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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What if I don’t have powdered sweetener? Is that like confectionary sugar? Can I make it without?
Yes, you can make it without and then just sweeten with the cinnamon filling.
These were off the chain good!!!!! What are your thoughts on Lupin flour use?
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.
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!
I know, total genius on this dough and there are so many possibilities!
I’m not sure where to find swerve? I haven’t seen it yet. Any thing I can substitute it with. Thank you!
You can use almost any sweetener here but Swerve is sold in many places so check their locator: http://www.swervesweetener.com/locations/
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.
Do you think it would work to use all coconut flour? Almond flour does not settle well with me….
Possibly but I am not really sure how much to suggest.
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!
Yay, I am so glad!
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!
So glad you liked it!
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!
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?
Thanks for the quick response!
I’ll give that a try and report back!
Made these this morning and they were DELICIOUS! Rave reviews by husband and 12yo son. Thank you for another fabulous recipe. My family has absolutely loved every recipe I’ve tried from your blog.
Thanks so much!
Holy yum! These cinnamon twists look incredible! I love the genius use of mozzarella in the dough!
These look delicious. My family is lactose intolerant so I will use Cabot Monterrey Jack instead of Mozzarella but I also make dinner for a family who is totally gluten and casein free so I am going to try to make some vegan cheese and use that in place of it. Once I do I will let you know how these or your garlic rolls turn out.
The video says baking soda,the recipe say baking powder.please let me know wich one thank you
Baking powder. Sorry about the typo on the video!
This dough was way to sticky for me to work with once I rolled it out, even after dusting it with more almond flour……I had to put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before it was solid enough for me to even take off the mat in strips. The end result was very tasty though and worth the effort.
If you rework this for a THM version, any chance you could include measurement by weight??? My results are much more consistent (and easier) when I use weight. If not, if this is something I’ll use often, I’ll eventually convert it myself :-). Thanks for all you do!
Just made these. They flattened out really bad and they are SUPER greasy. I did everything right with all the right ingredients. Not sure where I went wrong. They look good and will probably taste good but they are very soft. I didn’t want to cook them any longer because they were getting too brown.
Just seems like there was way too much butter…..but I used what it called for. hmmm…..
Suggestions anyone?
I am going to guess brand differences in either almond or coconut flour. What did you use?
Carolyn
I just love all your recipes.
I made this for the first time tonight.
I used regular store bought part skim mozzarella but it was a block not pre grated. Doesn’t he preheated usually have cornstarch on it?
Anyway I made two substitutions out of desperation.
I used THM baking blend (usually works great when I sub this in your relationship recipes)
And I used coconut oil because I was out of butter.
The cheese and oilfield would not blend until I heated the cheese almost to a simmer constantly whisking.
I tempered in the egg. But when I added the flour it never came together it just go crumbly.
Can you help? Do you think it was the substitutions?
Deborah
Yes, it was the substitutions. The mozzarella may not have been an issue, but the oil and baking blend most certainly were.
Thanks. I’ll try again without subs. On the bright side, I baked it up flat and cut until strips and ur was crunchy and delicious anyway! ?
Glad it still worked out!