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:
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 ounces shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup butter cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 tablespoon Swerve Brown
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon butter melted
Glaze:
- 2 tablespoon powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ - 1 tablespoon 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
Polina spirt says
Thank you Carolyn the entire house smell cinnamon and the twist are Wonderfull ???
I did use the block of mozarela part skim and before hand I place in the freezer for 10 min so I can graited it works a bit better I was not shure about presheded bc of the starch in the ing . Thank you I love it.
Mary says
I Am allergic to eggs… Is there an alternative for substitution?
Carolyn says
No, I am sorry. Not for this kind of recipe, the egg is critical.
Marie says
we only have almond meal/ground almonds where i am, am i able to use that in this recipe? or will i need to make it finer somehow?
i’m dying to make these, but don’t want to risk “wasting” any almond if it doesn’t turn out, as it’s *very* expensive here 🙁
Carolyn says
You will need to make it finer. It won’t hold together with more coarsely ground almonds.
Lee says
I buy whole raw almonds by the kilo and use a coffee grinder. Much cheaper and a little finer than bought almond meal. I’m in Australia, and never seen almond flour for sale.
miranda says
Hi, what does the mozzarella do and can I replace it with some other cheese? I can’t get shredded mozzarella here, will it work if I slice the mozzarella myself? I really want to try this recipe, it sounds great!
Carolyn says
No, it will not work without pre-shredded part skim mozzarella. It is the glue in this dough.
Teri says
So I am making these for the first time, they are in the oven right now. This was so easy! The dough came together like a dream. This might truly be a life-changer. There are sooo many possibilities for this… I have a dozen savoury ideas in my head right now. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a low carb pop tart (my weakness), do you think this could be done with a few tweaks to get the right consistency? I’m thinking sugar-free Strawberry spread in the filling and a sweet glaze. Any suggestions?
Bethany says
These were so good. The texture with the mozzarella gives a chew that you normally miss out on in low carb goodies. Amazing. My butter and cheese never came together like some others so I added the dry ingredients then the egg (the butter was simmering and I thought the egg would cook) I didn’t turn the dough out and knead with my hands but just used a spatula in the pan till it looked combined properly. I used baking paper and had to sprinkle more almond meal while pressing out so it wouldn’t be so sticky. (WHich probably made the dough more rough looking) They didn’t twist super easy but it did not matter the end result is soooo good. Not as pretty as yours but soooo good. But there is no way to eat just one of these. Thank you!
Timi says
hahaha…when I saw the picture and the beginning in the video I thought I could use the garlic ‘bread’ recipe everybody loves here…then I realised it is your recipe too 😀 so definitely going to give this a go 🙂
Natasha says
These are very good! Fooled both of my kiddos with them. Got an immediate thumbs up from ds and a “We are having those every day from now on!” from the dd. Definitely a bit more rich or savory flavor than I expected from the dough – but hey – CHEESE! But with the icing, they are very good! I did make a cream cheese drizzle – T each butter and cream cheese, 2T Swerve, vanilla and a bit of water to thin. This won’t be the last time I make them. 🙂
Carolyn says
Glad the kids liked them too!
Kathryn Dunn says
I was skeptical! I made them this morning and they are AWESOME. I will make again and I have already made some other flavors (in my head), and thought about which savory I want first. Mine did flatten out a bit too much, I may try chilling the dough a bit before baking. I have to do that with most baked goodies. (I live in the south)
Thanks for the blog…you post some great things.
Carolyn says
I just made this recipe except I made them into cinnamon rolls.
When the dough is finished and turned, pat the dough into a rectangle..(thick)
Then I painted on the melted butter and sprinkled the whole top with cinnamon and sweetener mixture.
Then I rolled the dough like you would cinnamon rolls (log). Then I sliced the dough at about 1/2 inch intervals. Place the rolls onto the parchment lined pan. It made 12…very good.
Rachel Biehl says
Hi there, is the flavor of the coconut flour noticeable at all? It’s not been my favorite in other recipes due to that. Thank you!
Carolyn says
It’s not noticeable at all. It’s just for structure.
Rachel Biehl says
Okay, looking forward to giving it a try, thank you! ?
Carol says
Please clarify. The ingredients read 5 tablespoons of butter. Is it the case that 2.5 tablespoons are used in the batter and 2.5 tablespoons are reserved to brush on the dough? Thank you.
Carolyn says
No. The instructions say 5 tbsp of butter. Then they say “2 tbsp of butter, melted”. Consider these 2 separate ingredients. The first 5 go in with the cheese, the second two are for brushing.
Carol says
Ok. Thanks! I made these this morning and they spread a bit in the oven. Next time a may add a pinch of salt. They were good and I can imagine a number of variations.
Betty says
What if I don’t have powdered sweetener? Is that like confectionary sugar? Can I make it without?
Carolyn says
Yes, you can make it without and then just sweeten with the cinnamon filling.
Jan says
These were off the chain good!!!!! What are your thoughts on Lupin flour use?
Carolyn says
Meh, I don’t really love the flavor and it’s actually pretty high carb. Yes, it’s mostly fiber but it’s unclear how much fiber actually affects blood sugar. Once in a while, fine but I don’t think it’s something to go to town on.
Loti says
Made these for breakfast this morning. Oh what a treat and they couldn’t have been easier. My husband loved them too and he doesn’t have to eat low carb. Definitely a hit in this household! I don’t know who figured out fathead dough, but I’m calling them a genius and I love this variation of it. Thank you!
Carolyn says
I know, total genius on this dough and there are so many possibilities!
Melanie says
I’m not sure where to find swerve? I haven’t seen it yet. Any thing I can substitute it with. Thank you!
Carolyn says
You can use almost any sweetener here but Swerve is sold in many places so check their locator: http://www.swervesweetener.com/locations/
Katie Vigil says
I make ‘fathead’ pizza all the time using the mozzarella dough crust which this is a version of. My bread sticks look nothing like yours as they flattened out and became more like pancakes. I will try adding more almond flour to see if that helps. Thanks for the recipe.
Kathy says
Do you think it would work to use all coconut flour? Almond flour does not settle well with me….
Carolyn says
Possibly but I am not really sure how much to suggest.
AnnMarie says
Carolyn,
I’ve never worked with mozzarella dough before; it couldn’t have been simpler. These twists were delicious; a big hit with my pastry-loving husband. Thanks for this recipe!
Carolyn says
Yay, I am so glad!
Tina says
Oh my goodness are these delicious! I kept the ingredients exactly as written, but I varied my technique a bit because I’m lazy. I melted the butter and cheese in the microwave, then added everything to that bowl and mixed it until well combined. It turned out great!! I patted it out on parchment the way I do my fathead pizza dough, and then was able to fold it easily by just folding the paper. I am packing these in my husband’s suitcase for his business trip. Cinnamon rolls are one of his favorite things, and he’s going to flip when he finds these treats in there. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your recipes are life savers in this house!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Kelsey says
I tried making these and followed the directions exactly. However, I couldn’t turn over the dough (or twist it), so I made them into little rolls, which then completely flattened out into big pancakes in the oven. From the other comments it seems like I need to add more flour; but which one? More almond flour or coconut flour? I used honeyville almond flour and earth’s choice coconut flour, and hard mozzarella, which I grated.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
So part of the problem here would be the mozz that you grated yourself, since pre-shredded comes with a little starch in it to keep it from clumping. So yes, you do need more flour and I would do more almond…maybe a few tbsp?
Kelsey says
Thanks for the quick response!
I’ll give that a try and report back!