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
Shannon says
Hello! Planning on making this for Thanksgiving for my husband who is a Type 1 Diabetic; because I’d like to use things I have on hand, I noticed that gelatin can be substituted for the xanthan gum as can ground flax and chia. Do you recommend one over the others? I have all 3… grass-fed gelatin, and ground flax as well as chia I can grind. If I do sub with one of those, do I need to mix them with water first or just add to other ingredients? And if I do need to add to water, how much water? Just a smidge to create a gel as if I was making a flax/ chia egg?
Carolyn says
I would definitely not do the chia or flax. For grassfed gelatin, I would do about 1 1/2 teaspoons and I would mix it with a few tbsp of water before adding. Then whisk it in at the time you would whisk in the xanthan and make sure to whisk very well.
Lucy says
hello! can you use other brands of Erythritol or do you need to use Swerve in particular (because of the oligosaccharides)? thanks in advance
Carolyn says
Other brands should work.
carolyn Ray says
How many carbs per slice of cake
Carolyn says
All of the nutritional info is right at the bottom of the recipe.
amber says
can replace the almond stuff to coconut flour and milk .. well due i have allegies to tree nuts.. .. yep all tree nuts like almonds, walnuts.. any nuts i cannot eat at all.. but any tip can replace those almonds?
thank you so much <3
Carolyn says
Sunflower seed flour.
Melanie says
Just a quick comment–in the list of ingredients for the Peanut Butter layer it just calls for ‘Swerve Sweetener.’ But in the instructions for the pb layer, it says powdered sweetener. Just thought you might want to change the ingredient list for that layer to specify that it is powdered/confectioner’s for that layer and not granulated. I made this for Easter (along with your lemon cream cake) and both were hits!
Amy says
I really want to try this but I think 16 servings is too many for a first try for a new LCHF and a learning Cook. I want to half the recipe and put it individual or 2 serving containers so I can freeze some if my Smalls are not crazy about it. With a big cake I would be a mess trying to keep myself from eating it all. Could I successfully do this in cupcake tins or do you have a better idea for portioning?
Carolyn says
Cupcake tins would be fine but line them with parchment paper liners so the filling doesn’t stick to the pan.
Ali says
This is just divine. Every layer is delicious on its own, but put together? Perfection. I’m also really happy that a serving is truly satisfying. This one is one to savor, especially with a good cup of dark roast coffee. Thank you so much!
Tina says
This looks awesome. DEF going to make it. I have a baking blend that I’ve made. Could I use it instead of just almond flour? I guess I’d have to play with the ratio of wet ingredients to dry. Any suggestions?
Carolyn says
Without knowing what’s in your baking blend, I can’t really help too much!
Tina says
It’s similar to the trim healthy mama brand. If I were to use that product, would you know the substitution ratio? (I think I’ve read in your blog of you using that brand?)
Carolyn says
I have used it…not often but yes, I’ve used it. So I think for this recipe, use the same amount but then use a bit more melted butter because it’s drier than almond flour.
Jenna says
I made this for Christmas dinner, after a fantastic low carb barbecue meal. Everyone was amazed that something so delicious and creamy (really, the textures in this dessert are incredible) could be low carb. The peanut butter flavour came through beautifully and the cacao (subbed for cocoa) layer was not too sweet or strong, but a perfect balance. To top (and bottom) it off, the dirt crumbs had a lovely slight crunch to offset the smooth creaminess of the top layers. My guests scored it a hearty 10/10 and I wouldn’t hesitate to make it again! Yum!!
Paula says
My daughter made this for my 70th Birthday party. It was so delicious I almost cried! All the other guests at the party couldn’t believe it was sugar free and low carb. It is very rich and a little goes a long way. This will make everyone very happy!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Paula…and happy Belated Birthday!
Kelly Sakal says
For the liquid stevia, do you still use NuNaturals since the formula change?
Carolyn says
Yes.
Kiki says
Not sure if you are still responding to this post but I’ve seen many of your dessert recipes calling for liquid stevia extract. What exactly does this do for the recipe that it’s needed in addition to sugar/sweetener? And is it possible to just dissolve stevia in some water as a substitute?
Carolyn says
I just use it because it’s easier. If you have the powdered kind, you can sub that but it’s typically stronger so you don’t want as much. Maybe half the amount of the liquid version.
Kiki says
Great, thanks for answering so quickly! Can’t wait to try this!
Sheri says
Made this for a coworkers birthday the end of May and it was fantastic! Everyone loved it. The birthday girl took the remainder (we didn’t leave much) home to her little kiddies and they gobbled it up.
I was surprised at how quickly it goes together and will be making this again, starting with this July 4th weekend. It should be a perfect ending to a day of grilling. Thank you for the recipe Carolyn!
Patti says
I love this pie and so did my husband and granddaughter. It really is wonderful as written. The recipe looks complicated but it really is very easy.
I tried to calculate the carbs and fat to input in my fitness pal. I came up with a much higher carb count than you. I didn’t substitute anything but by my calculations the carbs are 8% not 8 which means there are 24 per slice minus the 3 grams of fiber. Did I miss calculate something? I had eaten this as an S on THM but it looks like it should be a crossover.
Carolyn says
Nope, it’s that you are counting in the carbs from erythritol. They should be discounted, on THM. I don’t even bother adding them into my carb count because they have little to no effect on blood sugar.
Patti says
Oh! Sorry I didn’t realize that they don’t count. Thank you! We really do love it. My husband just had his third piece today and said “I can’t believe that this is healthy!”
Carolyn says
No worries! It’s a pretty common mistake and if not for my glucose meter, I would hardly believe it myself. But I test often and things with erythritol just don’t move the needle on my blood sugar.
Gina says
I am a totally inexperienced with gluten-free/low-carb ingredients… I need to make a low-carb dessert & was wondering if it is possible to use gelatine instead of xanthan or guar gum to set the chocolate layer..? I don’t think I would be able to find either of those where I live but gelatine would be easy to get.
Carolyn says
Yes, you can do that although it may have a slightly more jelly like consistency. Someone else said they did it.
Amy says
Hubby and I made this tonight. We made a couple of subs because we were missing some ingredients (gelatin instead of xantham gum, chocolate unsweetened almond milk instead of plain). SO delicious! I am going to make a pie for the 4th of July out of the crust and PB later with ganache drizzled over. Can’t wait! Thank you so much!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Joanna says
Dirt Cake, in the words of my family, is the “Bomb Diggity”! However, THIS version with peanut butter? Holy Cow, I MUST try!! I wonder, though, how I would replace the stevia, sweetener and xanthan gum? Can you advise me?
Thanks!
Dee Gee says
We loved the cake the first time. planning on making it again for Easter. Thanks so much for all your hard work.
Mindy says
My second time making this because I’m literally addicted!! The custard is so luscious and creamy not like anything I’ve had in a while. The peanut butter is a completely different texture, more solid (but light because of the whipped cream) so it pairs perfectly with the custard. Then the crust…the only thing that comes to mind it Oreo. Just awesome.
Jen says
I am wondering if I can leave out the Xanthum Gum. I’ve got everything else but that. ??
Carolyn says
Your pudding layer could end up pretty thin and runny. Do you have any gelatin? If so, mix about 1 tsp (if it’s the grassfed gelatin in a can…if it’s Knox in envelopes, use only half a packet) with some water, then mix into the warm pudding. It might gel a little too much but at least you won’t have a runny layer of pudding that goes everywhere when you take the sides of the pan off.
charlotte says
do you think i could use store bought pudding? at what point would i pour it on the cake?
Carolyn says
I think you would pour it on right after you’d made the pudding, and then make sure to let it set properly.