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 ½ cups almond flour
- 6 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoon butter melted
- ¼ cup almond milk (can sub half cream and half water)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Glaze
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 7 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 to 2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ¼ teaspoon 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 ⅔ 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.
Pam Dugan says
These sound amazing. What are your thoughts of making them in a mini waffle iron. I have been making various “chaffles”.
Carolyn says
Sorry, I really can’t say how that would work out. I haven’t tried it myself.
Jennifer says
Just made these and they are so tasty! I didn’t use any glaze, I found they didn’t need it and I browned the 3 tbsp butter in the dough for extra depth. I made them in a silicone donut pan with no problems releasing them. Even my 7 year old loved them and she eats Dunkin’! I froze them with no issues. I just thaw on the counter so they are ready for afternoon coffee.
Fatima W says
These are amazing. It is my go to doughnut recipe for keto. I once substituted vanilla collagen protein when I didn’t have whey protein and they were still amazing. Love them!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
Nancy says
I was looking for some that didn’t taste like sawdust and I finally found it! I made the chocolate ones as a test run after I got my doughnut pan and they were okay. So when I made the Cinnamon donuts I use 1/2 Almond and 1/2 Coconut flour and toasted the flour in the oven until it was light brown before I used it. I doubled the cinnamon and added a pinch of nutmeg. This is the first time I actually enjoyed something made out of Coconut or Almond flour! My husband agreed that these are good! Thank you!
Nicole Carroll says
So. Freaking. Good. I didn’t have swerve so used Lakanto Classic, and am allergic to chicken eggs so I used 2 duck eggs minus maybe a TBS or so due to size difference. When I tried one, I did a double take in my head because I couldn’t believe how tasty, moist and cake like these were. I expected decent and got amazing. The doughnuts came out perfect. I don’t like glazed doughnuts so didn’t top these. Thank you so much for this not so little piece of heaven!
Erin says
My daughter made these for me the other day. The donuts are amazing but the glaze way too sweet, it hurt my stomach. Do you have any other kind of glaze to put on top? Thank you!
Carolyn says
Just skip it!
Vivian says
Can you use coconut milk instead of almond milk?
Annette Flanery says
Does it make a difference if we dont add the whey protein?
Carolyn says
Yes, it certainly does. Watch the video and you will understand why it’s important.
Kai says
These are delicious! How long do they keep on the counter, in the fridge, and in the freezer?
Pat says
Can you sub collagen powder for the whey protein? If so, same amount? Thank you
Carolyn says
No, it makes baked goods gummy and hard to cook through. YOu’re better off skipping the protein powder altogether in that case.
Pat says
Thank you.
Fawn says
Can you use Monkfruit sweetener instead of Swerve? Or do you recommend jus using swerve since it has worked best for you? I can’t wait to try this recipe! I love donuts way too much to give them up completely!
Carolyn says
If by “monk fruit sweetener” you mean a blend like Lakanto, then yes. But REAL monk fruit is a highly concentrated extract.
Jennifer says
How much vanilla should I add if I’m using plain whey protein?
Thanks!
Carolyn says
1/2 a teaspoon should do it!
Karin Owens says
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!
Carolyn says
Happy to hear it!
Sara says
So delicious!! I used vegan butter and a pea protein powder. I am so happy to have found this recipe. Will definitely be a go to when I’m craving something light and sweet.
Rebecca says
I don’t have donut molds, so I did attempt making them in the smaller rings of a Kransekake mold, but they come out too thin. I decided to try them in mini muffin tins and I am able to get 24 mini muffins per batch making them about 1 carb each. They are perfect for a quick sweet snack and my husband loves them! The browned butter glaze is to die for!! I’ve made these several times now and they are a regular in our house! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
Geral says
These donuts are as delicious as they look. I made sure to buy the pan Carolyn suggested, followed the recipe exactly, and was rewarded with amazing donuts.
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
Lynn says
If I have one weakness, it’s donuts. I’ve tried other recipes, and they didn’t come close now I’ve tossed out all my other donut recipes because no one’s can compare to this recipe. I just dusted mine in a mixture of Swerve sugar and brown sugar and they were amazing. Next time I’ll do the icing, too. Many thanks for all you do for us keto-its!
Carolyn says
That’s a lovely compliment, thank you!
Maria C Rodrigues says
Is there a protein powder that you recommend?
Carolyn says
I just recommend grassfed, mostly.
Anna says
Low-carb donuts sound heavenly! Love the brown butter glaze!
Erin says
These make for the perfect breakfast or treat! Love the glaze!