Keto Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Keto Pumpkin Crumb Cake is a delicious fall treat. It features a tender low carb pumpkin cake with a delicious brown “sugar” crumb topping. It’s perfect for brunch or dessert!

Reader Reviews

“MAKE THIS NOW!!!! I will make these every. single. week. Who doesn’t love crumb?! Even my nonketo (and VERY picky) husband LOVED THESE!!!!” — Kristin

“I have made this cake three times so far and it is so DELICIOUS! Thank you so much for this pumpkin crumb cake recipe. I’have shared it with friends and they all love it. It’s such an easy recipe to make which is helpful. I actually use a lot of your recipes and they always turn out perfect.” — Kris

“Once again, you’ve done it! This is a wonderful recipe! I made this a couple of days ago and it’s a huge hit between me and my husband. I am incredibly grateful for all your wonderful recipes that you share with everyone. Thank you thank you!” — Sheri P.

Ingredients You Need

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• Almond and coconut flour: Both the cake and the topping contain almond flour and coconut flour. The combination of these flours provides the best consistency. You may be able to use all almond flour, but you would need quite a bit more of it. And the carb count would be higher.
• Sweeteners: I used Swerve Sweetener for each component of this recipe, but you can use other brands if you prefer. The topping is best with a brown sugar replacement, and the vanilla drizzle really needs a confectioner’s style powdered sweetener.
• Protein powder: Protein powder helps the cake rise in the absence of gluten, so don’t skip it. You can use whey protein or egg white protein powder. But collagen is not a great option as it tends to make the cake gummy.
• Pumpkin puree: Pumpkin puree can differ brand to brand. Some are thick and some are quite watery. The thicker the better for a pumpkin crumb cake like this. If yours is watery, try adding another tablespoon or two of coconut flour to offset the moisture content.
• Pumpkin pie spice: I usually use pre-made spice but you can also make your own with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
• Butter: I use butter in the cake and the crumb topping. You could substitute with coconut oil for the cake, but the crumb topping turns out so much better (and tastier) with butter.
• Heavy cream: This forms the drizzle along with some powdered sweetener.
• Kitchen staples: Eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt.

Step by Step Directions

1. Prepare the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir in the butter until well combined. It will be like a thick batter. Set aside.

2. Make the cake batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, coconut flour, whey protein, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Stir in the pumpkin puree, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract until well combined.

3. Assemble the cake: Spread the batter in a greased 9×9 inch metal baking pan and smooth the top. Crumble the topping mixture with your fingers into pea size pieces and sprinkle evenly overtop the cake batter.

4. Bake the cake: Bake at 325ºF for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. It won’t be firm to the touch because the topping is so tender. Let cool completely in the pan.

5. Make the drizzle: Whisk the sweetener, cream, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Expert Tips

A proper crumb cake should almost be as much crumb topping as it is cake. While the pumpkin cake itself is delicious, it’s the topping that really makes it.

For the topping: Be sure to use plenty of brown sugar replacement and butter. It should really be like a very thick cake batter or almost like a cookie dough. It should not be dry at all but you should also be able to break it apart into big crumbs.

Instead of cinnamon, which is standard in crumb cake topping, use pumpkin pie spice.

Testing the cake for doneness: For most of my keto cake recipes, I tell you to bake until the top is firm to the touch. That won’t work here because the crumb topping is so tender, it obscures the cake.

For this particular recipe, the golden color of the topping is one clue that the cake is done. It will be very golden around the edges. You should also use a tester and insert into the center of the cake. It should come out clean.