Keto Apple Cake
Keto Apple Cake is moist, easy to make, and incredibly delicious. Perfect for all the parties and gatherings you have planned. Tangy Granny Smith apples, fluffy cake, the ideal amount of cinnamon and no refined sugar added, this almond flour apple cake is going to be a hit. It’s gluten-free, grain-free, low carb, and keto-friendly.

This is one cake recipe that you may even want to eat for breakfast! I mean…it has apples in it, so why not? It’s certainly good enough to start the day with. I can’t help it; this soft, fluffy almond flour apple cake calls my name.
Now that I am sharing this sugar free apple cake recipe with you, I am confident you will enjoy making it every once in a while. If you miss eating apples since going keto, trust me, many people can relate. I think most of us think that once you start a low carb lifestyle that you will never get to enjoy the flavor of apples again. Thank goodness that isn’t true.
You simply need to be careful and smart with how you go about making it. This recipe calls for 2 cups of apples and makes 18 large servings. So basically, this means each piece is going to be 4.3 Net Carbs. As you can see it’s not going to completely ruin your carbs for the day! As a matter of fact, it’s pretty easy to incorporate a gluten free keto apple cake or my apple cider donut cake into your diet from time to time.

Ingredients Needed
When you bite into this sugar free apple cake, I am certain you’ll be so glad you made it. It’s pretty low-key, and there aren’t a ton of ingredients or directions.
Cake Ingredients:
- Almond Flour – Don’t use just fine almond flour; it’s best to combine it with coconut flour. Using the two flours together helps balance the oiliness of the almond flour. If you want a bit of a heartier texture you can use almond meal.
- Coconut Flour – You’ll just need ½ cup of coconut flour to get the best texture.
- Coconut Oil – Use refined coconut oil, so it doesn’t taste like coconut. Butter flavored coconut oil works well too.
- Sour Cream – Substitutions would be Greek yogurt or even cottage cheese.
- Joy Filled Eats Sweetener – I use a combination of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia in my low carb recipes. I find that this combination tastes the most like sugar while being economical because you use half the amount of most other sweeteners.
- Eggs – If you want to lighten this up a bit you can use all egg whites.
- Vanilla – Vanilla extract is a must when baking to highlight the other flavors.
- Baking Powder – A leavening agent to help the cake rise. Look for aluminum-free baking powder.
- Salt – A pinch of salt enhances the other flavors of the keto apple cake.

Apple Cinnamon Filling:
- Granny Smith Apples – Using fresh Granny Smith apples gives you a tart and delicious flavor. They are my favorite to bake with, especially for this sugar free cake. Or you can sub in jicama using this method.
- Brown Sugar Sweetener – You can use commercially packed brown sugar sweetener, or you can make your own by mixing 1 teaspoon of molasses into 1 cup of sweetener.
- Butter – It will need to be melted for the best results.
- Almond Flour – I add a little bit into the filling to balance some of the moisture
- Cinnamon – A must for any apple recipe!

How To Make Sugar Free Keto Apple Cake
There are only 4 steps to make this low carb keto apple cake, and they are all super simple. This reminds me of an apple cider cake or a decadent apple coffee cake to serve for brunch!
Step One: Warm the oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray.
Step Two: Combine the flour, coconut oil, sour cream, sweetener, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Spread evenly in the 9×13 inch casserole dish or cake pan.
Expert Tip: The batter is going to be super thick, and that is normal.

Step Three: Mix together the apples, brown sugar sweetener, melted butter, almond flour, and cinnamon.

Spread the sugar free apple mixture on top of the cake batter.

Step Four: Bake the almond flour apple cake for 40 minutes or until it’s firm to the touch. You can insert a toothpick in the center to test doneness. It should come out dry when done.
Can I Use Different Apples in Keto Apple Cake?
Yes, you sure can. I am a fan of Granny Smith in general for baking because they hold their shape, so that’s usually what I reach for. They are also one of the lowest carb apples. There isn’t too much difference in the amount of carb in an apple so you can really just use the ones you prefer.
However, there are many other varieties of apples that would work well in a low carb apple cake. The biggest thing you need to consider is choosing something that won’t just turn to mush as it bakes. Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Honey Gold, and Gala are all great choices too.

Can I Leave The Peels On The Apples?
No, the peel won’t soften enough and will leave the cake with an odd texture so it’s a good idea to remove the skin. It only takes a few extra minutes and will give you a much better low carb grain free cake in the end.
How Many Carbs in an Apple?
There are 25 carbs in an apple and 4.4 grams of fiber.
This brings us to the next question…
Are Apples Keto?
Not really. And definitely not in large quantities. BUT I believe that small amounts of fruit can be eaten in moderation. This recipe uses 2 cups of apples which is about 2-2.5 apples divided between 18 pieces. That means that each piece has approximately 1/8th of an apple. This is enough to get that apple flavor and texture with minimal carbs. I use the same logic with my keto apple muffins.
If you would like an even lower carb option you can make this keto apple cake with jicama instead by using the method I use in my Keto Apple Crisp.
Can I use a Bundt Pan?
I haven’t tried this recipe in a bundt pan but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work provided you grease the pan really well. I would put 1/3 of the batter, then the filling, and then the rest of the batter and gently swirl it a bit. A low carb apple bundt will take longer to bake. My guess is 45-50 minutes at 350.

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Keto Apple Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup refined coconut oil melted
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Apple Cinnamon Filling
- 2 cups granny smith apples peeled and chopped
- 1 cup brown sugar sweetener
- 6 oz butter melted (1.5 sticks)
- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- Mix together all the cake ingredients. Spread in the prepared pan. This is a VERY thick batter.
- Mix together the filling ingredients. Spread on top of the cake batter.
- Bake at 350 for 40 min or until the cake is firm to the touch. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out with a few moist crumbs when it is done.
Notes
Nutrition








What about making this is a Bundt pan? Has anyone tried it
Not that I know of. I think you would need to double it (or at least 1.5) to fill a bundt. If you try, grease the pan very well. My only concern is it sticking. Otherwise, it would work.
Really delicious, moist cake and the super straightforward method is a bonus! Randomly found this recipe when I searched online for a keto apple cake recipe to use up some spare apples, and I loved the cake so much (as have my non-keto family and friends) I’ve now signed up to receive keto recipes weekly :).
Takes a lot longer than 15 minutes prep time. More like an hour.
Nancy, I’m surprised to hear that. It is a very basic cake batter.
Oh, my gosh! This is so, so, SO good! I was short on butter by half a stick so added a couple tablespoons of avocado oil when melting the butter. I also only had virgin coconut oil, and the extra coconut undertone was really good without actually flavoring it. I think this will be my new standard “dessert to pass” dish to bring to church dinners and parties, though we ate it as a coffee cake for breakfast. I felt good serving it for breakfast because of the extra protein from the almond flour. Husband suggested next time maybe putting some chopped pecans or walnuts in the struesel topping. Every recipe from Joy Filled Eats has been spot on! My go-to.
This is delightful! I’ve never tasted anything like it before in low-carb baking. I baked 8 servings in an 8-inch round pan for 30 minutes, but now I want to make the full version in a 9 x 13 pan. Is the baking time 40 minutes or 35 minutes? The instructions mention 40 minutes, but the ‘cook time’ at the top of the printed recipe shows 35 minutes. Thank you!
I want very much to make this cake but I am allergic to coconut flour. (Don’t have any trouble with coconut oil, been using it for years to fry pancakes in.)
What else can be substituted for the coconut flour and still maintain the consistency of the batter?
You can use all almond flour. 3 cups total should work.
I looked up this as a totally new recipe to try, risking taking it to an elderly sugar-loving friend’s house for dinner. She liked it! and my husband loved it! I quartered the recipe, used 1 medium Gala (what was on hand, made 1 cup of pieces), and added about 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the batter. I cut through the panful of ingredient a couple times before baking, hoping to get a cobbler effect. Baked it about 45 minutes in my bread machine (oven is broken). The nutmeg/cinnamon made this taste like autumn cake donuts! The cake part was surprisingly tender! A 1/4 recipe with 1 apple made about 5 servings. I might try leaving off the flour in the apples next time to see if the apple softens more. I made a topping of full fat yogurt, Swerve, & fresh lemon juice & zest for the leftover 2 servings that night.
GREAT RECIPE. MY HUSBAND AND I REALLY LIKE IT AND I AM MAKING IT THE SECOND TIME. THANKS FOR SHARING.
Can you sub olive oil in place of the coconut oil?
I think that would work. Use one that is mild flavored.
This might be low carb but apples aren’t ketogenic.
Sounds yummy though. Might try it when I’m maintaining.
I talk about this in the blog post 🙂
This is my go to low carb apple dessert. It’s great as a neighbor gift. Tonight I made it in a cupcake tin. It turned out perfectly.
Thanks for this easy delicious recipe.🍎😊
I made this today. It was so moist and wonderful!
I used molassess instead of a sweetner directly and it was sooo good.
Thank you Taryn.
Delicious!!! Made for Diabetic husband. Of course I had to sample a piece or two!!
And I forgot to add the vanilla but it’s still so good! Can’t imagine how the vanilla could make it any better but I’ll be sure to add it next time!!
You describe this recipe as “sugar free” then list “ 1 cup brown sugar sweetener” in the ingredients!
Heidi, brown sugar sweetener IS sugar free. Look for a brown sweetener. Swerve and Lakanto each make one as do other brands.
The ingredients looked wonderful in this recipe, so I gave it a whirl. But the end result was not to my liking. I didn’t care for the texture. After putting the topping on, it saturated the cake and was soggy after baking… I even left it in the oven a bit longer hoping the cake would firm up more… I’m thinking it was way too much butter. I followed the recommendation to mix the sweeteners but didn’t care for the aftertaste. I will likely not make this again and keep looking for another option for a keto apple cake recipe.
I’m sorry you didn’t care for it. This recipe normally gets great reviews. It does take awhile to find a sweetener you like. I would encourage you to keep trying blends until you like one. The aftertaste is most likely from erythritol.