I was never that much of a donut person growing up. I knew plenty of people who were obsessed with them, but I could take them or leave them. That is until I invested in a donut pan and started making my own keto donuts. My kids love them and I have so much fun playing with ingredients and flavors. It is a wonderful outlet for my baking creativity.
Believe me when I say that these glazed Keto Lemon Donuts are as delicious as they are pretty!
In my many years of experimenting with keto baking, I have found that coconut flour is excellent for making donuts. People are often intimidated by baking with coconut flour, because it doesn’t behave like any other ingredient on the planet. But with a little coaxing, the results can be light, fluffy, and ultra-tender.
My Keto Chocolate Donuts are coconut flour-based, and readers rave about them. So I knew it was just the thing for whipping up some delicious low carb lemon donuts too.
What readers are saying…
“I made these this weekend and we LOVED them. I also took them to work for my non keto co-workers and they had no idea they weren’t “real donuts”. I am a huge fan now! Thanks so much for all you do.” — Tammy
Why You Will Love These Keto Lemon Donuts
- Great texture: They are so delightfully tender and fluffy!
- Bright, tangy flavor: All that wonderful fresh lemon flavor shines through.
- Easy to make: They are ready to go in about 30 minutes.
- Nut-free: No almond flour or any nut meals, so they are perfect for people with nut sensitivities.
- Keto-friendly: No gluten, grains, or sugars!
Ingredient Notes
- Coconut flour: Different brands can vary quite a bit in absorbency so I recommend using Bob’s Red Mill. It is always very reliable and consistent.
- Protein powder: As with other baked goods like keto muffins, a little protein powder helps the donuts rise nicely and hold their shape. Whey or egg white work best in this recipe.
- Sweetener: You will need a granular sweetener for the donuts and a powdered sweetener for the glaze. See the Tips section for more details about sweeteners.
- Lemon: This recipe uses both lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Lemon extract: A little lemon extract helps boost the bright flavor.
- Heavy cream: I used some heavy cream in the glaze to make it thick and rich.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt.
How to Make Keto Lemon Donuts
- Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk together the coconut flour, protein powder, sweetener, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients: Stir in the eggs, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, and the extracts. Add water as needed.
- Bake the donuts: Divide the batter among the wells of the donut pan and bake until the donuts are set and firm to the touch.
- Let them cool: Remove and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: Whisk together the sweetener, cream, and lemon juice. Dip the donuts or drizzle overtop.
- Serve and enjoy!
Carolyn’s Keto Baking Tips
There is no standardization in donut pans and the size of the wells can vary a lot. I have a good pan from USA Pan that is non-stick and non-toxic that I love. It makes 6 good-sized donuts, so I highly recommend it!
No matter what pan you use, grease it well. I also recommend loosening the donuts from the pan after about 10 minutes of cooling. I find that they start to stick again if you leave them too long. I use a thin-bladed silicone spatula to loosen them.
I don’t specify an exact amount of water because it depends so much on the coconut flour. You may need more or less depending on what brand you use. Add just a few teaspoons at a time, stirring until you have a batter that is thick but easily scooped into the donut pan.
Sweetener Options
The sweetener you choose to use will affect the outcome of the donuts. For the donuts themselves, I highly recommend an erythritol-based sweetener. Anything with allulose will make them brown too quickly, and they will be too soft and fragile. If you prefer not to use erythritol, try sweetening them with pure stevia or monk fruit extract.
The glaze requires a powdered sweetener, but both allulose and erythritol work. I used a combination of both.
Keto Lemon Donuts Recipe
Ingredients
Donuts
- 7 tbsp coconut flour
- 3 tbsp granular sweetener, erythritol recommended
- 2 tbsp unflavored whey protein powder, or egg white protein powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tsp lemon, zest
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Water as needed
Glaze
- 1/4 cup powdered sweetener
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease 6 wells of a donut pan very well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir in the eggs, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract and vanilla extract until well combined. If the batter is very thick, add water a little bit at a time to thin it out a bit.
- Divide the batter among the wells of the donut pan. Bake about 15 minutes, until the donuts are set and firm to the touch. Remove and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sweetener, heavy cream, and enough lemon juice to achieve a drizzling consistency. Dip the donuts in the glaze or drizzle overtop.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
As a pre-diabetic myself, I would not recommend eating a conventional donut. However, you can make delicious low carb donuts at home that won’t raise your blood sugar. I have many wonderful recipes, so be sure to check them out!
You absolutely can! Try using egg white protein and avocado oil in the donuts, and replace the heavy cream in the glaze with coconut cream.
This keto lemon donut recipe has 6.2g of carbs and 3g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.2g net carbs per donut.
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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Amazing flavor. Texture was a little cornbread-like.
These are tremendous! As usual, thanks Carolyn! You are the best. I do have one comment… in the photo you have cream cheese listed as an ingredient. In the actual ingredient list,it does not appear.
how many donuts does your recipe make?
Please look at the top of the recipe card. That’s always where quantities are stated.
You go girl! I love your recipes just as written.
I had this recipe saved to my computer but I just got the chance to make it today. It was absolutely wonderful. I saw in earlier comments that they can be stored in an airtight container on counter for 3 days. Can these be frozen?
Yes, they freeze well!
Turned these into 24 mini muffins/ donut holes! Great snack to pack in my husbands lunch!
These are excellent! So happy to have discovered this recipe 🙂 Since I don’t get Swerve in the UK, I generally use a combination of erythritol, stevia and monk fruit sweetener, sweetening to taste. I love my dairy, but as I was making this for others too, I used coconut oil instead of ghee, just to be safe, and it worked just fine, didn’t taste coconutty as all. I needed the two tbsp lemon juice for the glaze, and the full 8 tbsp water for the batter, I guess it depends on the brand of coconut flour, mine must be super absorbent. I have a 7-hole doughnut silicone tray (weird, I know, and ideally I would use a metal doughnut tray, but I’ll have to buy one and I’m running out of cupboard space!) so I managed to divide the batter into this successfully and baked for 25 minutes in my fan-forced oven. Thank you Carolyn, keep being amazing, you make us all VERY happy!
I absolutely love your recipes! And I am going out of my way to tell you!! I rarely comment on a recipe, or on any blog, but I want you to know that your blog is my go-to when I need a recipe or want to find something new to try. I have loved EVERY.SINGLE.RECIPE, just the way it was written, especially the baked goods. I am a darn good cook and may tweak some of your dinners, but I can’t bake my way out of the pantry! I do not deviate from your baked goods, recipes. AND I have been amazed at the wonderful things that come out of my kitchen each time I bake one of them. I come to your blog first for everything from ideas and recipes, and know I will get a winner every time! Thank you, Carolyn!
Julie, I want to thank you for taking the time to comment and tell me. It’s such a pleasure to know my recipes find good reception like this!
I have a couple of your books but I would really like a receipt for FRIED DONUTS. love the crunchy crispy edges. Any suggestions? Could I fry the ones you bake?
Carolyn…May I call you Carolyn! ( I feel like I’ve known you forever!). I have been on this journey for just about two years. I have made and thrown away too many items to mention but nothing if yours. You are my go to for anything low carb. Thank you for all you do. I appreciate your hard work and dedication to this blog. Keep up the awesome job you are doing!
No, you must call me Keto Baking Queen! Kidding. 🙂 Of course, call me Carolyn! Thank you.
Delicious! No lemon extract on hand, so used some almond extract and lemon juice. Thank you for a successful first dessert attempt with my new donut pan. I’ve followed your blog for awhile, I always trust your recipes. 🙂
Just whipped these up, and they’re incredible! I used butter instead of ghee as I figured going to the store for one thing so I could make donuts during this pandemic, wasn’t the greatest idea. The donuts are still incredible and I can’t wait until my next trip to the store when I WILL pick up ghee and try them with that! Thanks so much for all you do – I LOVE your recipes and so appreciate you sharing them.
Hi Carolyn,
I love all of your recipes! I’ve been using them for several years because my daughter is type 1 and my husband and I are low carb. We just found out that my daughter can no longer have dairy, eggs or soy. I am trying these donuts as I write this. I’m using chia seed “eggs” and butter flavored coconut oil in place of ghee. The taste is amazing but do you have any suggestions on how to get them to actually bake? They are super soft, basically still dough! Im baking them
Longer. I’ll let you know if it works. Thanks again for your recipes. We have loved every single one of them we have tried.
Hi Shawn. I wish I had some suggestions. I’ve been experimenting a little with egg-free baking because of the “egg shortage” (which isn’t really a shortage, just the panic buying!). The trouble with almond flour and coconut flour is that without eggs, it lacks structure and is super crumbly. So it’s tricky. You may have better luck with commercial egg replacers like Bob’s Red Mill. They add some carbs, though…
Ok, thanks. I also wondered if a little xanthum gum would help hold them together? I ended up baking them about 35 minutes. They tasted great but fell apart. I will try again soon because the taste was worth experimenting.
Another thought that might help bind things like this is dairy free cream cheese. I am specifically thinking of Kite Hill, which works well to replace other cream cheese and has enough binders, it might add some structure. I’d also add additional baking powder, since eggs are part of what help keto treats rise properly.
Thank you for your help. I may try again tomorrow. I actually bought a few kite hill products last week when we got the news of my daughters food sensitivities. We all loved these donuts. They were just messy! Thank you for all of your delicious low carb recipes.
Carolyn,
I made these this weekend and we LOVED them. I also took them to work for my non keto co-workers and they had no idea they weren’t “real donuts”. I am a huge fan now! Thanks so much for all you do.
That’s so great to hear!
So delighted to hear it!
Does this need to be stored in the refrigerator for Will in airtight container on the counter work? I’m just never sure with these no sugar baked goodies 🙂
I made this in a small loaf pan and baked for around 25 minutes or so and it is just so good! I did change some of the ingredients a little because I didn’t have some things on hand so I just made a quick mug cake to see how it was tasting and the mug cake turned out really great too!
Airtight on the counter for up to 3 days.
I own all of your cookbooks, and love your recipes. Today is National Donut Day, and since I’m having guests for dinner, I thought I’d look for some donuts for dessert. THESE look wonderful. I’m going to whip them up this evening (hoping silicone donut mold works). YUM. I love your site so much!