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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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!
That’s a lovely compliment, thank you!
Is there a protein powder that you recommend?
I just recommend grassfed, mostly.
Low-carb donuts sound heavenly! Love the brown butter glaze!
These make for the perfect breakfast or treat! Love the glaze!
Delicious! I absolutely adore the brown butter frosting! I love the almond flour in here. I can’t believe how good these are and they’re so friendly to my diet! Yum…still shouldn’t eat to many, though I’m guessing. 🙂
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 ????
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.
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.
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?
You can skip it but your donuts may not rise as well.
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.
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!
So glad to hear it!
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?
Look up my Samoa Donuts, those have coconut flour and no chocolate so they might work.
OH my goodness!! These are sooo delicious! Thank you, Carolyn! ❤️
what could I use in lieu of the liquid stevia in the cinnamon donut recipe?
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!
Wonderful to hear!
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.
As an extra note, I used Xylitol, Quest multi-purpose protein powder and almond meal.
So glad you liked them, Cheryl!
Is there a substitute for the erythritol? I have a hard time digesting it. Thanks.
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.