These might just be the best keto donuts ever! Sweet cinnamon scented donuts feature a rich brown butter glaze. So good, you’d never believe they are low carb and sugar-free.
Prize winning keto donuts? Okay, I confess, it’s more like keto recipe battle winning.
If you’ve ever seen the fun and hilarious High Falutin’ Low Carb on YouTube, you know what I am talking about. He takes two similar low carb recipes and tries them both out, on camera. He’s an absolute hoot to watch so I highly recommend seeking him out. It’s all done with good humor and good grace.
I am thrilled to say that he declared these keto donuts the winners. The look on his face as he takes a bite says it all!
If chocolate is more your style, make sure you check out my Keto Chocolate Donuts too!
Why you will love these donuts
Truth be told, I was never a donut fanatic. If someone brought them into school or work, I might have half of one. I always preferred muffins or scones.
Maybe that’s why I like keto donuts so much, as they really are just muffins baked in a donut pan. But you can have so much fun playing with flavors and frostings, and making your old favorites with far fewer carbs.
Brown butter is insanely delicious and it can totally transform your recipes from pretty good to absolutely outstanding. It’s great in sweet and savory recipes, everything from Brown Butter Chicken to my famous keto blondies.
It makes the perfect glaze for these keto donuts too. Delicious and sweet, with hints of caramel, it takes them to a whole new level.
Reader reviews
“Made these this morning for my family. So yummy! They were a hit with everyone, even my non-low carb kids. My husband and I were pleasantly pleased. Lol Will definitely make again!! I love browned butter so I knew I had to make the glaze as well. Thank you!” — Karin Owens
“May I please have the option to rate this at TEN STARS??? Omigosh, perfection! I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of a wee bit more cinnamon (I think I’m addicted to cinnamon lol), and I wouldn’t change a single thing. Sweet and tender and spicy (kind of like my fiancé, who can’t wait to sample a donut!), and something I’ve been missing since having to eliminate carbs. Thank you for yet another AMAZING recipe!!” — Wendy
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: This keto donut recipe is made with almond flour. If you would like to use a different flour, please check out the Expert Tips section where I address this in more detail.
- Sweetener: You will need a granulated sweetener for the donuts and a powdered sweetener for the glaze. I find that erythritol sweeteners like Swerve work best for both parts of the recipe. Please read the Expert Tips section for more sweetener options.
- Protein powder: In the absence of gluten, another dry protein helps baked goods rise and hold their shape. It’s what sets my keto muffins and cakes apart from the rest, as it gives them a lighter, fluffier consistency. You can also use egg white protein or vegan protein, but don’t use collagen protein.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon makes the donut super delicious, but you can just do vanilla if you prefer.
- Butter: This is the star of the show in this recipe so choose a high quality unsalted butter.
- Liquid: You can use almond milk, water, or a mix of cream and water.
- Heavy whipping cream: You will need to thin out the glaze with a bit of heavy cream.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Step-by-step directions
1. Whisk the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, Swerve, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. Stir in the wet ingredients: Stir in the eggs, melted butter, almond milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
3. Bake the donuts: Fill the wells of a greased standard donut pan about two thirds full. Bake at 325ºF for 15 to 18 minutes, or until lightly browned and just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool at least 15 minutes, then gently loosen and flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Brown the butter: Melt the butter in small skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browned and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.
5. Make the glaze: Place the powdered sweetener in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the browned butter until well combined. The mixture will be quite thick. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the cream at a time until a spreadable consistency is achieved. Stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Glaze the donuts: Spread glaze on cooled donuts and let set, about 20 minutes.
Expert tips
The baking pan
Choose a good donut pan. I’ve gone through quite a few donut pans in my day and they never seem to last long more than a year or two. Then I purchased the USA Donut Pan and it’s been going strong for 6 years now. It’s incredibly non-stick and your keto donuts will practically fall right out of them.
Yes, it is pricier than most, but you are paying for durability so you save money in the end. The coating is non-toxic so you don’t need to worry about that either!
You can also simply use a muffin pan and turn these into delicious muffins.
Keto flour options
This particular recipe uses almond flour, but you do have other options. Remember, though, you can’t simply swap coconut flour for almond flour and expect good results. They bake VERY differently. Please read my tutorials on baking with almond flour and baking with coconut flour for more information.
You can make a different donut as the base here, however. Try my Keto Samoa Donuts and add a little cinnamon to the mixture. Then use the brown butter glaze from this recipe. You can either cut the donut recipe in half or increase the glaze to make it work.
Sweetener options
I think both the donuts and the glaze turn out best with erythritol based sweeteners, but you can certainly try other options. Do keep in mind that allulose will make the donuts brown very quickly on the outside so keep your eye on them.
The glaze needs a powdered sweetener for the correct consistency. Swerve Confectioners works best, in my opinion. Powdered allulose or BochaSweet may make the glaze a little thinner so hold back the cream until you see how it comes out. You may need to add additional sweetener to thicken it.
Be patient and let the brown butter cool properly before adding it to the glaze. Otherwise the sweetener can clump badly and cause the glaze to separate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conventional donuts are high in carbs, fat, and sugars so they are not keto friendly. But baked donuts are super easy to make at home with a donut pan. And you can easily make them with almond flour or coconut flour for a healthier, low carb treat.
People with diabetes need to be very careful about how many carbs and sugars they consume. But choosing low carb or keto recipes can allow diabetics to indulge in treats that don’t spike their blood sugar. So this recipe could easily be considered diabetes friendly. I find that they don’t raise my blood sugar at all.
These keto donuts have 6.8g of carbs and 3.2g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.6g net carbs per donut.
More healthy donut recipes
Vanilla Protein Donuts
With 12g of protein, these delicious protein donuts make a fabulous keto snack. Tender and sweet, these baked vanilla donuts are easy to make and fun to eat!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts
Tender keto chocolate donuts with a sweet sugar-free peanut butter glaze. These chocolate peanut butter donuts are an easy and fun breakfast treat!
Keto Donuts Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 1/2 cups (158 g) almond flour
- 6 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tbsp vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 1/2 tsp (1.5 tsp) baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (62.5 g) almond milk, (can sub half cream and half water)
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) vanilla extract
Glaze
- 3 tbsp butter
- 7 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 to 2 tbsp (1 tbsp) heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) vanilla extract
Instructions
Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF and grease 8 wells of a donut pan (If your pan only holds 6, you can make muffins with the remaining batter or work in batches).
- In a large bowl, whisk together teh almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the eggs, melted butter, almond milk, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Fill the donut pan wells approximately 2/3 full and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until the donuts are lightly browned and just firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan 15 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- Melt the butter in small skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the butter is browned and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.
- Place the powdered sweetener in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the browned butter until well combined. The mixture will be quite thick. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the cream at a time until a spreadable consistency is achieved. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Spread glaze on cooled donuts and let set, about 20 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Brown butter glaze!!! You are a genius! I want this glaze on a donut, on French toast, on some snickerdoodles! Oh, just remarkable! 😀
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 🙂
I was never really that into donuts…until I got my own donut pan! 😉
We were just talking about donuts yesterday, so we are definitely going to give these a try. They look delicious.
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.
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.
Thanks. Just might try that.
Is there any substitute that i can use for whey protein powder?
Egg white protein powder also works.
I don’t have flavored whey protein I don’t believe…can’t I still use some of that or do i need it at all…thanks
We made the fried low carb donuts tonight in a mini muffin pan. Like donut holes!
If you have flavorless whey protein powder instead of vanilla, is there any adjustment to be made? More vanilla extract? Powdered vanilla?
It will turn out the same so you can keep the vanilla about the same.
I’m such a big fan of donuts and this glaze has me drooling!
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. 🙂
Wow you made the already! And oops on the donut pan…I’ve done that more times than I’d like to remember.
Yummy! These doughnuts sound fantastic!
Can powdered Stevia be used instead of liquid Stevia. If so how much?
Thank you.
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.
Nice, Carolyn! I truly believe everything is better with brown butter! These donuts look great!
Can’t wait to make these when I am reunited with my donut pan post-vacation! Yum!
Oh my. These are amazing!
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.
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!
oh WOW……..my mouth is watering just reading that title! these sound amazing Carolyn!
These look amazing! Just pinned them
Carolyn – you always amaze me with your ability to create such incredible low-carb treats!
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
I am so glad to hear that!
These sound unbelievable, Carolyn! Brown butter really is so good:-)