Tender low carb donuts with sugar-free browned butter glaze. These just may be the ultimate low carb breakfast treat!
Browned butter. Just the very words are enough to send shivers of delight down my spine. I love butter as it is, but there is something about heating it to the point where it becomes nutty and fragrant that is pure heaven. Typically I’ve used browned butter in savoury dishes, as sauce for fish or vegetables. Combined with some lemon and capers, or some crispy sage leaves, and that browned butter sauce will have you running your fingers across your plate, trying to get every last drop into your mouth. I’ve only tried browned butter once in a sweet recipe, and although the cookies were good, the flavour of the butter didn’t really come through. I suppose I just didn’t use it in a high enough concentration. Lesson learned…when it comes to browned butter, there is never too much of a good thing.
I recently saw donuts with a browned butter glaze on Foodgawker, and although I didn’t even glance at the recipe, knowing it would be carb and sugar-laden, the idea struck a chord. I knew I had to come up with my own version and see if it would be as good as I imagined. I let the idea take shape in my mind, knowing that the donut itself had to have some flavour to stand up to the intensity of the glaze. Cinnamon seemed like the very thing to complement the glaze and have enough flavour on its own.
Now, this is going to be one of those recipes where you should do as I say, not as I do. These donuts were amazing, and the glaze tasted like caramel. The execution, however, left a little something to be desired. As I often do, I was trying to save time and water by combining my glaze ingredients into the same pot where I’d browned the butter. But the heat of the pot had the effect of cooking the glaze further and it began to thicken and clump. I realized mid-stream that I should have had my Swerve ready to go in another bowl, and whisked my browned butter into it, instead of the other way around. I quickly transferred everything to a new bowl, whisked in more Swerve and then my vanilla and cream. I couldn’t quite beat out some of the clumps, but the glaze was still delicious and actually spread quite nicely on the cooled donuts.
Tender low carb cinnamon donuts with a sugar-free browned butter glaze. These just may be the ultimate low carb breakfast treat!
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp butter melted
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 10 drops liquid stevia
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp butter
- 7 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 to 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
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For the donuts, lightly grease a donut pan and preheat oven to 325F.
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In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, Swerve, protein powder, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
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Stir in melted butter, eggs, almond milk, stevia and vanilla extract until well combined.
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Fill donut pan holes approximately 2/3 full and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until donuts are lightly browned and set.
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Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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Repeat with any remaining batter.
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For the glaze, melt butter in small skillet over medium heat. Cook until butter is browned and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Place powdered Swerve in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in browned butter until well combined. Mixture will be thick.
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Stir in 1 tbsp of cream at a time until a spreadable consistency is achieved.
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Stir in vanilla extract.
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Spread glaze on cooled donuts and let set, about 20 minutes.
*How many donuts you get will depend on the size of your donut pan. Some are a little bigger than others. Mine is on the smaller side, although not a mini-donut pan.
Lauren at Keep It Sweet says
These sound unbelievable, Carolyn! Brown butter really is so good:-)
Jeanette says
Carolyn – you always amaze me with your ability to create such incredible low-carb treats!
Gail Desena says
I came home and found these as my daughter is on the ketogentic life style program.
To my surprise I have to say OMG, as good if not better than any donut I’ve ever eaten.
Thanks
Carolyn says
I am so glad to hear that!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
These look amazing! Just pinned them
TidyMom says
oh WOW……..my mouth is watering just reading that title! these sound amazing Carolyn!
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
Ok… now normally I’d be skeptical with the whole low carb donut thing (should those words be in the same sentence?) but then you snuck in the brown butter glaze and, well, when you add brown butter, you can do no wrong.
Carolyn says
You know what? I was never much of a fan of donuts, but once I started making my own low carb version, I fell hard. And it’s so fun to tell my kids they get donuts for breakfast…they look so happy!
[email protected] says
Oh my. These are amazing!
Katharine says
Can’t wait to make these when I am reunited with my donut pan post-vacation! Yum!
JulieD says
Nice, Carolyn! I truly believe everything is better with brown butter! These donuts look great!
Linda says
Can powdered Stevia be used instead of liquid Stevia. If so how much?
Thank you.
Carolyn says
I’ve never used powdered stevia but I know it’s potent stuff. I wouldn’t use more than about 1/4 tsp, if that.
Russell at Chasing Delicious says
Yummy! These doughnuts sound fantastic!
Vanessa says
I made a few modifications to make them dairy-free:
I used Jay Robb Egg White Protein Powder (chocolate was all I have on hand) instead of Whey. I used coconut oil instead of butter in the donut batter. I used homemade ghee (I already had some browned) and coconut milk for the frosting along with a few drops of stevia (in addition to the powdered erythritol).
They turned out wonderful except for the part where I didn’t grease my donut pan and they stuck to the bottom. 🙂
Carolyn says
Wow you made the already! And oops on the donut pan…I’ve done that more times than I’d like to remember.
Cassie says
I’m such a big fan of donuts and this glaze has me drooling!
Marcia says
I know you wouldn’t get the “donut effect” if you didn’t use a donut pan, but can you see this working … in a muffin pan, for example? I just can’t bring myself to buy another piece of equipment that I will use only in a blue moon. Looks yummy.
Carolyn says
Yes, I think you could do muffins with these. I’d probably double the batter, if I wanted a decent sized muffin. Bake at the same temp, but for longer…probably at least 5 minutes more.
Marcia says
Thanks. Just might try that.
amber la fave says
We made the fried low carb donuts tonight in a mini muffin pan. Like donut holes!
Stacy Wade says
We were just talking about donuts yesterday, so we are definitely going to give these a try. They look delicious.
Shannon K. says
That’s it. I’m going out today to buy donut molds. Maybe even minis just for fun. Or maybe I’ll get reeeeaaaallllly crazy and buy both! But THIS is the recipe I’ll make 🙂
Carolyn says
I was never really that into donuts…until I got my own donut pan! 😉
Tiffany says
Brown butter glaze!!! You are a genius! I want this glaze on a donut, on French toast, on some snickerdoodles! Oh, just remarkable! 😀
Amanda says
These are beautiful!! Love these fun doughnuts!!
Lisa | With Style and Grace says
love the addition of protein powder! seems to removes a little bit of the guilt 🙂
[email protected] says
Carolyn, I had a dream about these last night! I swear I did. I saw your post last night on FB with the photo of these donuts, and I swear I could not get them off my mind…so I ended up dreaming about them. :/ Girl’s gotta eat! 😉
Carolyn says
Well there could be worse dream! How are you, Kate!!!?!?!?
[email protected] says
I’m feeling a whole lot better now …that is, after having the little one 🙂 I can eat again, I can bake again, and don’t have to worry about morning (all day) sickness 🙂
Carolyn says
Wonderful!
TracyKM says
I’m curious to know (and maybe this is somewhere on your site, but it’s 9:47pm and I want to make something NOW to take to an amusement park tomorrow!)….but how does the Swerve measure out compared to other sweeteners? Is it measured the same as sugar (1/4 sugar is replaced by 1/4 cup Swerve)? I’d have to use Splenda, and the white and brown Splenda’s are measured out differently…..I’d love it if in your recipes you include what the comparable amount of sugar would be so we can easily swap in our own sweeteners.
Carolyn says
Swerve can be used cup for cup like sugar. But splenda won’t work very well for the topping, I don’t think.
Roxana | Roxana's Home Baking says
while we were away in South Carolina donuts were present at most of our breakfasts.
Yours sound so good, you can never have too much brown butter!
Rebekah says
These look fabbo! Could I use hazelnut meal instead of almond?
Carolyn says
Sure. But keep in mind that hazelnut meal usually isn’t as finely ground so your donuts may be a little less smooth looking.
Holly says
I made these 2 days ago, and my husband has declared them to be his favourite gluten & grain-free treat yet! I made them in a mini bundt tin, and 8 cakes took 18 mins to bake. They really were delicious, the only problem I had was the icing turned out a little gritty. Any suggestions?
Carolyn says
Hi Holly, what kind of powdered sweetener did you use? I think maybe a little more cream would have helped a bit. Here’s a suggestion….mix the powdered erythritol and cream before adding the browned butter. I think it might dissolve better that way.
Johanna says
I made these in a regular sixed muffin tin. The recipe as-is made 6 muffins and they took approx 22 mins to bake.
I do not have liquid stevia so I used liquid splenda – have no clue as to the conversion so I winged it – used a little more than 1/4 c worth of sweetener (about 18 drop liquid splenda)
They were good but not sweet enpugh on their own w/out the icing.
The icing was not my favorite – the swerve stayed gritty and had a cooling effect (although def not as pronounced as my regular erythritol) I did use the confectioners swerve. I don’t think I care for the taste of so much erythritol, I find it gets bitter and burns my tongue and mouth when used this way, in this quantity. next time I may try adding powdered isomalt and polyd to my butter on the stove, melting it then adding the swerve and letting it melt completely, then take off heat and add cream. it may be more praline-like but the crystalization is not good to me. The taste itself was good – Just the after taste/mouth feel of so much erythritil. I must be sensitive to it!
I will def make the donut recipe again and play with the icing… I will have to try the other technique of dissolving the swerve in the cream first as well. Also Iwonder if I cool the browned butter in the fridge before I add to the swerve if that will prevent recrystalization.
Leigh says
Just made these after thinking about them for days. So, so, so good. I’m new to making donuts, and these were more dense than I expected, but still so very good. Will be making these again!
Liz says
I knew these would be good, but I’m STUNNED at *how* good! This was my first attempt at a baked good since going low-carb and wheat-free, and I have to tell you, with recipes like this one to alleviate a donut/cake/sweet craving, I honestly don’t see any reason why I would need to have a traditionally-made donut ever again. I *so* appreciate your efforts with these recipes… they really make me feel like this can absolutely be a permanent lifestyle for me, with no need to “cheat”!
Rebekah says
I made these tonight because I wanted something not chocolate or cheesecakey & hoped the kids would like. My eldest hates most of my sugar-free baking, so I was determined to make this recipe a little sweeter. I added some extra erythritol equivalent to a 1/3 of a cup, added 10 drops of maple extract along with vanilla extract & some extra cinnamon.
The glaze is not done yet, these babies just came out of the oven. My eldest tried a quarter & is asking for more! My toddler is a little harder to please though….
Winning recipe, will make these for an upcoming toddler birthday party. Carolyn, how do you come up with all these fantastic recipes??
Carolyn says
Phew, when I read the first part of your comment, I thought they weren’t going to have made the grade! I have no idea how I come up with these, they just pop into my head and I do them. I have a long list of things I want to make and there isn’t time enough in the world for me to make them all!
Celeste says
Oh my! I made these donuts this afternoon! What a treat they are.
I did make a few changes… Used egg substitute and used Liquid splenda in place of the stevia. I used 18 drops for the donut part of the recipe. For some reason the stevia leaves me with a terrible after taste. Don’t know why…
I added 10 drops of liquid splenda to the Glaze. Only had to use 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.. It was perfect!
My DH had one and he did just fine with blood sugar control… He has been a type I Diabetic since he was 12 years old. Now 58 years old. He keeps extremely tight control of his blood sugar and so far the recipes I have tried from you site have been just fine for him. FYI…. his last A1C was 5.3
He has not had a donut since he was a little boy. Haha… He licked the bowl of the glaze!
Carolyn says
How wonderful! I am so glad for your husband that these worked out well. His A1c is fantastic! And I am so glad that one of my recipes gave him a chance to have donuts again.
Katharine says
Just made these! I subbed plain whey protein powder and upped the vanilla to 3/4 tsp in the donuts (Sometimes the vanilla protein powder is too strong for me). My glaze doesn’t look anything like yours, but luckily it still tastes fantastic!! I just ate an entire one and swear it resembled the beloved cake donuts I used to eat every Sunday as a child. And the smell of that brown butter icing is AMAZING. I couldn’t stop smelling it. Wow! I think this is one of my favorites from your site, Carolyn. Thank you!
Katharine says
Just made these. Again. Delicious! Best part was I tested my blood sugar before eating one…and again 2 hours afterwards. And it was a few points LOWER than when I started! The glaze smells SO good when it’s warm, I can hardly stand it! I just stand there sniffing and sniffing and sniffing…..my kids don’t really like them, but that’s fine….more for ME! 🙂
Carolyn says
What is with kids, eh? Mine loved the donuts, but only without the glaze. WHAT??? 🙂
Katharine says
So your kids are crazy, too! 🙂 Ha! I’ll try making some without the glaze and see if they eat those….
lisa says
I finally made these last night. Never did brown butter before and your instructions were perfect! I want to find other uses for it! The glaze never got to be “spreadable” so I’m unsure what I did wrong there but I poured over the cooled donuts as a glaze and the butter hardened up after. Delicious!!!!!!!
Lauralee says
Just made these and they were amazing… even without the glaze! Thank you so much.
valerie says
Can the whey protein powder be sub with anything else? or left out?
Carolyn says
They won’t rise very well if you don’t have some sort of additional protein, even if it’s egg white powder or hemp protein.
Xotchil says
Would xanthan gum work? Im new to Keto and also gluten free baking. I see xantham gum in a lot of recipes but am unsure of what it does and or replaces. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Xanthan gum helps hold baked goods together but it won’t help them rise. You really need the protein powder for that.
Sandi DeFalco says
Carolyn – I finally got around to making these. I LOVE THESE!!!! The donut flavor, with the added vanilla whey protein, is by far better than coconut flour donuts I have made in the past. The browned butter glaze, wowee!! I tasted it before putting on the donuts, to see if it was good, double WOW! It reminds me so much of caramel that I came back to read the post and sure enough you said it tasted like caramel. I was so anxious to try the donut (even though it wasn’t completely cooled) so I put some glaze on it. Normally, I don’t like glazed donuts, or glazed anything. But this version is awesome! Now, I went back to the kitchen to add the rest of the glaze to the other 7 donuts that are completely cooled now. So, here I am waiting for another 20 minutes (glaze is starting to thicken, oh yes) for the glaze to set and will have a second donut. I am so happy I decided to try these this morning. I’m assuming I could store these (whatever is left of them) in an airtight container, but do I refrigerate them? Forget about freezing them, they will never make it to that stage.
Carolyn says
I think you could have them on the counter for a day or two, probably no more than that. Glad you like them so much!
Dee says
I am allergic 2 almonds, is there another flour I can use?
Carolyn says
Are you allergic to all tree nuts?
jean says
Can these be made without protein powder?
Andre Chimene says
Carolyn, you make Diabetes Delicious!
Carolyn says
Well, I try! 🙂
Bryony Blood says
What about sour cream donuts? That is my fav……..
Carolyn says
I’ve never heard of them. Do you have a link to a recipe that I could make over?
Bryony Blood says
Sure! Here is one: http://www.completelydelicious.com/2012/01/old-fashioned-sour-cream-doughnuts.html
Saw a version at whole foods the other day and I was so sad not to have one!
Janet says
Wow! I didn’t know something “healthy” could taste this FABULOUS!!!!! And the aroma as they were baking was an appetizer like no other. My husband LOVED them. He said they’re better then what you buy then added, “they’re better then home made”….. which of course tickled my funny bone because they ARE home made. Makes me feel like a Kitchen Queen to be able to offer these to my husband and growing boys. I bought 2 donut pans and can see they will be put to good use. THANK-YOU for the inspiration and the FABULOUS recipe. Thank-you even more for doing “what you do” and blazing the way for us others who are looking into low carbing and gluten free, taking out the hard part, and handing us these golden recipes on a silver platter! May you be RICHLY BLESSED. If you decided to publish cookbooks I’d love the opportunity to purchase one! Happy Thursday to you 🙂
Heather from Canada says
Hi Carolyn. Could I use a bit of Bob’s red mill gf flour or peanut flour in place of the protein powder? Protein powders give me violent migraines, I think from the soy lecithin generally used as a preservative. Thanks!
Carolyn says
Sure, or if you can find powdered egg white, that would work too.
Belenda says
Have had these pinned forever and finally took the time to make them this morning. The donuts, alone, are pleasantly and surprisingly good. I have way too many fails with almond flour recipes being moist. The icing – not so much. Too much of the cooling aftertaste for me. However, not all is lost. I have cream cheese sitting out and plan on mixing that brown butter icing, couple tablespoons at a time, into the cream cheese. I hope to salvage the brown butter concept.
Carolyn says
Did you use Swerve or a different erythritol?
Mindy says
Hi Carolyn, I can’t wait to make these! I think I may try substituting maple extract for vanilla in the glaze as I love maple donuts. I’ve been wondering if these along with other recipes such as your coconut raspberry muffins,coffee cake, etc. could be frozen? I’m not sure how the swerve freezes up. Thanks again,I’m going to give you credit for being able to stick to my low carb,no sugar lifestyle and continue with my passion for baking! Thank you a million times over!!!
Sara says
What’s the batter consistency when it’s done? I did something wrong.
Carolyn says
Pretty thick (thicker than traditional batters) but still scoopable and spreadable.
Sara says
Mine was somehow crumbly, not batter at all.
Carolyn says
Yes, something went very wrong here. What kind of almond flour did you use?
Judy says
This recipe is fabulous! The perfect combination for Fall or anytime. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We really loved it.
The Brown Butter Glaze is the icing on the cake! 🙂
Leah says
Amazing! Followed recipe mostly to a tee but used the Babycakes donut maker (also dipped some of them into your ganache recipe!) they are what dreams are made of!! Love your recipes! Thanks so much!
Becky says
I made these today and oh, they are so wonderful. My husband had to ask if these were something that I could eat too. He didn’t know, and couldn’t tell, they were low carb. Do they need to be refrigerated?
Carolyn says
I love it when I hear that. Thanks, Becky!
Tiffani Butler says
Made these last night, with xylitol though, there are a couple of stores I still need to try to find Swerve, they were amazing. But when I put them in My Fitness Pal, they came out to 13 net carbs with my ingredients, I guess 9 when I subtract the sugar alcohol.
Jenn says
I made these and they were absolutely amazing. I used low carb chocolate Isopure protein because it’s my favourite, but the chocolate didn’t pull through, which is fine. I also used sugar free cinnamon sugar syrup (the Torani kind) in lieu of the vanilla. For the frosting, something about 7tbs of Swerve makes me think it’s too sweet. I used 3tbs Swerve powered, 3tlbs browned butter, and about 1.5tbs cream cheese to add thickness, and a splash of cream to get the spreading consistency i needed, and again a touch of the Sugar Free Cinnamon torani which complements the browned butter! I have a feeling these are going to disappear! They are amazing!
Teresa says
I made these using baking blend. Had to add water cause consistency was really dry. Have you tried these with baking blend?
Carolyn says
I think you must have made some error if they were really dry. Baking blend would make them far dryer than almond flour.
Shirley says
I have never used Whey Protein Powder before. Are they all about the same, or is there something particular I should look for?
Carolyn says
Look for things without a lot of sweetener or added carbs.
Daisy says
Is there a substitute for the erythritol? I have a hard time digesting it. Thanks.
Carolyn says
If you have trouble with erythritol, you may also have trouble with xylitol and that’s the only decent sub I can think of here.
Cheryl from Melbourne Australia says
As a major fan of cinnamon donuts prior to Keto, this was a true winner. I used a mini donut maker and this recipe yielded 39 pieces. It takes will power not to chow down on all 39 of them in one go. I let some non-keto friends try and they absolutely loved it….all the yummy-ness without the nastiness 🙂 The dough has good body and bite once it’s cooked. Delicious even without the glaze. Thanks Carolyn! You are definitely my go-to for my low carb recipes as have tried quite a few already.
Cheryl from Melbourne Australia says
As an extra note, I used Xylitol, Quest multi-purpose protein powder and almond meal.
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them, Cheryl!
Robin says
We made these today to celebrate my birthday. Awesome yumminess! We did have to let them cool a bit longer because a couple stuck to the pan in the first go round. A non-low carbing friend says he prefers these to the donut shop. These are so great, I can’t wait to sleep so I can get up and have another one tomorrow. Again, thanks so much!
Carolyn says
Wonderful to hear!
kathy says
what could I use in lieu of the liquid stevia in the cinnamon donut recipe?
Wendy says
OH my goodness!! These are sooo delicious! Thank you, Carolyn! ❤️
Lyndsey Knight says
These look delicious! Sorry if you have already answered this, but could I use coconut flour instead of almond? Would the amounts be similar to your chocolate donuts?
Carolyn says
Look up my Samoa Donuts, those have coconut flour and no chocolate so they might work.
Jewel says
This recipe is absolutely a winner. I can’t wait to snack on them during the week. I didn’t have any powdered sweetener on hand, and was too lazy to blend some granulated, so I tried to dissolve it while the butter was browning. It worked great – but didn’t look quite like yours. This recipe, and the maple pecan scones make me feel like I’m not missing out on yummy-but-not-healthy carb breakfasts! Thank you!
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Connie says
I made these donuts (but a different glaze) last night. Had one for breakfast. Oh my gracious. they are SOO good. Thank you for sharing. Got the heads up from Highfalutin Low carb guy on Youtube.
Anj G. says
What if I don’t have whey powder? I’m not in the US and some of keto ingredients are hard to come by. Is there something that I can substitute that with? Xanthan Gum, Ground Flax, Ground Psyllium husk maybe?
Carolyn says
You can skip it but your donuts may not rise as well.
Nina F. Elgo says
Outstanding! I made a slightly altered version of this amazing recipe. I used monkfruit/lekanto sweetener instead and only half the recommended amount and eliminated the heavy cream and forgot the vanilla. I drizzled the very light syrup on the finished donuts and it soaked it some but on the edges of the donut was crunchy, crispiness, not unlike a wonderful glazed donut. I shared with a few friends and they were blown away.
Ann the truck driver says
Just made these today to pack for my lunch. I may have ate a couple early lol. Very delicious! What are you spaying your pans with???? I used coconut oil ( can type ) experienced some of the donuts sticking to the pan still 🤔
Carolyn says
I have a super non-stick non-toxic pan from USA Pans so I can use whatever grease I want. If yours is not as non-stick (and they do lose that ability slowly over time), then I recommend double-greasing. First with a solid fat like butter or coconut oil, and then a spray.