Keto apple cider donut bites are a delicious fall treat. Thought apple cider donuts were a thing of the past on your healthy diet? These low carb, grain-free donut bites will change your mind!
Seriously, who doesn’t love apple cider donuts? But they aren’t exactly low carb and healthy. Now with these keto apple cider donut bites, you can enjoy all the same great flavor in a healthy mini muffin!
I actually have a theory about pick-you-own apple orchards. I love them and I love going apple picking, but these places are the devil for poor low carbers such as myself. They are the snake in the Garden of Eden, tempting you not with apples but with apple cider donuts.
There’s one place in particular that springs to mind as I write this, a place on the North Shore of Massachusetts, not far from Boston. It was a fabulous place, with all the fall themed goodies you could possibly want. Apples, pumpkins, gourds of all kinds, mums in gorgeous browns and oranges, a wonderful farm stand, a petting zoo, and of course miles of orchards with all possible varieties of apples.
It was classic New England autumn entertainment and my kids loved going there. But every time we stepped out of the car after arriving, it hit me. That warm cinnamon-y smell of apple cider donuts. I swear they piped it into the parking lot to lure poor suckers into the store. See, they are the devil!
Keto Apple Cider Donuts
It was torture for this low carb diabetic gal and it was very hard to resist temptation. I confess we usually bought some for the kids and I had a bite (or two). They were really really good but really really not good for me. The fact that I could escape relatively unscathed was testament to my belief in the goodness of the low carb diet.
Keto Apple Cider Donut Inspiration
For ages now, I’ve always wanted to find a way to make a decent low carb approximation of apple cider donuts. But as apple cider is not at all low carb, I wasn’t quite sure how. I am really good at what I do but I can’t magically remove the carbs from apple cider. I can, however, mess around with apple extract and apple cider vinegar to try to get that same tangy apple flavour.
I saw these Apple Cider Donut Muffins on Baked By Rachel and they were so pretty, I decided to give it a go. I made mine in miniature so that they were more like apple cider donut holes.
I have to say, they worked far better than I had anticipated. I felt like the apple cider flavour was just about perfect, a slight sweetness with a bit of a tang. And dipping them in melted butter and rolling in cinnamon “sugar” made them taste like the real thing.
They are a little lumpier than Rachel’s beautifully rounded muffins, but such is the nature of the beast when working with almond flour. For something that satisfies the apple cider donut craving like these do, I will take lumpy donut holes any day!
Keto Apple Cider Donut Bites
Ingredients
Donut Bites:
- 2 cups almond flour
- ½ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup water
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 ½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ½ teaspoon apple extract
Coating:
- ¼ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 to 2 teaspoon cinnamon depending on how cinnamon-y you like it!
- ¼ cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a mini muffin pan very well (Use a 24 cavity mini muffin pan).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk in eggs, water, butter, apple cider vinegar, and apple extract until well combined.
- Divide the mixture among the wells of the prepared mini muffin pan (you may need to work in batches if your muffin pan only has 12 cavities). Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until muffins are firm to the touch. Remove and let cool 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetener and cinnamon. Dip each donut bite into the melted butter, coating completely. Then roll each donut bite into the cinnamon/sweetener mixture.
Jeannette Knepper says
Which swerve do you use, the granular or the powered?
Carolyn says
Granular.
Jody says
Hi. These sound delicious and can’t wait to try this recipe , as your recipes always turn out great!
Question: Can I use egg white protein powder instead of whey protein powder?
Thanks, Jody
Carolyn says
Yes, that will work.
Kathy says
They probably would have been a lot better had I NOT FORGOT to add the apple extract ????♀️
kelly hoppers says
Question, Swerve is my least favorite sweetener due to the cooling effect. I have most of the others mainly from making your recipes. Which would be the best substitute for this particular recipe?
Carolyn says
Please read this: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/best-keto-sweeteners/
Tom says
I just made these. Didn’t have mini cupcake pans, so used my regular ones. Dang, these are good. Exactly as advertised!
Kathy says
Thanks Tom, I was wondering if I could use reg donut pan!
Michelle Kendrick says
Can I use less almond flour and substitute with coconut flour? To much almond flour hurts my stomach.
Carolyn says
Coconut flour is not a good sub for almond flour as they work completely differently. Please search my blog for coconut flour recipes. This is not a good recipe for you.
Nikki G says
These turned out perfectly! They have a great texture; not crumbly and the taste is amazing! 10/10 will make again.
Andrea Burgdorf says
I just made these, and while I’ve used almond flour for years, this is the first time I’ve used whey protein. The muffins raised nicely, which surprised me as most keto things I make don’t rise much . They are just a little crumbly, which is ok, but they have an odd side taste. Could it be the whey protein, and if so, is there something I could substitute?
Carolyn says
What kind of protein powder did you use? Because if it was unflavoured, then there should be no taste… unless you somehow got a bad bach?
Witchhazel3 says
Some of us can just plain taste the whey protein in anything! That is why I’ve asked repeatedly for the reasoning behind it and what can be used as a substitute (other than egg protein). Until I can get an answer, these recipes aren’t any better than using regular sugar recipes.
Cecily says
I would assume then you don’t understand the horrible affect sugar has on the body! Carolyn is so gracious and helpful, I feel Defensive of her….your threatening her that you’ll eat sugar until she solves YOUR problem. Thats very unfair in my opinion! Google keto recipes that don’t use whey protein etc.
Nicki says
I made these as donuts instead of mini muffins and they were delicious. It was my first time using apple extract and I really enjoyed the flavor.
Sue says
How many donuts did it make?
Mindy Jones says
Kids who refuse to eat anything low carb/keto-friendly will gobble these up
Evy says
So I have Capella brand double apple which is not exactly extract. It is a little stronger. Got it off of Amazon. So I changed it to a half a teaspoon of that for the batch and it was almost too much. Also I found that I needed half again as much better and half again as much sweetener to completely cover the way you say to in the recipe. I was trying to figure out something easy for Christmas morning for my mostly non-keto crowd. I think I’ll have some of these but then I’m also going to try some of the other versions your readers have done as well!
Christine says
I was so excited to make these. I have loved every one of your recipes that I’ve made so far but these had an odd chemical taste. I used the recommended extract and followed the recipe exactly. I have ordered more apple extract from a different company and will try again. It has to be the extract.
Carolyn says
So sometimes I find that cinnamon and Swerve together, uncooked, can do that as well. If you have BochaSweet or allulose, you can use that for the exterior coating, and it might lessen that flavour.
Christine says
Maybe that’s the culprit. I have bochasweet and will try that. I received my new extract so will try again. Thank you!!
Evy says
That was probably the extract I find that it really depends on the batch. Try Capella brand double apple but only use half a teaspoon for the whole batch. Came out great got it on Amazon. I don’t find a problem with swerve and cinnamon, it’s the most used Keto combination I use for desserts in my house. Good luck! Plus if you looked at so many different variations that the other readers came up with I can’t wait to try theirs as well
Jo-Anne Crosswell says
Hello! Am dying to make this! Can I make it in a cake pan instead? I don’t have any muffin pans at all 🙁
Carolyn says
Honestly never done it that way so yes but I can’t guide you as to timing, etc.
Jo-Anne Crosswell says
I DID make it in a cake pan and it was SUPER DELISH!! I just baked a little longer. OMG! Tastes just like apples! The non LC moochers here scarfed most of it but I hid a few slices to attack later! I skipped the sugared topping since I wasn’t sure how the cake part would come out but did top off the slices with Whipped Cream and a few chopped pecans. Am making this again today as mini cupcakes and a cream cheese frosting. Thank you so much for this great recipe! I miss fruits so much… especially apples so this was an.excellent yummy treat!!
Sam says
These were amazing! My boyfriend absolutely loved them and couldn’t even tell they were keto! My grocery store seemed to have every flavor extract EXCEPT apple so I substituted pumpkin pie extract and for the water I soaked 2 apple cinnamon tea bags in 1/3 cup of hot water for 2-3 minutes. This actually worked out quite well and tasted like apple but not in an over powering way! Will be making these again For the perfect morning treat!
AndyJ says
Would this recipe work if you tried to make it as donuts? I’d like to try an apple donut with a caramel glaze. I found a recipe for caramel glaze and wondered if the main part of this would work as donuts. Not sure if it would rise enough.
Carolyn says
It works in a donut pan.
Belinda Logie says
I was really looking forward to trying this recipe. Took me a while finding all the suggested ingredients ( about 3 wks) and was completely dissapointed after following all of your instructions to a tee. My suggestion: Give it up and find a better way to express yourself!
Carolyn says
Really not sure what to say here. I am not sure why you didn’t like them, as you didn’t explain. But your last comment was completely uncalled for and my suggestion to you is: read the other reviews. Clearly I am a well respected recipe creator. If you were more specific, I might have been able to help.
Jo-Anne Crosswell says
wow how about YOU find a KINDER way way to express YOURSELF!! The error is definitely on YOUR end because these come out INCREDIBLE!
Christine M Gallagher says
Your rudeness was totally uncalled for!!
Jude says
Moo.
Cecily says
I can not even begin to understand how just plain rude your comment was. I’m embarrassed for you. I hope someday you become a gracious person and learn to express gratitude.
Diane says
Carolyn, just like every other of your recipes that I have tried, these are delicious and the perfect texture. The recipe makes 6 perfectly sized muffins, which I made instead of bites because I eat them for my workday breakfast. Of course they had to be baked longer. I didn’t have any apple extract either, so I just used vanilla. I did have some pomegranate raspberry tea and thought why not use that in place of the water? It worked very nicely, the taste was similar to apple. I think the next time I make them I will try using apple pie spice like one person did. Thank you for all these great recipes!
Carolyn says
Your version sounds delicious!
Suzanne says
Carolyn,
OMGoodness!! Made these today & first time I made a Keto recipe that DIDN’T taste like spongy whipped eggs!! Excellent????
I used LorAnn Apple flavor oil (1/8tsp) from Michaels, French Vanilla Designer Whey Protein & added 1/4 c chopped pecans. The only problem is only eating 2!!
Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Suzanne
Carolyn says
So glad you liked them!
Beth says
I’ve made this recipe twice. The first time I didn’t have unflavored protein powder so I used some vanilla I had (that I don’t particularly like) and it was a little strange — but still pretty good! Just made them again for the second time and used collagen peptides for the unflavored protein powder and they came out better. I also learned I needed to fill each cup a little more and bake a little more than I had the first time. They sort of fell apart the first time. Second time they were pretty perfect. I used a pastry brush to apply the melted butter, rather than dipping, and then just sprinkled on the “sugar” and cinnamon. Thank you for the recipes!! I follow you on instagram and I’m sure you are my most tagged person.
Karen says
Hi Carolyn,
Do you use the apple extract linked in the recipe? The reviews on Amazon are so mixed I’m hesitant to buy it. Appreciate hearing what you think of it or if you recommend a different brand.
Thanks!
Karen
Carolyn says
Yes, I use a lot of the flavourings from Olive Nation. I don’t have a problem with it at all. But there are plenty of other kinds, if you prefer.