Perfect Gluten Free Low Carb Apple Dump Cake Recipe
This Keto Low Carb Apple Dump Cake is an easy, one-bowl dessert that’s grain free, gluten free, and sugar free — now updated to be even softer and moister thanks to my latest test using sunflower seed meal and Greek yogurt. It’s the perfect fall dessert recipe made with fresh apples (or zucchini for keto) and delivers the comforting flavor of apple pie filling with only 5 g net carbs per serving (or just 1 g net carb using zucchini).
Are Apples Keto Friendly?
No foods are technically “keto.” Ketosis is a metabolic state your body enters when carbs are very low.
One small apple (149 g) has about 20 g total carbs, which could use up an entire day’s carb limit for strict keto followers.
Some people following a keto diet will only allow themselves 20 grams of carb intake for the entire day so eating one small apple would not be helpful for them and may kick them out of ketosis.
However, using a small amount of apple in a recipe that makes many servings can absolutely fit into both a low-carb and midlife-macro-balanced lifestyle.
Carbs in Regular Apple Dump Cake vs. This Low Carb Version
Traditional dump cake recipes made with boxed yellow cake mix, sugar, and canned apple pie filling can easily top 55 to 65 grams of total carbs per slice, with more than 35 grams of added sugar.
In this updated Sugar-Free Mom version, a serving made with fresh apples has 9 grams total carbs and 6 grams net carbs, and the fully keto version made with zucchini and apple pie extract drops to just 6 total and 4 g net carb per serving — all with zero added sugar. You still get that cozy, apple-pie-style comfort, just without the carb crash that usually follows.
A Simple Fall Favorite
We moved from the city to the countryside a few years ago, and it felt fitting to post this apple recipe after finding a gorgeous apple tree in our new backyard.
Like our family’s slower pace, this recipe reminds me that the best things in life are simple — just a few basic ingredients mixed in a baking dish and baked to cozy perfection.
How to Make Low Carb Apple Cake
I love easy dump cake recipes because you literally just throw all the simple ingredients together in a baking dish and bake it! Boom! Done!
This is one of our favorites at this time of year and the easiest dessert for a family.
This apple dump cake makes me happy and peaceful just looking at it. It reminds me that life can be simple, just like simple recipes, and it’s ok. Because as long as you have your family and some essentials you can do anything.
We use fresh apples but below you will find an adaption to lower the carbs to help you fit this into your ketogenic diet.
Ingredients
To view exact amounts, see nutrition info and print recipe, please scroll to the bottom of this post to view the printable recipe card.
Sunflower seed meal — nut-free, grain-free, and keeps the cake moist
Monk Fruit Allulose granular sweetener
Ground Cinnamon
Baking powder
Large eggs
Melted Butter
Plain lactose-free Greek yogurt – I use the FAGE 5.3 oz cup for added protein and moisture
Cinnamon liquid stevia (or vanilla stevia)
Fresh apples, peeled and chopped (or zucchini for keto)
Directions (Updated Method)
Cool 10–15 minutes covered before slicing.
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9 × 13-inch baking dish.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together coconut flour, sunflower seed meal, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, and Greek yogurt until smooth. Add stevia drops if desired.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.
Fold in the apple mixture (or zucchini).
Spread evenly into the prepared dish.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.
Remove foil (leave center slightly exposed) and continue baking for 15-20 minutes at 350 °F, until edges are golden and the center is just set.
Enjoy hot out of the oven or room temperature with some sugar free whipped cream or add a scoop of ice cream!
How to Make this a Keto Dump Cake
To lower carbs even more:
Add ½ tsp apple pie extract to mimic baked apple flavor.This swap reduces total carbs from 10 g to 6 g and net carbs to 1 g per serving — all the comfort of apple pie without the sugar.
Replace the apples with peeled, sliced zucchini.
While it might not be the prettiest of cakes, it is a super easy dessert! Topped with a little sugar-free whipped cream, or keto vanilla ice cream, you’ve got comfort on a plate.
No need for fancy anything at this country home we are in, just as this cake needs nothing fancy to make it spectacular.
With minimal effort on your part, this apple dump cake is a reminder that the simple things in life always make for the best recipe.
Low-Carb Apple Desserts
Keto Apple Muffins with cream cheese
Baking Tips
- If the center jiggles too much at 35 minutes, raise temp to 350 °F and bake 10–15 min longer, tenting edges with foil if needed.
- The cake will continue to set as it cools.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Reheat slices briefly in the microwave or oven to restore that just-baked texture.
Brenda’s Notes:
I use an apple corer-peeler tool to make prep quick and even.
If you don’t have Monk Fruit Allulose, check my Sweetener Conversion Chart to adjust another sugar-free sweetener.
The Greek yogurt keeps the cake moist and adds protein — no need for heavy cream in this version.
For a fall twist, sprinkle the top with a little sugar-free cinnamon “crumble” before baking..
UPDATED October 2025: This recipe originally used 1 cup coconut flour and 1/2 cup butter. I decided to perfect it since many commenters were saying it was dry. I added Greek yogurt to increase the protein and reduced the butter, below you have options to make it keto using zucchini instead.
Gluten Free Low Carb Apple Dump Cake
Keto Low Carb Apple Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup sunflower seed meal or almond flour
- 1/2 cup Monk fruit Allulose brown sweetener
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tsp apple pie spice
- 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt
- 6 eggs beaten
- 5.3 ounce plain Greek yogurt
- 6 tbsp butter melted, cooled
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon liquid stevia or see notes above
- 4 cups apples Gala or Fuji, peeled, cored, sliced or zucchini see notes in post above
- 1/2 tsp apple pie extract optional if using zucchini
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9 × 13-inch baking dish.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together coconut flour, sunflower seed meal, sweetener, cinnamon, apple pie spice, baking powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter, and Greek yogurt until smooth. Add stevia drops if desired. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.
- Fold in the apple mixture (or zucchini).
- Spread evenly into the prepared dish.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil (leave center slightly exposed) and continue baking for 15-20 minutes at 350 °F, until edges are golden and the center is just set.
- Cool 10–15 minutes covered before slicing.
- Enjoy with some sugar free whipped cream!
Notes
Nutrition
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach, and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & refined-carb free for 20 years and is the author of four cookbooks: Sugar-Free Mom, Naturally Keto, The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, and her newest release, Good, Better, Best (2025). Her work focuses on helping women detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar, and lose weight while enjoying delicious, nutrient-dense whole foods. Brenda is also the creator of the Midlife Macro™ Method and the weekly Midlife Macro Meal Plans™, designed specifically for women in perimenopause and menopause who want simple, high-protein, low-carb meals to support hormones, metabolism, and long-term health.She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and the Sugar Free Mom Tribe membership.
I just made this & it came out really good! However, I had to add nearly 2 cups of heavy cream to the batter because it was so thick I couldn’t mix it! I followed every step to a T but for some reason it was more like a super thick dough vs. a batter. Still turned out good though!
I added whole milk because the batter was more like cookie dough. It tastes great. A keeper for this diabetic and celiac.
I really want to try this recipe but I feel like I also had some kind of apple cookie recipe saved too that you made and now I can’t find it anywhere…
Can you recommend the measurements for substituting almond flour instead of coconut flour?
Unfortunately it’s difficult to swap almond and coconut flour as coconut is dense is needs a lot more eggs and liquid. My rule of thumb is usually 1/4 cup coconut flour is equal to about 1 cup almond flour.
Can coconut flour be subbed with like almond?
Not easily. 1/4 cup coconut flour is equal to about 1 cup almond flour and coconut needs more eggs and liquids.
I just made this recipe. To be honest, I was a little concerned because it didn’t look like there was enough batter, but oh wow, it worked and was soooo good! This is going in my weekly rotation.
Not good. Followed directions and it was a clumpy mess. Apples under cooked the batter was dry and tasteless. Ingredients too expensive to waste on this recipe. Sorry
Just made this last weekend. I am not a coconut flour lover but I wanted to try this because I love apples but don’t eat them very often. This dump cake turned out fantastic. It is moist, delicious and “apple-y” without spiking my blood sugar through the roof! A win-win for this diabetic. Will make this over and over…..it was that easy and delicious.
Thank you!
How many servings in this recipe????
In the recipe card, under the title and picture it shows 12 servings.
I have found when substituting zucchini for apples if you stir a Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar (apple cider vinegar is a good choice) into the sliced zucchini before adding it to the other ingredients it adds a little tartness that makes the zucchini taste more like apples.
Made this today with zucchini since I had some extra. Turned out great if I do say so myself. Satisfied my sweet tooth without the sugar. This always amazes me. Anyway, thank you Brenda. Next time I will try it with apples.
Did you use the Apple extract? I want to make it with zucchini but too but worried it will taste artificial.
Here’s mine! I added walnuts and a drizzle of icing “sugar” on top. It’s heavenly!!! It is everything I hoped it would be! Long ago before the big D came along, I had a piece of apple cake with the icing sugar on top and I never forgot it although I thought I’d have to give it up. Even with diabetes, the apples didn’t disturb my glucose and I was in heaven tasting what seemed not much different at all to what I remember. Not too sweet, just perfect for tea, coffee, company, a get together, a holiday, a lazy Saturday morning. This is a big fat YES!!
Brenda, thank you. You’re a genius.
Thank you!
This was awesome! So much like apple cake I grew up on. I added extra fresh nutmeg and chopped the apples along with a few walnuts and pecans.
So glad you liked it!
This was super easy to make and delicious! I actually halved the recipe and it turned out great!
Hi Brenda, thank you for all the wonderful recipes you share. I’ve tried quite a number of them and I love them all! Do you think I can alter this recipe to one serving like a mug cake or something ? Thank you 😊
I halved the recipe and it turned out great!
I made this recipe and used half almond flour, half coconut flour. I also used half trivia for baking and half swerve brown sugar. I added pumpkin spice instead of just cinnamon. Baked it for 40 minutes. Delicious and moist! Enjoy!!
Loved this cake.. I did substitute apple sauce for butter, maple extract for cinnamon stevia and used brown sugar Swerve …
Lovely taste, was a little dry. I didn’t have liquid Stevia, so put extra granulated in. Next time I’ll substitute half almond flour and cook some of the apples first. Definitely be cooking it again.
Made this again using half cup coconut flour and half almond flour. I cooked half the apples as well. Came out amazing. My neighbour said it’s the best low carb cake yet. Lovely with fresh cream. Definitely a keeper. Thank you.
This came out good. I don’t like coconut flour so I used Lupin flour instead. I think a bit of nutmeg might be good addition also. Thanks for the recipe.
Could you use zucchini and apples?
Looking forward to trying this recipe…would it be considered gluten free? Trying to accommodate all my coworker’s dietary restrictions (vegan, keto, gluten free) is challenging lol!
Nvm I just reread the post it is gf. Thank you! 🙂
Great recipe for low carb but you shouldn’t claim it is Keto when it is not. Some people may make it not realizing that there is not enough fat to make it Keto. You would need quite a bit of sugar free whipped cream to make this Keto. (about 1 cup)
The title says low carb not keto, but also not everyone needs high fat to eat keto, I don’t and many others I know don’t. Doesn’t make a recipe not keto, just add fat to satiation, not to hit a macro number.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Yes
This was wonderful, thank you!
I’ve been doing keto-ish for almost 2 years now as a T2 diabetes control. I was a very good cook/ baker before but never realized the magic of wheat flour until I couldn’t use it!
I’ve got a small handful of ‘keeper’ keto recipes that don’t taste like a cold omelette, have FLAVOUR (man what is up with getting almond flour to taste like anything!?), and contain ingredients I now stock in my new keto pantry. Your cake made it into my little book!
I cut it in half in a 9×9 glass pan. No stevia liquid so I added an extra 1.5 tsp sweetener, kept the cinnamon at 2tsp and added 1/4 tsp nutmeg. 25min then cover in foil and another 20min. I think people saying it’s dry probably have hot ovens and / or don’t understand baking in the first place. If it’s browning but not cooked COVER IT! Don’t just leave it until it’s rock hard. It’s practically impossible to be dry when it’s more than 50% apples! Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you!
I have not made it yet but wrote it down to make for Thanksgiving company. I think my husband will love it.
Just wanted to comment on the almond flour remark. I have found toasting almond flour makes a delicious crust for many recipes. We love it.
So based on the comments about the dryness, I used half the amount of coconut flour and it turned out great!
Great recipe, thank you very much!
I made this tonight but with 5 tsp of liquid stevia, as I don’t have any granulated sweetener in the house. It was delicious! I would probably add an extra apple or two, blend it and add to the mixture to make it a bit moister next time. 🙂
I used xylitol & half the amount as I don’t have a sweet tooth with the sweetness of the apple this was perfect for me. I added English toffee stevia drops.
Turned out darker than photo & moist , quick & easy to make.
I will definitely be making again. Many thanks.
Thank you!
I can’t have any artificial sweeteners. What can I add to give this a touch more sweetness than what the apples add and still keep it low carb?
Stevia isn’t artificial. Swerve isn’t artificial either. Both are low carb sweeteners that are natural and don’t spike blood sugar.
Try coconut sugar but not low carb.
Hi,
This looks really great!! Could you substitute zucchini for the apple to cut the carbs further? I think that’s what they use in “mock apple pie”.
Great idea!
Ok, I made this using 2 cups apples and 2 cups zucchini, it was amazing!!!! I will probably try all zucchini next time and get some apple pie extract. Thank you!!!!
Would this recipe work with blackberries or another berry?