This low carb chocolate chip coffee cake is baked in a skillet for unbelievably great flavor and texture. The edges get slightly crispy while the center stays deliciously moist.
What is it about coffee cake that is so delightfully comforting? Is it the crumbly, cinnamon scented topping? Is it the remembrance of a simpler time when friends and neighbours dropped by for a daily chat? Or is the fact that you can get to eat cake with your morning coffee and no one looks at you strangely? A big slice of a multi-layered cake with frosting for breakfast might have some people judging you rather harshly. But if it’s coffee cake, it’s somehow more socially acceptable. No one is going to give you the hairy eyeball or question your dietary choices, or if they do, you can simply shrug and say “But it’s coffee cake”. Then their brow will un-furrow, a smile of understanding will come to their faces and they will nod knowingly. But be careful, because their eyes might light up and they might just ask you for a piece. Coffee cake is so universally loved and so acceptable at any time of day that if you’re going to eat it in a public place, you’d better bring enough to share.
Add some chocolate chips to your coffee cake and you are in for it. You will be swarmed by your coworkers, your neighbours and the random stranger on the street, all sidling up to you, smiling, nodding, hoping for just a little piece of the warm, comforting, cinnamon scented, chocolate chip goodness. And then if you happen to tell them it was baked in a skillet, you will blow their coffee-cake loving minds!
Because things baked in a skillet are cool. Particularly things baked in a cast iron skillet. Once the old-fashioned, out of date cookware rusting quietly in your grandparents’ basement, cast iron has made a huge comeback. You simply can’t be a foodie if you don’t own at least one cast iron skillet. They’re incredibly durable, eco-friendly, and they conduct heat really well. They also leach a little additional iron into your food, so if you are a slightly anemic female (as most females are), they can boost your iron intake. But the best reason to use cast iron is because it’s cool. I mean, isn’t that the best reason to use anything? And it looks great in pictures, all moody and dark. Like the tattooed musician boyfriend you had in college. The one that made your parents breathe a huge sigh of relief when you broke up.
So coffee cake, that mild-mannered unassuming baked good that everyone loves suddenly becomes much cooler when it’s baked in a cast iron skillet. It becomes extra delicious too, because the sides get all wonderfully crispy while the center stays moist and tender. But don’t fret if you don’t own a cast iron skillet, as it would be just as tasty baked in any oven-proof skillet. You can still hang with the cool kids.
Skillet Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Crumb Topping:
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp butter softened
Cake:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp butter softened
- 1/2 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, sugar-free OR homemade chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together almond flour, sweetener, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
- For the cake, preheat oven to 325F and grease a 10 inch oven-proof skillet (does not need to be cast iron, but it's great if it is!)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, whey protein powder, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla, then beat in half the almond flour mixture. Beat in almond milk and remaining almond flour until well combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips and spread batter in prepared skillet. Bake 25 minutes, then remove from oven and sprinkle with topping. Return to oven and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until sides are beginning to brown and center is just firm to the touch.
- Remove and let cool at least 20 minutes before serving (cake will fall apart easily if you remove it while it's still very warm).
Notes
Saturated fatty acids: 8.54g
Total fat: 24.56g
Calories from fat: 220
Cholesterol: 59mg
Carbohydrate: 7.79g
Total dietary fiber: 3.68g
Protein: 9.03g
Sodium: 193mg
Nutrition
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