Moist and Fluffy Paleo Zebra Snack Cakes

If you grew up with Little Debbie Snacks, you know just how good Zebra Cakes are. However, having this knowledge isn’t great when you’re eating healthy and you pass by that box of deliciousness, you try and convince yourself that it isn’t good for you but that evil little smile is saying “buy me!” so mean…  However, I have the solution for your craving! This recipe yields a perfectly moist cake that pairs perfectly with the sweet and fluffy creme filling, all topped with a lovely white chocolate topping, you can’t help but make this!

The Little Debbie branded Zebra Cakes contain an astonishing 35 ingredients! It’s not just the amount that’s crazy but out of the 35 ingredients you may only recognize 4 or 5 and they’re sugar, corn syrup, white flour, etc. all of which aren’t that great for you. This recipe uses only 13 ingredients, all of which are great for you and can be easily pronounced.

Zebra cakes have three simple components: the cake, the filling and the topping. The cake is a very simple recipe but yields a very moist and delicious cake, I recommend to make the marshmallow fluff (the filling) while your cake bakes, by the time your cakes are out of the oven and cooled, you’ll be ready to assemble! The topping is the easiest part, simply melt your chocolate and spread on top, just the perfect touch… the icing on the cake!

Once you make these, you can finally laugh in the face of Little Debbie since she can no longer tempt you with her Zebra Cakes because you’ve found the perfect replacement, take that Little Debbie! Okay… that might be a little aggressive but you get the point that you have the perfect replacement. After writing about this so much, I want one of these right now… I guess I’ll get to baking too! 🙂

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Moist and Fluffy Paleo Zebra Cakes

Just like the Little Debbie Snacks you grew up with but without all the sugar and processed ingredients!

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, paleo, Refined Sugar Free, SCD

Servings: 14 Snack Cakes

Calories: 236kcal

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• ½ Cup Coconut oil Melted
• 2 Large Eggs
• ¾ Cup Coconut milk (or sub dairy-free milk of choice)
• ¾ Cup Maple Syrup
• ½ Tbsp Vanilla
• 3 Cups Almond Flour
• ½ Tbsp Baking powder*
• ¼ Tsp Salt

For the Filling:

• 6 Tbsp Egg whites (I used pastureized from carton)
• ⅛ Tsp Cream of Tartar
• 6 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• 2 Tbsp Water
• 1 Pinch Salt
• ½ Tsp Vanilla

For the Shell:

• 12 oz Bag Dairy-Free White Chocolate Chips
• ¼ Cup Dairy-Free Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 ½ Tbsp Coconut oil Divided

Instructions

For the Cake:

• Preheat Oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
• Combine the coconut oil, eggs, milk, maple syrup and vanilla in a large bowl, mix and set aside
• In a seperate bowl, combine almond flour, baking powder and, salt, mix to combine
• Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing well between each addition
• Spread batter in an even layer on lined baking sheet and bake at 350° F for 25-30 minutes
• Allow cakes to cool completely before slicing and assembling

For the Filling:

• While the cake is baking, prepare your filling
• combine water and maple syrup in a saucepan over medium heat, stand by with a candy thermometer, you don't want it to burn
• In your mixing bowl add the egg whites and cream of tartar
• Once your syrup mixture reaches 225°F begin whipping your egg whites to soft peaks
• Once your syrup mixture reaches 240°F, remove from heat
• Start your mixer on low and slowly pour the hot syrup into the egg whites**
• Once all the syrup is poured, turn the mixer up to high and beat for 10 minutes or until the mixture is fluffy and holds soft peaks
• Add in the salt and vanilla

For the Assembly:

• Slice the cooled cake into 28 2-inch squares
• Spread some of your filling on one square and sandwich another square on top, repeat until all cakes are filled
• Melt the white chocolate with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• Spread the white chocolate on the cakes then, chill until set
• Melt the semi-sweet chocolate with ½ of a tablespoon of coconut oil and drizzle on chilled cakes then, chill until set (optional)
• enjoy! 🙂

Notes

Calorie calculation is an estimate, calories may vary

*Not all baking powder is corn-free, you can easily make corn-free baking powder by taking 1 part baking soda and 2 parts cream of tartar, in this case, I used 1 gram baking soda and 1 gram cream of tartar.