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
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/3 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup water
Frosting:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 3/4 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 1/2 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
Nutrition
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This is such a good cake! I could not stop eating it. I wanted to try the peanut butter version, too, but the link is broken.
Yes thanks for the heads up. Something is seriously amiss, it was fine a few days ago. Working on getting it fixed… hope it’s easy to recover.
I love that you made this traditional cake low carb! The frosting on this cake is amazing!!!
One of my favorite low carb desserts that DOESN’T taste low carb!! I make this all the time!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to make it!
Might be the best sheetcake ever ever ever!
Loving this low-carb version of one of my favorite cakes! So delicious!
Made this, in 2-8×8 cake pans. Was so incredible. I sprinkled a lil granulated xylitol on top for that gritty frosting I like in Zoes Kitchen Chocolate sheet cake. Thank you for this recipe. So so so good!!!
Super easy to put together. Delicious, moist and tender. Used dark chocolate cocoa for even more chocolaty goodness!
I love sheet cake, and this one is perfect!
I love that you made such a favorite dessert low carb. And it looks killer!
I have xylitol, erythritol, splenda, and stevia individual packets, but not Swerve. What should I use for a chocolate sheet cake. The first one I made was bitter. I think? I used Splenda and maybe some stevia. Thank you for the suggestions.
Use erythritol. Splenda and stevia would make it very bitter.
Oh I LOVE Texas sheet cake!!
Those crunchy nuts on top are perfect!
As I’m sitting here trying to figure out what we are having for dinner, I’m reading this and my stomach is growling! Can’t wait to have a slice!
Should I use Dutch processed or natural cocoa? Thanks, I can’t wait to make this!
It should work with either.
Thanks for another great recipe. We have made this twice exactly as written. It came out great both times! Even carb eaters like it. The only negative comment I’ve received was from someone who loved the flavor, but not the texture of the almond flour.
When I make this for my family, I have to freeze the left overs right away or they’ll disappear 🙂
Is there a vanilla version? I am a California native and grew up on white sheet cake and white icing. Could I use a regular vanilla cake/icing? Fond memories… I am a white cake, white icing girl…lol Even, vanilla is my favorite ice cream… The chocolate looks so good… but if there is no alternative for vanilla. I love your recipes and your blog!
This is the worst cake I have ever made. Now I am afraid to try any new recipes. The Kentucky Butter cake was a hit. I also likeed the texture and softness of the Jalapeno corn bread, but this was very dry. I have re-read the ingredients several times and I followed the recipe. For sweetener I used 2/3 cups of Splenda and 2 packets of Swerve. The taste is bitter and the texture is very grainy and dry. I normally like almond flour and don’t even mind a little of the nut texture. I used Bob’s fine almond flour. Any ideas what happenend???
Mine is not the same as the recommendations made in the other replies. It is a shame to waste good ingredients, but I may throw this one out.
I am pretty sure it’s the Splenda, to be honest. It’s pretty bitter sometimes in chocolate flavored recipes. And it can leave baked goods dry as well. I detest the stuff, personally. And since, as you can see, the majority of the comments here indicate this cake was good, I have to pinpoint the substitution.
Thank you, Carolyn. I really appreciate your input. I know that Splenda can have a bitter taste sometimes, but it has worked well in the previous baked goods I have made, so this surprised me. I used Splenda in the Kentucky Butter cake and it worked well. I am puzzled about why it has worked in everything else I made, but not this. I guess I need to order some Swerve. I can’t find any in San Antonio. I am still puzzled by the various sweeteners. There are so many different comments about each one pro and con and how it is personal preference. Thank you so much for all you have done for us lo-carbers! I am a newbie at this stuff as you can tell.
Chocolate may be reacting with the Splenda (this happens to me for stevia too). Also…the Kentucky Butter Cake has a very high butter/oil content, much more so than this. So that may offset any funny taste.
I’ll keep that in mind for the next one, thanks!
Thanks!