolate Pudding Layer:
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 4 egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 3 tablespoon butter in 3 pieces
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, and sweetener. Add melted butter and stir until well combined.
- Remove about ¼ cup of crust mixture and set aside.
- Press remaining crust firmly and evenly into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
Peanut Butter Layer:
- In a large bowl, whip ½ cup of the whipping cream with the stevia extract until it holds stiff peaks.
- In another large bowl, beat cream cheese with powdered sweetener until smooth. Beat in peanut butter and remaining whipping cream until well combined.
- Gently fold in whipped cream until combined.
- Spread peanut butter mixture carefully over crust. Refrigerate while preparing pudding layer.
Chocolate Pudding Layer:
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine almond milk, whipping cream and sweetener. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sweetener.
- In a bowl, whisk egg yolks until smooth. Slowly whisk about ½ cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolks to temper. Then slowly whisk tempered yolks back into saucepan.
- 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.
- Remove from heat and stir in chopped chopped chocolate and butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Let cool about 15 minutes and then spread evenly over peanut butter layer. Sprinkle with reserved crust ingredients.
- 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.
Notes
Amy @ Amy's Healthy Baking says
Oh my, where was this the night of the Swerve party?? I would’ve eaten half the cake by myself — for sure! So much chocolaty and peanut buttery goodness… Pure heaven. 🙂
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
This is one of my favorite of yours! So much goodness going on over here. 🙂
I love how you take reader requests! I’ve asked for requests several times and nobody says a peep. Haha. I guess I need to try harder at the whole FB thing.
Glo says
hands-down the yummiest low-carb dessert I’ve ever eaten! I’ve made it twice!
The ingredients list shows “Swerve Sweetener” for the peanut butter layer but the instructions say “powdered sweetener”. I didn’t catch that bit the first time around and used standard granulated Swerve. Made the peanut butter layer kind of grainy. My mistake!
Is it possible to freeze this successfully? I’m the only one in my house eating low carb and I hate to waste any of this delicious dessert but I don’t need to eat it all at once 😀
Thanks for all your awesome recipes!
Carolyn says
I am not sure it will freeze all that well, but it’s worth a try if you’re okay with the texture changing a bit when it thaws.
Kelly says
Did you happen to freeze yours? How did it turn out. I just made this and want to freeze it, don’t won’t to eat it all at one time. Ha ha
Carolyn says
I don’t think this will freeze very well, to be honest. The consistency will change…but it’s worth a try!
Glo says
I haven’t tried freezing it yet – but I definitely plan on making this again. If you freeze it, let me know how it turns out!
Kelly says
Just wanted to say this was delicious thank-you for the recipe.
Elizabeth O'Keefe says
This freezes very well, just let it thaw for a good bit before eating it. Just as delicious as the day I made it!
Carolyn says
So good to know!
Sheridan says
This is delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Lynn says
I have a strong allergy to artificial sweeteners. Would the amount of sweetener be the same with sugar with this recipe?
Carolyn says
Yes, that would be fine. Just to be clear, erythritol is not in any way artificial, but if you want to use regular sugar, the amounts would be the same.
Rachel says
Maybe coconut sugar?
Andy says
This looks delightful and simple! One question: I don’t like peanut butter or peanut at all, so any suggestions on changing that middle layer? Is there a way to make it a white chocolate layer perhaps? I can’t think of anything else that might work.
Carolyn says
How about almond butter or another nut butter? I haven’t tested anything with white chocolate so I can’t give advice there.
Melanie says
One idea might be to either make a white layer by leaving out the peanut butter and by using vanilla extract (or maybe almond extract or maybe peppermint extract?). I’ve made a low-carb pie filling that is 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, whipped, plus 8 oz of cream cheese (softened). It probably wouldn’t be as stiff as this filling without the peanut butter, but it is possible to make a creamy mousse with cream cheese and heavy cream, plus the sweeteners. Like I said, you’d probably need about a cup of cream, and maybe you’d want to add more cream cheese to compensate for the lack of peanut butter?
GS says
What!? Now I can’t decide whether to make a grasshopper mint pie or peanut butter.
Tina Spoon says
When you use swerve are you using the regular swerve or the confectioners?
Carolyn says
If I say “powdered”, I am referring to the confectioners. Otherwise, it’s just the regular granulated.
Annemarie says
I am making this now and just wanted to mention, you say powedered Swerve in the instructions, but do not call it out in the Peanut Butter layer ingredients list. Not sure if you want to go back and correct that. 😀 Luckily I just found that they are selling it in Whole Foods so I just bought a bag of it instead of cheating and processing regular in a coffee grinder to make it finer LOL 😀
Jessica says
I cannot believe how incredible this looks – I’ll definitely be giving this a go! Thanks for bringing so many brilliant recipes to us! ♥
Carolyn says
Thanks, Jessica!
Monika says
I just made this cake. It tastes divine. The proportions of the ingredients are right. I had to make a few adjustments, however, because I am allergic to peanuts. I used almond butter instead. This cake is really delicious and wonderful sugar-gree, gluten free alternative to those sinful frozen whipped pies made from hydrogenated oils you can buy at your local grocery store. It’s very satisfying too because it’s quite filling. I am saving this recipe! 🙂
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it! And almond butter would be a great alternative.
Jennifer Stohr says
Yum! I am going to have to make this dairy free! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
I’ve never had dirt cake with a peanut butter layer. Which now means I have been missing out!
Melissa says
The peanut butter is added for your protein so we can call this recipe breakfast, lunch or supper..ha ! It looks wonderful!
tee says
I’d forgotten about this pie. It was a go-to when I was teaching at a girl’s school – the 9th graders had an all-class birthday party, and they were still young enough to think this – with the gummi worms – was AWESOMELY disgusting. Good times.
To make this one truly no-bake, I might even try that “instant” chocolate pudding with chia, just grinding it finely in a coffee grinder so there’s no “crunch” in that layer of dirt…
Carolyn says
The chia pudding sounds like a great idea!
Susan Pelter says
I am SO making this! It looks fantastic! And I bet it could be easily turned into a mocha dirt cake for the choco-coffee-holics among us (my DH comes to mind). One of the many great things about your recipes is their flexibility!
Leslie says
This looks fabulous! Just a couple questions…
Do you prepare the pan first? Also, is there a brand of the liquid stevia that you like best?
Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
crazywoman/Billie says
I wondered about the liquid stevia too. Different brands/types have different sweetness equivalencies. So I’m as interested in knowing the equivalency as the brand.
Olivia Ericson says
Looks Fantastic! I’ll be making this soon. You and IBIH are my favorite places to go for recipes! Thank you for all your hard work. Have you tried to make a lc gf angel food cake?
Carolyn says
Melissa does make great recipes too! Love her. And no, have not yet tried angel food cake…might be good for the summer!
Becca from ItsYummi! says
Oh my WORD, this looks good, Carolyn!
Carolyn says
Thanks, hon. It was amazing!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
I have never had dirt cake but that must change. This looks so delicious and those are some beautiful layers.
Sarah G says
The first time I saw a dirt cake was when my older cousin brought a big pot with artificial flowers in it to a party when I was very young. The “dirt” had gummi worms in it. Then at one point she started scooping out the dirt and eating it! I was so grossed out! LOL!
I had some though and it was incredibly good! I can’t wait to make this, especially for my kids. It looks so amazing!
Carolyn says
It would be fun to serve this in little flower pots too! No gummy worms, though.. 😉
Rachel says
My family has a tradition where they make the dirt cake and put it in flower pots. At Christmas or Thanksgiving, anyone who is new to the family, i.e. married someone in the family, has to “eat dirt.” It is completely ridiculous…but I do love dirt cake.
Sarah G says
Hilarious!
Laura says
You could make lemon pucker gummies if you just had a worm candy mold 🙂
Carol Sanders-Sheehan says
You can make “worms” by using a bunch of bendy straw packed into a glass. Google the exact process so they don’t run out the bottom of the straw. I’m not sure if they are wrapped in plastic wrap on the bottom or if the home-made jello is allowed to thicken a bit first. They look like earth worms! Kinda cool!
Ericha M Londos-Cook says
Why not? There are sugar free gummy worms
Christine says
I am definitely making this for my son’s birthday which happens to be today. But, I am also thinking that I might double that pudding recipe and try making “pudding pops” for the freezer.
Carolyn says
Pudding pops sound good too!
charlotte says
I am DEFINETLY making this soon- probably for my mom, i think that she’ll like it