Keto Gooey Butter Cake (Gluten-Free)

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Keto Gooey Butter Cake is a simple and delicate dessert that melts in your mouth and is highly addicting! It has a low-carb and gluten-free cake batter crust, topped with a creamy, light, and airy topping, and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. It’s a fantastic sugar-free treat that everyone will love!

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What is Gooey Butter Cake?

Gooey butter cake is a cake that originated in St. Louis, Missouri. It’s made with flour, butter, sugar, and eggs and dusted with powdered sugar.

Supposedly, gooey butter cake was created by accident by a German-American baker in St. Louis who was trying to make a regular cake batter but reversed the proportions of butter and flour. (1) Thus, gooey butter cake was born.

As the name suggests, this dessert is rich in buttery goodness. Although it’s light and airy, it’s firm enough to cut into square pieces, similar to keto brownies. This tasty treat is usually flat, resembling the shape and texture of any dessert bar. 

This version takes an already delectable dessert and transforms it into a low-carb, keto-friendly treat. This keto cake recipe with coconut flour is entirely sugar-free, and nut-free, so you can enjoy a piece or two guilt-free. It also contains zero hidden sources of gluten, so celiacs can make this a staple in their meal plan!

But you don’t have to follow a keto diet to savor these delicious bars. I recently passed this treat around to a group after church, and it quickly became a favorite among everyone.

Serve this at your next book club meeting, potluck, or holiday party for a treat that everyone will rave about!

How to Make Gooey Butter Cake

Grab 5 main ingredients and a few baking staples, and you’re halfway to making Keto Ooey Gooey Butter Cake recipe in just 40 minutes (plus 20 minutes of cooling time!). 

This delicate cake has a light, airy topping over a soft cake bottom. It melts in your mouth and is such a crowd pleaser. It’s a great thing this recipe makes 24 servings of square bars! 

Ingredients

For the bottom layer:

• Coconut flour – this is a dense low-carb, gluten-free flour that makes the perfect base for this keto cake
• Granulated keto sweetener – use sugar-free, low carb keto sweetener like monk fruit or stevia in the raw
• Baking powder
• Unsalted butter – using softened butter will make it easier to mix everything
• Large eggs – room temperature eggs are best; to quickly bring chilled eggs to room temperature, run hot water over a bowl of eggs for about 1-2 minutes.
• Vanilla extract

For the top layer:

• Cream cheese – softened at room temperature for 30-60 minutes
• Unsalted butter – melted unsalted butter will help create that luscious creamy top layer in the butter cake
• Large eggs – room temperature eggs are best; to quickly bring chilled eggs to room temperature, run hot water over a bowl of eggs for about 1-2 minutes.
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered keto sweetener – using powdered sweetener will render a very smooth topping; plus it works great for dusting the finished cake after chilling

Substitutions and Variations

This keto cake is already naturally gluten-free, grain-free, and nut-free. However, you can adapt a gooey butter cake recipe to best suit your diet. There are several easy ways to modify the recipe and adjust for particular dietary needs. 

• Keto diet – This recipe is naturally low-carb and keto friendly.
• Dairy-free – Swap out butter with coconut oil or ghee, which is clarified butter with milk solids removed; use dairy-free plain cream cheese for the top layer. 
• Paleo diet – Using low-carb sweeteners like monk fruit on the paleo diet is okay in moderation; for true paleo, use honey, maple syrup, or granulated sweeteners like coconut sugar or turbinado; substitute butter with clarified butter or ghee; and use dairy-free plain cream cheese for the top layer.
• Low oxalate diet – this recipe is naturally low in oxalate.
• GAPS – Use honey in place of low-carb sweeteners (both granulated and powered). Finish with a dusting of cocoa powder instead of powdered sweetener, or omit it altogether.
• Whole30 – Dessert is generally not allowed on Whole30, so there are no modifications that would make this Whole30 compliant.

Remember that any time you modify baked goods, the result may differ. The above are simply suggestions but always use your discretion. The recipe, as written in the recipe card, uses dairy ingredients and is what gives this dessert that luscious, rich texture. 

Step-By-Step Directions

Our gluten-free gooey butter cake comes together quickly with only 15 minutes of prep time and 25 minutes of baking time. It uses the typical process of mixing dry ingredients and wet ingredients then combining the two for the most delicious and moist dessert. The hardest part is waiting for the cake to cool. Don’t skip this step, as it will make the cake a little too crumbly if you rush. 

Follow these simple directions, and you can’t go wrong!

Step One: Make the bottom layer

Before anything, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.

To make the bottom layer, mix coconut flour, keto sweetener, and baking powder in a small bowl.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the softened butter, eggs, and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir well or mix with a hand mixer to combine until smooth.

Transfer the batter to the greased baking dish and spread it into a thin even layer with a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon. Set aside.

Step Two: Make the top layer

To make the top layer, beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined.

Reduce the mixing speed to low and add the powdered sweetener slowly. Continue mixing, while scraping down the sides, until smooth.

Pour the topping over the cake layer in the baking dish. Spread evenly, pushing out into the corners.

Step Three: Bake and dust while cooling

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges brown and mostly set in the center (it will still jiggle a little). 

You’ll know it’s ready to be pulled from the oven when the topping starts to froth and bubble. 

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. 

Dust with approximately half of tablespoon of powdered sugar, if desired. It’s important to let it cool completely at room temperature otherwise it will be too crumbly. 

Serve butter cake at room temperature or chilled – it’s delicious either way! You can pop it in the refrigerator to chill before serving. Then, cut into 24 even squares or bars and serve.

How to Store Gooey Butter Cake

Does gooey butter cake need to be refrigerated? Yes and no. You can store gooey butter cake at room temperature for up to 3 days, and in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Whether at room temperature or refrigerator, ensure that the butter cake is stored in an airtight container for best results. 

Gooey butter cake also freezes beautifully. It’s best to flash-freeze individual-size bars in a single layer on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet before stacking them into a more compact arrangement. When frozen solid, transfer the butter cake bars into a freezer-safe container or ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Keto Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Nutritional Info

There are 24 servings of this Keto Gooey Butter Cake. A serving size is one 2 ½-inch square bar. There is plenty of this butter cake to share with others.

Each serving contains:

• 131 calories
• 3 g protein
• 12 g fat
• 2 g total carbs
• 1 g fiber
• 1 g net carbs

Please note that the nutritional value will change if you substitute ingredients. Use a nutrition app like My Fitness Pal to recalculate and reflect your changes.

 More Keto Cake Recipes

• Keto Vanilla Cupcakes with Coconut Flour
• Easy Keto Chocolate Cake with Coconut Flour
• Keto Carrot Cake
• Macadamia Nut Keto Coffee Cake