These low carb and sugar-free cinnamon twists are the perfect keto pastry for breakfast, snack, or dessert. Made with keto fathead dough, they are tender and delicious.
This recipe for Keto Cinnamon Twists was originally posted in July 2016. Now I’ve made them even easier to make, and I’ve got a new video to show you how.
Keto mozzarella dough really is magic!
Oh, oh, this keto mozzarella dough. Honestly, this stuff is a total low carb game changer for me and I am having way too much fun messing around with it to create new keto recipes. There’s nothing quite like it in the world, a stretchy, flexible low carb dough made out of mozzarella cheese.
It’s not perfect for everything but it works like a charm for any kind of keto pastry, and it makes an ideal keto pizza crust. I’ve used for everything from keto garlic knots to braided chocolate-filled bread.
Seriously, though. Who sat down one day and said to themselves “I am going to make keto dough out of cheese and see if it works”? Because while I am incredibly creative and innovative with my recipes, I am also quite certain I never would have thought of this. They deserve my kudos.
But that’s the nice part about the low carb recipe creation world. We can all learn from each other and build on each other’s work. I’ve put my own special twists on fathead dough now, and I think it gets better each time.
Perfecting keto fathead dough
This dough isn’t exactly tricky to make, but there are some tricks to getting it right. And so, at the request of several readers, I have created a video that walks you through the steps. Scroll down to the recipe to see the full video.
There are any number of ways to make fathead dough, and every time I make it, I find I learn something new. I actually have a few different versions of it, including this dough that’s made with both almond flour and coconut flour, and an all-coconut version as well.
I have found that fathead dough that’s made with all almond flour is too soft and spreads too much during baking. While you can indeed make it that way, and it’s good for people with coconut allergies, it’s quite a bit harder to work with. It simply lacks the proper structure.
One reader gave me another little trick that saves one step and one bowl, and that is to melt your butter right in with your mozzarella. Less mess and less to clean up afterward! That worked beautifully for me in these low carb cinnamon twists.
These little pastries make a wonderful breakfast treat. I’ve made them several times and my kids keep asking me to make them again. So if you’ve been itching to try the low carb mozzarella dough, just dive right in. I hope you find my video and all of my tips helpful.
How to make keto cinnamon twists
The video walks you through all the steps but here are some things to remember:
- Silicone mats are easier to work with, as they don’t slide around the counter as much as parchment paper does. If you use one big silicone mat to roll out and form the twists, you can simply slide the whole thing onto a baking sheet at the end.
- The conventional wisdom is that fathead dough turns out best with pre-shredded, part skim mozzarella. Although it does contain a little starch, it’s not enough to really raise the carb count, and it gives the dough more structure.
- You can melt the mozzarella and butter in the microwave, or on the stovetop. If you use the stovetop, remember to take your melted cheese and butter off the heat before adding the remaining ingredients.
- Fathead dough turns out a little differently every time. It can depend on your almond flour, your coconut flour, the size of your eggs, and the brand of cheese. So if it turns out a bit sticky, simply work in more almond flour, a little at a time, until you have a nice cohesive dough.
- I’ve updated the filling of these keto cinnamon twists to include the new Brown Swerve, for more of a cinnamon roll flavor. If you don’t have any, you can still use regular granulated Swerve.
- Let these keto pastries cool at least 10 to 15 minutes, as they are very soft when they are fresh out of the oven. If you want to warm the leftovers up a bit in the microwave, 10 seconds or so is enough for a delicious warm cinnamon twist!
Ready to make some delicious Keto Cinnamon Twists?
More delicious keto fathead recipes
- Keto Fathead Bagels
- Keto Pepper Jack Crackers
- Keto Pretzel Bites
- Keto Spanakopita
- Fathead Pizza Pockets
- Fathead Lasagna
Keto Cinnamon Twists
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/2 cup (56 g) almond flour
- 1/4 cup (30 g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (45.5 g) powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 6 ounces (170.1 g) shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 tbsp Swerve Brown
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
Glaze:
- 2 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 - 1 tbsp Water
Instructions
Dough:
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a large baking mat with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, and baking powder. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the cheese and butter. Melt on high in 30 second increments until it can be stirred together. (Alternatively, you can melt the cheese and butter in a saucepan over low heat).
- All at once, add the almond flour mixture, egg, and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Use a rubber spatula to really knead the dough up against the sides of the bowl. It will still have some large streaks of cheese.
- Turn the dough onto a silicone mat or directly onto a kitchen counter and knead until uniform. If the dough is quite sticky, work in another tablespoon or two of almond flour as you knead it.
- Cover the dought with parchment paper and roll out to a 10x10 inch square.
Cinnamon Filling
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sweetener and cinnamon. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter, then sprinkle with about two thirds of the cinnamon mixture.
To make the twists
- Use a knife or offset spatual to gently loosen the dough from the silicone mat. Fold the dough over in half and cut into 10 strips with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
- Hold both ends of one strip and twist gently in opposite directions two or three times. Lay the twists on the prepared baking sheet and brush with the remaining melted butter. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon "sugar".
- Bake about 15 minutes, until golden brown and just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool.
Glaze:
- In a small bowl combine the powdered sweetener, vanilla extract and just enough water to achieve a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled twists.
Video
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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I have fresh (packed in water) mozzarella in my fridge…would that work? Thanks!
I don’t think so, it won’t have the stringy quality of the cooked mozzarella.
I tried it with fresh mozzarella and it didn’t work … the dough turned out extremely sticky 🙁
Yup, I don’t think it’s a good idea!
Love the video! Cinnamon twists with cheese…what could be better!
Oh my goodness, are you serious? I read mozzarella dough and had to do a double take. How did I not know this existed? I’m so interested to try it out because these cinnamon twists look to.die.for!
I would give anything for these right now! Love the video.
Man, do I ever want these. The end.
Would love the results when you finish using with THM baking blend
I would like to know the results too! I like that the blend contains more fiber-makes me feel like I can make them more often!
Thanks so much for all your hard work! Keto baking is not for sissy’s!
Great flavor…mine spread and went flat though…must be my measuring technique. Enjoying anyway! Tx
My dough wouldn’t roll over 🙁 I could barely fold it in half without it crumbling, so I def. couldn’t twist the dough. Any tips on that? I used the thm baking blend, to the amount you called for in this recipe, not sure if that would have made a difference…
Yup, that would make a big difference. It is much drier than almond flour and coconut flour. I bought some more to play with so I will experiment with this dough and THM baking blend and get back to you.
I’ve been making the garlic knot version (with and without garlic) as a “drop biscuit/cookie” 1 batch makes 12-13 “cookie-biscuits” on a standard cookie sheet. (Well oiled and get them off quickly with a spatula or use a silcone baking sheet also well oiled-I used olive oil.)
I have to “pat them out” like cookies (much more like cookies than biscuits) and keep my fingers wet so they don’t stick.
I was lazy and did it differently. I did NOT melt the cheese but did the butter. I mixed it all up in the mixer to a cookie dough consistancy and patted it out.
I also used almond meal (coarser type than the flour) from ground almonds (with the skins).
My oven runs a touch hot. 15 min was crispy and 10 more bread like.
My question…how different is it when you do melt the cheese and roll it out? Thoughts?
Melting the cheese makes your dough a “true dough” with a springy consistency similar to gluten dough. I’d highly recommend it but use a finer almond flour.
Thank you! I see what you mean the way I was doing it (unmelted, coarser almond meal vs flour) was more cookie or biscuit. I’ll still love that. But a true dough would be lovely! Will try it that way next time!
Thanks!
I just pulled these out of the oven! I added 1 oz of softened cream cheese and a little lemon juice to the glaze, otherwise the recipe was pretty great! Very tasty and the perfect little treat!
Besides the obvious YUM factor, I love that most of your recipes call for ingredients I always have on hand. LOVE that. So, yep – for tomorrow’s breakfast, I am making a batch of these bad boys. =))
I did this EXACT same thing three days ago, only I rolled the dough after dusting with cinnamon and “sugar” and butter and cut it into cinnamon roll-shaped pieces and put them in a baking dish to bake. After it was baked, I drizzled the cinnamon rolls with a glaze of cream, Swerve, cream cheese & vanilla. I did not like the texture or the cooling effect of them when they first were made. When I made the cream cheese Danish with this dough a few weeks back, I had the same reaction and almost threw them away. But they were really good the next day. So I saved these cinnamon rolls and we had them the next two days and they were so much better! I’m going to try your “twist” method–I bet they will cook more evenly than my rolls did, all crowded in the same pan.
Interesting… do you think the cooling effect diminishes over time?
Love the video addition to all of your fabulous recipes!
I have used a similar dough for pizza and pigs in a blanket – I love the sweet “twist”! ;0)
This type of dough is so good that when I made pizza for myself the other night (after having picked up a commercially made pizza for the family), my husband asked if he could have some of MINE!! And he’s a HUGE pizza snob! Slowly but surely, I’m bringing my family around to this way of eating!
Just made these for the first time and I’m hooked. Very easy and sooooo good. Thank you!
CAROLYN, you are my hero! I love your recipes. My dilemma at this point is that my daughter is thriving on Paleo and cannot tolerate dairy, grains or legumes. I am racking my brain trying to find substitutes for mozzarella, yogurt, sour cream, and soy. Substituting coconut oil for butter has been easy. Thank you for your dairy free recipes. Thank goodness, she can tolerate tree nuts.
Tess
is there a way to make an either dairy free “fathead” recipe or a way to use Buffalo Mozzarella? I really need an option! I can do limited coconut (stuffs), and am also allergic (full on) wheat as well. My dairy allergy is not “gassy”, but bad. Are there options? thank you, seriously! I know that Kite Hill makes “ricotta” from Almonds, but as for a shred that would work with making fathead breads, I haven’t a clue. Thank you in advance.
Sorry, the dairy-free cheese just doesn’t work for fathead. I can’t help here, you really need a stretchy mozzarella.
Carolyn, I didn’t see the carb count on the recipe. Can you tell me how many carbs for one?
Caroliyn you are the absolute best…. and I’m so thankful you did the video because I have not made this kind of dough because I wasn’t sure exactly how to do it. I’m going to make a pizza this afternoon with the recipe because now I’m not as concerned about it and I can promise you I’ll be making these tomorrow. I’m just absolutely so excited so once again thank you so much Brenda
You’re welcome!
Hey Carolyn.. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong… The mozzarella and butter just did not blend together.. The cheese remained stringy and I could not get a smooth dough… Pls helppp
What kind of mozzarella are you using? That’s usually the issue with this dough…people try to use “healthier” full fat mozzarella or fresh mozzarella and it really needs to be the pre-grated store-bought kind.
The dough does remain a bit stringy as you are kneading it and the butter and cheese don’t perfectly meld until you add the dry ingredients.
I completely agree, all cheese is not created equal. I have found the shredded Mozzarella from Trader Joes works perfectly every time.
Isn’t preshredded cheese coated with cornstarch so it stayes appart.
Yes, and that’s why it works well in this. Don’t worry, the starch is not enough to add any appreciable carbs.
Mine came out flat as pancakes. Not sure what I did wrong.
I have found that the key to the dough is making sure you use PART SKIM mozzarella.
Yes, that’s why the recipe specifies part skim.
I agree! Your video was so simple, but showed just how easy this recipe can be. =)