This keto lava cake will blow your mind. Gooey warm chocolate cake with a center of molten peanut butter. You won’t believe it’s sugar free and only 4g net carbs per serving!
I am having such fun going back and tweaking old recipes like this one. This keto lava cake has always been one of my favorite desserts.
How can you go wrong with a warm peanut butter center oozing out all over you plate? That’s right, friend, you can’t. You simply can’t go wrong with this classic recipe.
Chocolate and peanut butter is ketolicious!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love chocolate and peanut butter together? Um, maybe just a few times.
You may have seen me mention it in my keto peanut butter cups. Or maybe I dropped a hint when I was waxing poetic about keto peanut butter pie.
It’s a little frightening, how much I love peanut butter and chocolate together. It’s a flavor combination that is never far from my mind, even when I am in the midst of creating another recipe altogether.
And I know I am not the only one who feels this way. Whenever I post a peanut butter and chocolate recipe, it gets a great deal of attention. In fact, my keto peanut butter bars went so viral, Facebook slapped a warning label on them. Weird but true!
Ingredients for peanut butter chocolate lava cakes
You only need a few simple ingredients to make these gorgeous keto lava cakes. Get your shopping list ready!
- Unsweetened chocolate: By unsweetened, I mean absolutely no sweetener at all. This should be 100% cacao chocolate and I urge you to purchase a quality brand like Ghirardelli or Guittard. Good quality makes a big difference!
- Butter: Melting butter with the chocolate gives the base for these decadent cakes.
- Sweetener: I prefer Swerve Granular in these cakes but they work with any erythritol based sweetener. I haven’t tried allulose in them but I imagine it too would work.
- Eggs: This keto lava cake recipe uses one whole egg and one egg yolk. The yolk provides extra richness and makes them even gooier.
- Almond flour: Classic lava cakes take only a little flour and in this case, we simply use 3 tablespoons.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor!
- Peanut butter: I recommend a good, creamy peanut butter like Justin’s, as you want it to ooze out when the cakes break open.
How to make keto lava cakes
The process is really quite simple and fun. Let’s review:
- Prep three ramekins. Grease them really well with a solid fat like butter or coconut oil. Then dust them lightly with cocoa powder. This allows the cakes to release more easily after baking.
- Melt the chocolate and the butter. I do this in the microwave but it can also be done on the stove. Whatever method you choose, be sure it’s gentle so you don’t seize the chocolate. I do 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring in between.
- Whisk in the sweetener, then the eggs. As long as you took care not to overheat the chocolate, adding the eggs to the warm mixture should be fine.
- Stir in the almond flour, vanilla, and salt.
- Spoon batter into the ramekins. You need about two thirds of the batter to cover the bottoms of the ramekins.
- Dollop in the peanut butter. Use about 2 to 3 teaspoons for each keto lava cake.
- Top with remaining cake batter. Be sure to cover the peanut butter completely!
- Bake. 10 to 12 minutes at 375F bakes the cake but leave the centers nice and gooey.
- Invert. Run a sharp knife around the outside of the cakes before flipping out onto a plate.
- Dig in! Grab a fork and enjoy these delicious keto lava cakes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Almond butter works well, but you could also use the new super creamy sugar free chocolate hazelnut spread from ChocZero. Delicious!
I haven’t tried to make keto lava cakes without butter but I think dairy free substitutes would work just fine.
I recommend using 1/2 cup capacity ceramic ramekins. Any larger and the cake batter will be spread too thin.
I have only tried these keto lava cakes with Swerve but I think any erythritol based sweetener would work. Allulose may work as well, but I can’t guarantee that.
Keto Lava Cakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter
- 1 oz (28.35 g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 3 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3 tbsp (20 g) almond flour
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and grease 3 small ramekins. Dust the ramekins with cocoa powder and shake out the excess.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter and chocolate together, whisking until smooth. Alternatively, you can melt it carefully in a pan over low heat.
- Add the sweetener and whisk until combined. Then add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the almond flour, vanilla extract, and salt until well combined.
- Divide about two thirds of the batter between the three ramekins, making sure to cover the bottoms.
- Divide the peanut butter between the ramekins, placing in the center of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter and spread to the edges.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cakes are set but the center still jiggles slightly. Remove and let cool 5 to 10 minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edges and flip out onto plates.
Video
Nutrition
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These mug cakes were just what we needed to cap off the evening with a coffee. So good.
Hi! Can I use cocoa powder instead of chocolate bar?
Hi there… google the conversion of cocoa powder to unsweetened chocolate. There is a formula for it, I just can’t remember exactly.
I’ve made this 4 times in the last two weeks. I did it exactly as you said, and delicious every time. My whole family loved it, even my picky 7yo! Thanks for your hard work!
So happy to hear it!
Anything that doesn’t kick out of ketosis is keto friendly. 🙂 Do as you wish, however.
Can this recipe be made dairy free?
Sure, use coconut oil.
This recipe looks amazing. Could you freeze these and just reheat them?
I just made these for my hubby for his birthday as he’d requested lava cakes and this was absolutely delicious !
The combination of chocolate and peanut butter just can’t be beat.
Thanks for the recipe Carolyn 🙂
So glad to hear it!
These are a great option for a keto dessert! I love the addition of peanut butter with these.
This molten chocolate peanut butter cake is so good! Who knew keto recipes could taste this amazing.