Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cake: Keto Recipe

A stack of keto chocolate chip cake squares dusted with powdered sweetener and topped with mini chocolate chips
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Introduction

Once in a while, I crave cake that isn’t covered in some kind of thick and creamy frosting. Cake with frosting is good, yes, but it can feel too heavy at times. I just want a tasty, light, fluffy, and moist cake, you know? And while we’re at it, make it low-carb too! I want to be able to easily fit it into my keto diet and eat it anytime I want.

That is this cake. It bakes in an 8x8 dish and cuts into nine squares, and the chocolate chips folded through the batter do the job frosting would otherwise be doing.

This low-carb chocolate chip cake is the breakfast of champions. Say goodbye to always having eggs for breakfast.

Key Ingredients for Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cake

Almond Flour

Regular wheat flour is out of the picture since it’s high-carb, so we’ll be using almond flour instead. It’s a low-carb, high-fat flour that’s naturally gluten-free, which makes it a great base for keto cake recipes. Unlike almond meal, which is coarser because it includes the skins, almond flour gives a finer crumb. Just keep in mind that almond flour isn’t a 1:1 swap for wheat flour — it has no gluten and behaves quite differently in baking — so it’s best to follow a recipe built around it, like this one. It isn’t a 1:1 swap for coconut flour either: coconut flour soaks up far more liquid, so trading one for the other leaves you with a dry, crumbly cake.

Almond flour will provide our keto chocolate chip cake with its needed structure. It also contributes a moist and tender texture to our cake.

Tip: Use blanched almond flour, which is made from almonds with the skins removed for a finer and smoother texture. It will result in a lighter and more tender chocolate chip cake. Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour is a great choice. If you’re making it at home, slivered almonds are a convenient option.

Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener

To ensure that our chocolate chip cake is as low-carb as possible, we won’t be using sugar. Instead, we’ll be using the keto-friendly Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener. It is a blend formulated to measure 1:1 with sugar, so a traditional chocolate chip cake recipe’s amounts carry straight over without conversion math, and we don’t get an aftertaste from it. Maple syrup is not a direct swap here because it adds both extra carbs and extra moisture. Coconut sugar also isn’t a like-for-like keto substitute for this recipe.

Baking Powder

Baking powder, not baking soda — that is what raises this cake, and the two are not interchangeable.

Tip: Make sure that you’re using unexpired baking powder. When baking powder expires, it becomes inactive, which will cause the chocolate chip cake to not rise properly.

Butter

A full cup of butter is what keeps an almond-flour cake moist rather than dry and crumbly, and it is what browns the top.

We’re using unsalted butter in this recipe as it allows for more control over the salt content of the cake. But salted butter works fine too. You’d have to reduce the amount of salt you add, or you can omit it.

Let the butter sit out until it softens — a softened cup creams into the eggs and sweetener, where a cold one stays in lumps. Melted coconut oil, vegetable oil and olive oil are not substitutions here; this cake is built around solid butter creamed with the eggs.

Eggs

Five eggs is a lot for one cake, and they are doing the work gluten would in a wheat batter: holding it together and keeping it moist.

Tip: Use room-temperature eggs, as they mix better with the batter.

Lily’s Chocolate Chips

Finally, to give our cake its chocolate flavor, we’ll be using Lily’s Chocolate Chips, specifically the dark chocolate variant. It doesn’t contain any sugar, which makes it keto-friendly. We’ll fold the chocolate chips into the batter so that every bite has a taste of chocolate, and sprinkle some on top of the finished cake as garnish. That chocolate chip almond combination is what makes this cake especially appealing.

Keto Chocolate Chip Cake

Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
45 minutes
Total Time
50 minutes
Yield
9 slices
Course
Dessert
Cuisine
American

Ingredients

All Ingredients

Nutrition Facts

9 servings per recipe
Trans Fat 0g 0% 0g 0%
Allulose 0g 0% 0g 0%

About these numbers: We are home cooks, not certified nutritionists. Nutrition is shared as a courtesy. We pick a representative product for each ingredient, and our recipe system works out the totals from the amounts in this recipe, so please treat them as a helpful estimate rather than a guarantee. The brands you buy, any swaps you make, and how generously you portion the recipe will all move these numbers.

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and prepare your baking dish.

    Line an 8x8 cake pan or baking dish with parchment paper, or grease it with butter or cooking spray, so the cake releases cleanly.

  2. Put the softened butter, eggs, Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt into a large bowl.

    Mix together using a whisk or electric mixer at medium speed. Beat until smooth.

  3. Into a separate bowl, pour almond flour, baking powder, and xanthan gum.

    Blend the ingredients together until they become homogenous.

  5. Gradually add the almond flour mixture to the butter mixture, all the while mixing them together.

    Continue mixing until a smooth cake batter forms.

  6. Fold Lily's chocolate chips into the batter.

    Make sure to evenly distribute them throughout the batter. You want every bite of your cake to have that chocolatey taste.

  7. Transfer your cake batter onto a lined or greased 8x8 baking dish.

    Use a spatula or a cake knife to smoothen the top of your batter.

  8. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven.

    Bake the cake for 45–50 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

  9. Take your cake out of the oven and let it cool completely.

    Serve it as is, or slice it into mini chocolate chip cakes. Garnish with powdered sweetener and even more chocolate chips, and enjoy!

Notes

Tools

  • Two mixing bowls. The wet and dry ingredients are mixed separately before they come together, so you need both at once.
  • A whisk or electric mixer, and a spatula for folding the chips in and levelling the top.
  • An 8x8 baking dish, lined with parchment paper — the amounts here are written for that size.

Preparation

  • The baking time provided in this recipe is only a general guideline. Ovens can vary in power, and it might take less or more time for your chocolate chip cake to fully bake. To ensure that your cake is fully baked, insert a toothpick into its center. If it comes out clean or with only a few crumbs, then it’s done. If not, you will need to bake it in the oven for a few more minutes.
  • It’s recommended that you sift your almond flour before using it to remove any clumps. This will help ensure a more consistent texture in the final product.
  • The ingredient amounts here are written for an 8x8 pan. A different size or shape spreads the same batter thinner or deeper, which changes the bake time — a wider pan bakes faster, a narrower or deeper one slower — so go by the toothpick test rather than the clock.

Storage

  • Store the cake in an airtight container, on the counter or in the refrigerator. No keeping window is given here.
  • To freeze it, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, add a layer of aluminum foil, and put it in a freezer-safe bag or container.

Serving Suggestions

  • Feel free to frost your chocolate chip cake with a keto-friendly frosting! You can frost it with chocolate ganache for even more chocolate flavor, or with homemade buttercream frosting.
  • Dust the cooled cake with powdered sweetener and scatter a few more chocolate chips over it — that is the finish in the photo. Chopped nuts or sugar-free sprinkles work the same way, and a square served warm with keto-friendly vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream makes it cake à la mode.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use milk chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate?

You can, but make sure that you use one that’s sugar-free and low-carb. Most commercially available milk chocolate chips have a high quantity of sugar, so avoid those. Lily’s offers milk chocolate chips that have no added sugar.

Wrap-Up

The cake is good plain, and the finish in the photo at the top is the one we actually use: let it cool, dust it with powdered sweetener, and scatter a few more chocolate chips over the top. If you enjoy baking with almond flour, our keto chocolate chip muffins are a good place to go next.

Correction — October 5, 2026: The recipe card gave keeping times for the counter, the refrigerator and the freezer that we cannot support, so they have been removed. Storing the cake airtight and cold is still the guidance.