You’re going to love this low carb Texas Sheet Cake recipe. This delicious keto chocolate cake stays true to the original, with a boiled cocoa frosting. You won’t believe it’s sugar-free! Now with an instructional video.
The creation of this Texas sheet cake recipe was a foregone conclusion. Pre-ordained. Written in the stars. Fate, destiny, kismet. It was an absolute inevitability.
From the moment I published my low carb Peanut Butter Sheet Cake, I had readers requesting one of the traditional chocolate variety. Texas sheet cake seems to speak to something deep within the collective American psyche. And I got requests from all over the country, so it’s not as geographically limited as the name might suggest.
It’s a well loved American classic and I simply can’t argue with that. So you know I had to give it a go!
How To Make Keto Texas Sheet Cake
However, it’s hard to stay true to a classic when working with a completely different set of ingredients. Almond flour is not the same as wheat flour and my low carb sweeteners are not the same as sugar.
But this non-Texan, non-American resident alien did her best. I researched Texas sheet cake recipes for several days before even attempting to de-carbify this iconic dessert.
See, with the peanut butter version, I was straying far enough from the original concept to just do what I wanted with it, tradition be damned. Basically, it was a delicious grain-free peanut butter cake with a delicious sugar-free peanut butter frosting.
But if I was going to attempt a real Texas sheet cake recipe, I wanted it to be as close to the original as possible, and yet still without gluten or sugar. Tricky, that! I could easily have just relied on any one of my low carb chocolate cake recipes and then simply spread it with chocolate frosting, sprinkled it with pecans, and called it done.
Instead, I tried to take some main tenets from the traditional recipes and apply them to my low carb ingredients. Such as bringing the butter, water, and cocoa powder to a boil before adding it to the flour mixture for the cake, an unusual step that I had never done in any other cake recipes.
And also to stay true to the original, I poured the warm frosting over the warm cake, instead of letting it cool as I would any other cake. This makes something of a marriage between the frosting and the cake so that the cake is extra moist.
Again, not something I would do with any other cake recipe. But it worked beautifully.
The final result? Oh, kids, do you even need to ask? From Anchorage to Miami and everywhere in between, low carb dieters can now enjoy real Texas sheet cake. Maybe even some of my fellow Canucks will give it a go!
Tips for making Low Carb Texas Sheet Cake
Grease the pan well: And then do yourself a favor and grease it again. This is what I call double greasing and it helps my low carb cake recipes release more easily. I do a solid fat first, like butter, really working it into the creases. Then I spray with coconut oil or avocado oil spray.
Use a rimmed baking pan: Sheet pans or jelly roll pans come in various sizes. The one I used for this Texas sheet cake recipe is 10×15, which is a slightly unusual size. It’s okay to use an 11×17 pan too, but your cake will be thinner and will bake a little faster.
Protein powder: yes, it’s necessary. No, you can’t skip it. It’s part of what helps the cake rise and hold its shape. However, you can use egg white protein or hemp protein. Please do not try collagen, it will make the cake very gummy.
Pour the glaze over the cake while it’s hot! This is part of the charm of Texas Sheet Cake, the way the cake and glaze come together and are almost melted into each other. You can let the cake cool a bit but the glaze needs to be quite warm as you pour it over.
Let it cool to room temp: You don’t need to refrigerate the cake, just let it cool and the frosting will set.
Have some friends over and enjoy!
More Keto Sheet Cake Recipes
There’s also a fabulous Tiramisu Sheet Cake in my best-selling Easy Keto Desserts Cookbook!
Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 cups almond flour
- ¾ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ⅓ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup water
Frosting:
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¾ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 10x15 inch rimmed sheet pan very well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Break up any clumps with the back of a fork.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, water, and cocoa powder, stirring until melted. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Add to the bowl.
- Add eggs, vanilla extract, cream and water and stir until well combined. Spread in prepared baking pan.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until cake is set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Frosting:
- In another medium saucepan, combine butter, cocoa powder, cream, and water. Bring to a simmer, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add powdered sweetener ½ a cup at a time, whisking vigorously to dissolve any clumps. Whisk in xanthan gum.
- Pour over warm cake and sprinkle with pecans. Let cool until frosting is set, about 1 hour.
Video
Notes
Gerri Dames says
I made this yesterday and it came out as good as it looked online. I did substitute Monk fruit sweetener in the cake, not the frosting. I also substituted chick pea flower instead of coconut flour because my daughter-in-law is allergic. There is a question in the recipe. You note a 1/2 cup water and a 1/4 water in the cake recipe. I choose the 1/2 water to add to the butter mixture and the 1/4 cup to the last part. This is the first time I have made a low carb cake vs. cookies. My husband LOVED them but was suspicious about Monk fruit sweetener so he googled it. I took a picture but I don’t see a place to upload it.
Thank you for your great recipes. I’m not diabetic (yet) but I like to think that eating right will put it off for a while. My son & daughter-in-law are diabetic and it helps them too.
I cut them into squares and put them layered with wax paper in the freezer.
Carolyn says
Sounds like you did it correctly! 🙂
Nikki Griffin says
I am a RANK beginner at keto baking. I put off and put off trying this. When i finally got the courage to start, I was really upset when Google put an ad right in the middle of the recipe text. I figured I could work around it, since most cake recipes put all the dry ingredients together. When I went to Bing, I found out I was wrong, and too late, I’d already put the coco powder in, so I just melted the butter in the water. I’ve had both my almond flour (in the freezer) and coconut flour (not), for a good while, and my final batter looked more like a stiff bread dough than cake batter, so I added water in increments until it was more malleable. I found something of an aftertaste, so added more regular Splenda to taste. I used a large aluminum cake pan. I noticed in the pix it was pretty thin, which is what I got. Had trouble with the frosting. No matter how much I stirred, it looked like there was excess butter, so to thicken it up, I put in about 1/2 bar of neuchaftel, blended it, and it came out with a creamy consistency. Pricked the whole cake so some of the remaining butter could soak in. This was my first time, but it tastes goid enough to take to church tomorrow. I do aim to buy monkfruit sweetener in the future. I will try it again and try to do it right.
Nancy Curtis says
I have made this cake before and it came out **perfect,** but this time I used a different sweetener in the frosting (monkfruit and allulose blend) because I was out of powdered Swerve. The frosting soaked right into the cake!! It was super moist, almost undercooked-ish. Could the different sweetener have made this happen? Thank you!
Carolyn says
Yup… it’s the sweetener. If you know it came out perfectly before, then any change you make is the issue.
Desert Libra says
I have made so many of your recipes they truly have helped me stay on my keto lifestyle. And now, I’ve been enjoying your YouTube presentations! However, regarding the Texas sheet cake, can glucomannan be substituted for xanthan gum? And if so, is it equal proportions thank you so much for your dedication and sharing
Carolyn says
I haven’t tried it with glucomannan but it should work. It just helps thicken the glaze.
Roberta says
Thank you for the inclusion of Sugar Alcohols in the notes! Maybe for someone it’s a negligible detail, but for someone who’s struggling with health issues and/or being on keto for therapy and not “just” for weightloss it could be a crucial point to keep in consideration. Unfortunately the majority of foodbloggers ignore this point and it’s difficult to have a complete profile of the ingredients in a recipe: hope you’ll be an example to follow for those who want to became a serious foodblogger 🙂
ChefK says
The recipe is easy to make. I’m out of whey powder, will unsweetened pea protein powder work?
Carolyn says
Should be fine.
Cheryl says
Can this be frozen?
Carolyn says
Absolutely!
Debbie says
I made this today – and WOW!! So much like my mother’s. It’s dangerous, tho, cause I like to eat a bite or two every time I go into the kitchen!
Dawn says
As a Southern girl, I can tell you that it tastes just like the “sugar filled” original! My very picky non keto eating adult children have no idea they are eating a keto dessert when I make this for our family gathering on Sunday. By far one of my favorite recipes!
Carolyn says
I am SO glad to hear that!
Carla R says
This recipe is my family favorite. Picnics, family gatherings, or just because. It’s delicious.
Stephanie DeFoe says
Made this tonight as a Valentine treat and my husband’s birthday is tomorrow. My husband daughter and I loved it ! This is hands down one of the best keto desserts I have ever made ! Thank you so much for sharing!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Lyn says
Do you think I could use an egg substitute for this recipe? If so, any recommendations which kind – flax, chia, etc… My son is allergic to eggs and keto…
Thank you for your help!
Carolyn says
Honestly, I cannot really advise since I don’t bake cakes without eggs. I suspect it will be a bit more dense, albeit tasty.