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
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Can you use all coconut flour. I have a family member who is allergic to almonds.
Thank you.
Not in this recipe, no. But you could use sunflower seed flour in place of the almond.
So good. I would Love a keto White Texas sheet cake version. that was my favorite growing up in Texas! It has an almond flavor.
I will think about that!
Oh, Carolyn! You have done it again!!! This recipe is wonderful. The only thing I saw missing from this one that most of your other recipes had was the choice to use US or metric measurements. I had a wise woman tell me that measuring ingredients when baking keto/low carb was much more accurate. :o)
This cake was amazing. Brought back childhood memories and neither of us could tell the difference from the original. Thank you for making low carb easy peasy.
I’ve wanted to try this for a long time! It’s just me and my husband so I halved tbe recipe. I usually don’t love almond flour based recipes, but this was amazing!! I used allulose for sweeter and added 1/2 tsp of espresso powder to the cake and frosting. I poked holes in the cake before I poured frosting over it. So moist and chocolaty and perfect!! Thanks Carolyn!
Glad to hear it!
What size pan did you use please, when you halved the recipe?
Very tasty….thank you for the easy recipe!
This is amazing! I made it last night and my husband loved it! (He’s sugar free skiddish) You can’t tell this is sugar free! It taste GREAT! Thankyou for taking the time to give us GREAT recipes!
I cannot wait to try this. I’m a Texas gal and grew up eating Texas sheet cake. We all thought our mother invented the recipe. Lol
She always puts a teaspoon of cinnamon in hers and I do too. I’m so excited to see a keto version of my favorite chocolate cake. My dad, sister, brother are all diabetic and I have a great nephew is allergic to gluten. This will work for everyone.
Thanks so much for the recipe.
OMG I am a Texas girl living. Healthy now in Portland, OR. I added a packet of instant coffee to cake and to icing! OMG thank you for this recipe… Susan
THIS IS AMAZING!!!! From this Texas gal and her picky kids! My son says it tastes just like the original! Thanks soooo much!
So glad to hear it!
could you use whey isolate instead of unflavoured protein powder?
Yes, that works.
Hi there, my old original recipe calls for sour cream and I love how it makes the cake moist and gives it a great flavor. Do you think I could use sour cream instead of the heavy cream and water? Thank you in advance and I love all of your recipes!!
You can certainly try! I would see how thick it is and add a bit of water if the batter is quite thick.
Thank you for responding. I’m going to try this soon!!
Can I just tell you how much I love you?!!? Texas sheet cake was always my ‘go to’ thing to bring to family pot lucks. Since going keto I have been struggling to find THE DESSERT recipe that I could share with both keto and non-keto family and friends. THIS IS AMAZING!!! I can’t believe how easy it is to make and how AWESOME it tastes. I had trouble convincing some people it was low carb. Now I won’t be able to show up for any family function without this cake. Thank you = )
YAY!!!
Hello please can you confirm that it is 1 tablespoon of baking powder. Only looks like a teaspoon in the video??
Only made something recently that said tbsp which I took be tablespoon and erupted in the oven, such a mess????
Love all your recipes now have such a stack of ones on file to work my way through❤️
It is one full tablespoon… in the video and in the recipe.
In some of the comments regarding what to use if you don’t have unflavored whey protein, i am a little confused.
Please clarify all proper choices in order you would choose: egg protein, chocolate whey protein, chocolate protein powder, vanilla whey protein, vanilla protein powder, plant based protein powder vanilla or chocolate. Bottom line need to understand if all protein powders are the same when baking.
Love your videos, all inspiring me to take chances to become a better Ketogenic living human!
Why worry about all the comments and let yourself be confused? Tell me what you have and I can guide you.
I have Strawberry Whey Protein Powder (2carbs/25.6g), Vanilla Plant Based Protein Powder (8carbs/34g), and Chocolate Plant Based Protein Powder (7carbs/23g). Would like to know if whey is preferred when baking goal is low carb or is it preferred because it creates better texture for end product.
Chocolate would probably be best in this recipe. They are all going to be just fine, though.
Thanks Carolyn,
Texas sheet cake was a hit for my insulin dependent husband’s birthday this year.
It makes his week to be able to enjoy cake without the quilt/fear of insulin spikes.
life has changed for him! We both have enjoyed your other low carb desserts cakes:
Italian Cream Cake, Kentucky Butter Cake, Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffins
Thanks!
The cake is delicious and the frosting set up beautifully. However, even though I used powdered swerve, the frosting has some grittiness to the texture. I simmered and whisked the frosting but did not bring it to a boil. Do you think perhaps I should have increased the heat or something?
The glaze is supposed to boil so that may be part of it.