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
Wendy says
I made this today and it tasted great! My only thing was that my crust didn’t seem as dark as yours in the photo, it was very light brown, not sure why. My other thing is did you make this in a 8” or 9” pan? I made it in a 9” like the instructions said but mine didnt look as thick as yours did in the photo. All the layer looked thin. Thoughts?
It was still great tasting though!
Carolyn says
Well the colour is going to depend on the brand of cocoa powder but mine was just Hershey’s, I think (I haven’t made this recipe in a long time). But yes, I did use a 9 inch pan because that’s what most standard springform pans are.
Jodi says
Made this this weekend. I didn’t have much peanut butter so I used almond butter. It’s so good! I can’t wait to try this again with peanut butter 🙂
Chris says
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!!
Lolly says
This is my favorite keno dessert! It is sooooo good. I leave off the chocolate pudding layer and just call it peanut nutter pie and we love it. Freezes great and keeps me from ever needing to cheat. Thank you so much for creating this recipe. The proportions are perfect!
P.s. Trying your many delicious, free online recipes is what convinced me to buy your cookbooks. 🙂
Carolyn says
Sounds lovely!
Jenny says
Hi I’m about to try this but I have two questions. 1. Is the butter salted or unsalted?
2. Instead of liquid stevia could I use liquid monk fruit sweetener? I’m not sure if they’re equivalent in sweetness.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
Unsalted is fine. I use salted a lot of the time but I have a high tolerance for salt. I am not entirely sure how strong the monk fruit is but I think you probably could sub it.
Holly says
This is one of the best desserts I’ve ever made! It’s so rich and creamy and feels naughtsy! ha ha I LOVE it! Thanks for sharing it!!!
Robin says
I made this today for our anniversary. Oh my word. This is one of the better chocolate peanut buttery desserts. Just yum! I don’t know why I hadn’t made it before, but it will definitely be made again at our house. Thanks!
Chris says
Wondering what kind of peanut butter you use? Natural?
Carolyn says
I use Justin’s creamy.
allison says
Why is it there are no stars to rate this? We think it’s a 5 star cake!!
Francine Shannon says
This was absolutely delicious and the best low-carb dessert Ive made yet! I made this for a dinner party where one of the guests is low-carb and everyone loved it! Even the people who arent low-carb loved it! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe!
Angela says
Hi Carolyn 🙂 This dessert looks delicious! My husband and kids would love this with the combination of peanut butter and chocolate! Do you have a preference of the brand of liquid stevia that you use? I would like to start using more of that in my baking.
Carolyn says
I usually use NuNaturals.
Christi Johnstone says
This looks incredible! You just can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!
Kay says
I saw a similar but high carb recipe on Pinterest recently and I saved it to revamp for keto someday and I was thinking I would use your chocolate pudding recipe for that layer. I knew I’d have to experiment with the “Oreo” layer so I’m glad I found this. I’m excited to try it sometime. Thank you for the recipe!
Brian Trout says
Made this for dinner with some friends today. Mmm, mmm, mmm!!! This is some seriously good stuff! I think my favorite part of it was the peanut butter layer.
I think I needed to pack the “dirt” a little more in the bottom because the “dirt” didn’t hold together so well. Either that, or maybe it could have had a touch more butter. (??)
Regardless, the recipe is a keeper. 🙂 And thanks for helping to expand my limited skills. I had never tempered egg yolks before or made a pudding from scratch. It’s not so hard at all but was a little intimidating before I got in there and got ‘er done.
Thanks, Carolyn! And Happy New Year!
Julie says
Can this be made without the xanthan gum? It really creates issues for me.
Daneille says
Health issues or clumping issues? If it’s clumping, you can mix it into the cocoa powder beforehand. That helps a lot.
THATCarol says
I am so thankful this popped up on my memories of Facebook years past. I completely forgot about this recipe and this is exactly what I need/want. Can’t wait to finally make this.( FYI the link in the recipe for one of the Swerve “sugars” isn’t working. You are missing out on affiliate revenue. ). Thanks so much for answering everyone’s questions too. It really helped me get the answers I needed.
BJ says
Hi. This looks so yummy. I can’t wait to make it. I’ve been told I have a dairy intolerance so what could I substitute the cream cheese with? I’ll use coconut cream instead of regular cream. Also can I replace the butter with coconut oil? I have almond meal. Can that be used instead of almond flour? Thanks.
Carolyn says
Almond meal and coconut oil are fine. If you can find a good almond-based cream cheese, like Kite Hill, you will be all set!
Michele ºÜº says
We made this today for dessert tonight and it was absolutely delicious!!! Amazing! Thank you for sharing this.
Steve Hayden says
I am having trouble finding liquid stevia extract. I can find the powder extrct and I can find liquid stevia. What brand do you use or can I use the powder?
Shelly says
Is it possible to adjust this recipe for 4 servinginstead 16 serving?
Beverly says
Powdered sweetener for the peanut butter layer?or does granulated sweetener work??
Carolyn says
Granular might make it a bit gritty.