7 Best Keto Cake Recipes

Starting keto and not sure what this means for your sweet tooth?

This article is for you. I’m here to show you that you do NOT have to compromise your dessert life and stay keto. There are all kinds of delicious ways you can stay keto while eating all kinds of foods you love.

I’ve got a bunch of recipes for you, but first let’s cover a couple big points for evaluating any cake recipe for its keto-friendliness.

How to tell if a cake recipe is keto

To check if a cake recipe is keto, look at the recipe to see what flour, sweeteners, and kinds of fruit are included. All-purpose flour, sugar, and high-sugar fruits are generally a sign that the recipe isn’t keto. Although not every recipe says “this is keto” or “this is not keto,” these are the easy rules of thumb to tell if a cake recipe as written is already keto-friendly. Here’s a little more detail on each:

• Flour. Is the cake made with cake flour or all-purpose flour? It’s not built for keto. Look for recipes featuring coconut flour or almond flour. And please do NOT just substitute almond flour or coconut flour for all-purpose in the recipe; since both almond and coconut are naturally gluten-free, they both require extra binders (usually eggs) to hold everything together. Almond flour is usually paired with another flour (often coconut) because it has a lot of oils and can otherwise lead to a greasy bake; coconut flour absorbs a TON of liquid, so you usually only need a little (about 1/4 as much as you’d normally expect when baking with all-purpose) to deliver a good volume. My recommendation? When in doubt, use a recipe that already uses almond and/or coconut flour, because they’re tricky to freestyle on your own the first time.
• Sugar. Does the recipe include sugar? It’s not keto. You’ll want recipes that use other sweeteners like honey, monkfruit, or maple syrup.
• Fruit. If the recipe is for a cake that includes fruit, which fruit matters quite a bit. The keto diet is compatible with low-sugar fruit (most berries, coconut, melons) but not with high-sugar fruit like bananas, peaches, pears, apples, grapes, and oranges.

Common keto cake substitutions

Substituting for flour is hard until you really know what you’re doing, but fortunately several other substitutions to make a cake recipe more keto-friendly are really very easy. Here are just a few:

• Instead of sugar, use monkfruit, coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup
• Instead of apples, pears, or peaches, use berries
• Instead of heavy cream, use coconut cream
• Instead of regular milk, use almond milk or coconut milk
• Instead of milk chocolate, use dark chocolate

7 best keto cake recipes

These fantastic recipes are tried, tested, and delicious. Give them a go!

1. Coconut flour cake

This delicious coconut flour cake recipe is easy to execute, delicious, and a great place to start your keto cake baking journey. (It’s also a great intro to coconut flour baking!) Once you’ve mastered this underlying recipe, you can try all kinds of different toppings and flavors to deliver an incredibly diverse and delicious dining experience for the whole family.

2. Pumpkin spice mug cake

Fall is my favorite season, and I could always use a little more in my life – so any pumpkin spice cake is going to pique my interest. That goes double for something that’s just made in a mug and microwaved – no mess, no pots and pans, just a really simple recipe to bake any old weeknight. While this pumpkin spice mug cake recipe includes a homemade pumpkin spice mixture, you can always use storebought to speed things up even a little more!

3. Keto lemon pound cake

This delectable keto treat is just oozing with glaze and sweetness. One of the things I love about keto baking is that it can deliver all the sweetness of refined sugars WITHOUT using them – erythritol (which you can also sub out for something else, like swerve or another keto-friendly sweetener) really delivers the goods here. Plus, I’ve always loved combining sweet with sour, and this lemon pound cake is perfect for that.

4. Chocolate mug cake

I LOVE this recipe. Just like the pumpkin spice mug cake I mentioned above, this recipe is easy, no-mess, and only requires one dish – a mug! The mix of cocoa powder, keto sweetener, and salt is just totally delicious – you know I love a little sweet and salty combination. Plus, since the ingredients include a large egg and coconut oil, it’s super rich and filling. Definitely give this keto chocolate mug cake a try.

5. Pumpkin coffee cake

I have a huge sweet tooth, and first thing in the morning, I always want something sweet to eat. (Ever had ice cream for breakfast? I’ve lost count of how many times I have…)

This is a delicious, sweet, and satiating addition to anyone’s daily routine. And because it uses coconut sugar and coconut flour instead of regular sugar and regular flour, you’re getting this decadent dessert without compromising on your keto diet. Who ever said cake was just for dessert? This pumpkin coffee cake is definitely worth a try.

6. Keto red velvet mug cake

Red velvet cake is a must in my household, and this homemade mug cake is a delicious and super quick way to deliver whenever you need those flavors! The recipe uses beetroot powder to give that famous red color, but you can of course just use red food coloring if you prefer. Regardless, this red velvet mug cake recipe is a delicious addition to any weeknight meal!

7. Keto pumpkin cheesecake bars

Ok, technically this might not be a cake, but it’s a delicious dessert, and cake is in the name, so I’m going to roll with it.

(Plus, let’s face it, cheesecake is amazing.) One batch of these bars uses 24 ounces of cream cheese and five large eggs, so it’s an incredibly filling and delicious recipe. And let’s face it – cheesecake is amazing, but PUMPKIN cheesecake is absolutely decadent, so getting to put both together (while staying true to keto) is fantastic.

Links on this page may be affiliate links, for which the site earns a small commission, but the price for you is the same