Gluten Free & Protein Rich Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
These Gluten Free & Protein Rich Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes (chocolate version) are so much better for you than store bought!
They’re gluten free, have an added 75g protein per batch!
They’re simple to make, they’re incredibly fudgey, and they just scream Christmas time!
Just look how rich and fudgey they are!
Even more enticing than store bought, in my opinion!
Why You’ll Love These Gluten Free & Protein Rich Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
- They’re gluten free, protein rich, and made with more wholesome ingredients than store bought
- They’re incredibly nostalgic to be able to enjoy again! (Am I the only one who grew up on Little Debbie’s snack cakes?!)
- Every bite is bursting with texture, between the moist chocolate cake, the velvety smooth buttercream filling, and the rich dark chocolate shell!
Not only are these homemade Tree Cakes a must for me due to being gluten free, but the ingredients on the store bought ones are just awful!
Store Bought Little Debbie’s Chocolate Tree Cake Ingredients:
Sugar, Corn Syrup, Water, Enriched Bleached Flour (Wheat Flour, Barley Malt, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Riboflavin [Vitamin B2], Folic Acid), Palm and Palm Kernel Oil, Palm and Soybean Oils with TBHQ and Citric Acid to Protect Flavor, Soybean Oil, Cocoa, Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Toppers (Sugar, Corn Starch, Palm and/or Palm Kernel Oil, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Dextrin, Soy Lecithin, Yellow 5 Lake, Confectioner’s Glaze, Blue 1 Lake, Salt, Carnauba Wax, Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake), Dried Egg Whites, Corn Starch, Dried Eggs, Baking Soda, Dextrose, Salt, Caramel Color, Soy Lecithin, Sorbic Acid (to Preserve Freshness), Mono- and Diglycerides, Sorbitan Monostearate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Polysorbate 60, Propylene Glycol Monostearate, Titanium Dioxide (Color), Polysorbate 80, Red 40, Whey (Milk), Soy Flour, Citric Acid.
First off, why is that list SO long?! My next concern are the numerous artificial dyes, the multiple forms of sugar, the inflammatory rancid seed oils, and preservatives like TBHQ that are known carcinogens.
ANYWAY – moving on to the GOOD version!
Ingredients
- 1 box gluten free chocolate cake mix (I used king Arthur’s)
- 2/3 cup avocado oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cup water
- ^ these are the ingredients that King Arthur’s Gluten Free Cake Mix calls for. If you use a different brand be sure to follow those instructions
- Because I added the 2 scoops (roughly 6 tbsp) chocolate protein powder, I was sure to add more of a wet ingredient to compensate (the greek yogurt). The texture was perfect with this combination! Rich, fudgey, moist, but still like your favorite chocolate cake!
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 heaping scoops Chocolate Protein Powder – my favorite brand is Just Ingredients. Clean ingredients and nothing artificial! Use code colleenF10 to save!
- Chocolate Cream Filling
- 6 Tbsp Ghee / very soft Butter
- 1 cup Powdered Monkfruit or Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Cacao Powder
- 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Process
- Whisk your wet cake ingredients together – oil, water, eggs, and Greek yogurt
- Add your cake mix and protein powder and mix with a wooden spoon until fully combined
- Pour into greased 9×13 cake pan and bake for 25-28 minutes
- Allow to cool completely
- Invert the cake onto a cutting board, and slice in half horizontally to thin the trees
- Use a Christmas tree cutter to cut cake trees out – I got 22 (totaling 11 brownie sandwiches)
- Use your hand or standing mixer to combine buttercream ingredients until whipped, several minutes
- Place buttercream on half of your trees, then top with remaining tree brownies
- Melt your dark chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second intervals until smooth
- Dip each stuffed brownie into melted dark chocolate, then onto parchment paper, and to the fridge for chocolate and filling to fully set, about 30 minutes
- Decorate with melted white chocolate, dye-free sprinkles, and enjoy!
I couldn’t choose a favorite part of this recipe if I tried!
Between the nostalgia of Little Debbie’s treats in general (aka for my childhood lunchbox snack every day), the rich and fudgey chocolate cake, the velvety smooth buttercream filling, or the rich dark chocolate that wraps the whole thing together!
Bonus! These would be such a hit if you gifted them individually wrapped to friends and family!
Variations for Dietary Preferences
- Chocolate cake mix– feel free to use the brand of your choice, but be sure to follow the instructions on that particular box
- The only extras I added to the cake mix that weren’t called for on the box were greek yougrt & protein powder
- Looking for homemade? While I don’t have a chocolate cake recipe, feel free to use my wholesome sweet potato brownie recipe for these!
- Dairy free: use vegan yogurt and vegan butter and a vegan protein powder!
- Chocolate protein powder– if you do NOT want to add protein to these then you need to leave out both the greek yogurt and the protein powder
If you make these Gluten Free & Protein Rich Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes I’d love to your thoughts! Or tag me on social media so I can see your creations!
Ingredients
- 1 box gluten free chocolate cake mix I used king Arthur’s *
- 2/3 cup avocado oil *
- 4 large eggs *
- 1 1/3 cup water *
- 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 scoops Chocolate Protein Powder use code colleenF10 to save
Chocolate Cream Filling
- 6 Tbsp Ghee / very soft Butter
- 1 cup Powdered Monkfruit or Powdered Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Cacao Powder
- 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Whisk your wet cake ingredients together – oil, water, eggs, and Greek yogurt
- Add your cake mix and protein powder and mix with a wooden spoon until fully combined
- Pour into greased 9×13 cake pan and bake for 25-28 minutes
- Allow to cool completely
- Invert the cake onto a cutting board, and slice the cake in half horizontally to thin out your trees
- Use a Christmas tree cutter to cut cake trees out – I got 22
- Use your hand or standing mixer to combine buttercream ingredients until whipped, several minutes
- Place buttercream on half of your trees, then top with remaining tree brownies
- Melt your dark chocolate and coconut oil in 30 second intervals until smooth
- Dip each stuffed brownie into melted dark chocolate, then onto parchment paper, and to the fridge for chocolate and filling to fully set, about 30 minutes
- Decorate with melted white chocolate, dye-free sprinkles, and enjoy!