Mini keto donuts dipped in sugar-free dark chocolate. Made with coconut flour, these mini baked donuts are an easy, delicious snack.
Do you consider donuts a breakfast item, a snack, or dessert? I didn’t eat too many donuts growing up but I always considered them a breakfast treat. But now, reflecting on these keto mini donuts, I rather think they are more like dessert.
I have quite a number of keto donut recipes, and some of them are more breakfast-like, being rather wholesome and similar to muffins. Whereas others are definitely over-the-top treats, with sweet glazes and frostings, and are probably best saved for later in the day.
But you know what? I am not going to stop you from eating healthy keto donuts whenever you want. I am not the donut police, and to be frank, they’re a whole lot better for you than conventional donuts!
And I allowed my kids to eat these chocolate dipped mini donuts for breakfast so who am I to talk?
Copycat Keto Donettes
I’ve always steered clear of the mini donuts from Hostess and Entemann’s. I would love to credit self-control but the reality is that they simply didn’t interest me much. Give me a chocolate bar or some ice cream instead, thank you very much.
I was working on some recipes a while ago for a healthy snack cake ebook for Swerve and they asked me to make keto “Donettes”. Using their vanilla cake mix, I made both powdered “sugar” and chocolate dipped mini donuts.
My family liked them so much I decided to take a stab at it with my one of my own keto donuts recipes. I love my coconut flour donuts for their texture and consistency, so I decided to work with those.
I did have to cut the recipe down to size to fit into my mini donut pan that has only 12 holes. I instantly regretted making so few of these, as we all loved them so much!
Tips for Keto Mini Donuts
These cute little chocolate dipped mini donuts are easy to make and fun to eat. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- This is a coconut flour donut recipe and yes, it really does only take ¼ cup of coconut flour. If you happen to have a pan that holds 24 mini donuts, feel free to double it. More to enjoy!
- The whey protein powder makes them lighter and fluffier. Do NOT use egg white protein powder here! I tried that on my first attempt and they were pale and rubbery.
- If you really don’t want to use the whey protein, skip it altogether. Just be aware that they may not rise as well.
- The additional water is at your discretion, since coconut flour can vary in absorbency. You want a batter that can be easily scooped but not poured.
- Mini donut pans have small wells and it’s much easier to fill a piping bag and pipe the batter into the pan. You can just spoon it if you need to but I recommend a small spoon so it doesn’t slop all over the place.
- You don’t have to dip them in chocolate! If you prefer powdered sugar donuts, just toss them in some powdered sweetener like Swerve. That’s delicious too!
- If you do want to dip them in chocolate, I recommend using ChocZero or Lily’s. Both of them work well. But do thin them a bit with some coconut oil or they will be harder to dip.
Ready to make some Keto Mini Donuts?
More delicious mini keto treats!
- Keto Cheesecake Bites
- Keto Mini Pancake Skewers
- Keto Mini Mocha Muffins
- Keto Mini Vanilla Bean Scones
- Keto Pumpkin Pie Bites
- Keto Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes
Keto Mini Donuts
Equipment
- Mini donut pan
Ingredients
Mini Donuts
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 3 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon unflavored whey protein powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 tablespoon water
Chocolate Dip
- 2 ounces sugar-free dark chocolate chopped (ChoccZero or Lily's both work well)
- 2 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
Mini Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 12-cavity mini donut pan well.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the eggs, butter, and vanilla extract.
- Cut the end off a piping bag so that the opening is about ¾ inch wide (you can also use a large ziploc bag with the corner snipped off).
- Fill the bag with batter and pipe into the donut wells to about ¾ full. Bake about 15 minutes, or until the mini donuts are golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Dip
- In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and coconut oil together until smooth. Remove from heat.
- Dip each donut into the chocolate, tossing to coat. Lift out on a fork and tap firmly on the edge of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. (Note: It may be hard to dip the last few donuts… you can just spread the remaining chocolate on top if you have to!).
- Place on a waxed paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate until set.
Lisa says
Carolyn, can cacao butter can be melted with the chocolate instead of the coconut oil?
Lori says
Hello, can I use Bone Broth protein powder instead of whey? I am not sure proteins are interchangeable. I really enjoy your creative recipes. Thank you.
Lori says
Hello Carolyn, Can I use any protein powder for this recipe? I have Bone Broth Protein Powder, will that work?
Thank you for your many fine recipes, I enjoy your blog. I cannot do grains or sugar at all and appreciate someone who has the skill to formulate recipes.
Carolyn says
It tends to make things more gummy… if you use it, hold back on the added liquid until you see what the batter is like.
Lori says
I will, thank you. sorry I posted again.
Claudia says
Hi,
Does leaving out the whey protein powder alter the recipe a lot? I don’t have access to that.
Carolyn says
It makes a big difference. Please watch this to see how: https://youtu.be/8SA_iBl0pUU
Linda says
These came out pretty good. I was very careful to not overbake them; I’ve done that in the past with coconut recipes and it’s been disastrous. The flavor is good; the consistency is good. But my glaze didn’t get very smooth. The flavor is fine but the aesthetic is off. I made these in a silicone muffin mold and they released beautifully.
Linda says
Uh oh. I commented on the wrong recipe!
Melissa says
I don’t have unflavored protein powder. Would vanilla work, or would the donuts be way too sweet?
Carolyn says
It will work, just leave out the additional vanilla. Cut back on the sweetener if yours is very sweet.
Melissa says
I appreciate your time and effort in making this recipe. Unfortunately, my husband and I weren’t a fan of these. They looked fine coming out of the oven (though extremely wimpy). We both agreed they tasted kind of like pithy cardboard wrapped in chocolate (sorry). The chocolate wasn’t enough to cover my tiny donuts, so I had to make almost a full second batch of chocolate. I had a little extra after that, and put it on some rebel ice cream. Now I know how to make chocolate shell!
Also, next time, I’m going to have to use semi sweet or milk chocolate chips for the coating. I’m not a fan of dark for donuts.
Hope says
Oh I’m sorry I guess I didn’t my apologies
Hope says
Why the protein powder I would really appreciate to know because I don’t know why the protein powder and which one
Carolyn says
Did you read the blog post? It explains why. It’s also linked right in the recipe.
Sherri Lawrence says
I’ve made these a couple of times already and they’ve graduated to the regular rotation of treats. I have a mini donut maker that cooks 7 at a time and one batch of the mix does 14 mini’s with both sides rounded perfectly.
Kitty says
That’s whay i was looking for!! I will be making some donuts tomorrow in my new mini donut maker, and was worried it would not work. Yay!! Thank you!
Kassandra Montoya says
I just bought a donut pan that fits 6 donuts. Would these be good as bigger donuts ? For the carb count, would it be reasonable to say that 2 mini donuts = 1 large (size of a donut in a 6-donut pan)? Or maybe say that 1 big one is closer to 8-10g? Thanks! Excited to have found your blog!
Carolyn says
Donut pans don’t really come in standard sizes, sadly. Some wells are a bit bigger, depending on the brand. These can be made as bigger donuts but I can’t honestly say how many you will get.
Christa says
What brand of mini donut pan are you using here?
Carolyn says
This one: https://amzn.to/3aqyuXr
Belenda says
Did you have a version of these donuts, fried in coconut oil after baking, then dipping in melted chocolate? I’m sure this version is yummy too, but that coconut oil fried version is beyond amazing! Reminds me of Entenmann’s version, only, better! Now I need to find the mini donut pan and make these with the fried CO, chocolate dipped version! (PS keeping them in the fridge makes this over the top good! They get a wonderful hard shell of chocolate and dense donut inside – YUMMM!)
Missy says
I’m assuming I can use Lily’s chocolate chips in place of the chocolate?
Carolyn says
Sure!
Penny Frick says
Carolyn,
Can you send us the link of your favorite mini donut pan. Thank you.
Marie says
Happy dance! Thank you I made these the first time while talking to a neighbor in the kitchen and didn’t use the water…we almost choked to death! I tried making them again two days later and used 3 tbsp of water and they came out so perfect! It yielded 21 mini donuts and they were almost all eaten that night. Thank you!!
Carolyn says
Oh dear! Glad the second batch worked out!
Patricia Morgan says
I can’t wait to make these. Do you have a vanilla donut recipe with vanilla frosting?😋
Carolyn says
I don’t… maybe I should! I do have a vanilla style donut (it’s the donut from my Samoa Donuts) and it would be easy to scale down some of my vanilla glaze recipes.
Rachael Yerkes says
These are so good! New favorite treat!
Matt Taylor says
These keto donuts look amazing!! I am always impressed how you make classic comfort foods keto. 🙂