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 made these this morning to take to lunch at my inlaws, such a hit!! And my kids loved them too. I love how this really tastes like a pastry dough,tender and flaky. Thanks again for your amazing recipes, this one is going to be a regular at my house.
Hi, I’ve went crazy with this amazing “dough” I’m really wanting to make a low carb pop tart, would this dough work?
I can’t see why not!
We did and they were delish. More like a toaster strudel!
yum!
What did you put in the middle? This is a great idea!
I made these today and they taste GREAT! but the dough was too crumbly and I wasn’t able to twist them. The video link no longer seems to work. Could you reupload? I think if I can see how you did it I may be able to fix my technique. Thank you!
It could be your cheese or it could be your almond flour. Watch this video, it shows me making it live. https://www.facebook.com/AllDayIDreamAboutFood/videos/1552509871443063/
I tried to upload this recipe into my fitness pal and it is saying that the carbs are 13 per serving. How did you calculate the carb total? Thanks
I use MacGourmet, which is software I purchased and which pulls from the USDA database, making it far more reliable than MFP. Chances are that MFP is either swapping in a substitute ingredient for the sweetener or you are not subtracting the erythritol grams.
Can I substitute cream cheese for the mozzarella?
No, I am afraid that wouldn’t work.
Can I substitute cream cheese for the butter?
Nope. Won’t work in this recipe.
can u sub the coconut flour for something?
Possibly more almond flour. Maybe another 1/2 cup? Not sure it will work, though.
So I just made these. I don’t think I put enough cinnamon in the center and I may not have rolled them out thin enough, like they were too thick, but they turned out well. The 2nd day they were still yummy but I didn’t know how to fix the lack of cinnamon flavor. Finally figured it out and thought I’d share: Heavy whipping cream with Torani sugar-free cinnamon brown sugar. Whip that up and dip the twist in! Solves any problems anyone could have. LOL. Thank you for this recipe!
Thank you so much for all your recipes! These turned out absolutely delicious. I can’t wait until my next check so I can pre-order your cook book. You are my food hero <3
Thank you, Linda!
Just ade these and they came out amazing…thank you. One question, do they need to be refrigerated or can I keep them on the counter. Thanks again?
They should be fine on the counter for 2 days. Refrigerate after that.
Just wanted to say that despite quite a few differences in ingredients, mine turned out well. I used stevia drops, full fat mozz, home-ground almonds with the skins on, and forgot the baking powder. Makes me think it is the dough consistency that matters most. I added a little extra coconut flour while kneading, until it ‘felt right’. Thanks!
I don’t want to buy two different Swerves. Can I put the granulated in a “bullet” and make it a powder to use?
You can certainly try. I don’t think you will get it quite powdery enough but it should be okay.
Delicious and easy to make. Refrigerated and reheated well.
Firstly, I have to say a HUGE thank you!! You have made following a low carb diet soo much easier!! I can still have my treats and know I’m not “cheating”.
I’m from Australia and struggling to find Almond flour… plenty of almond meal… how will this effect this recipe??
Warmest regards
It may not turn out well with almond meal because it’s so much less finely ground. Might be worth investing in a coffee grinder and seeing if you can grind it more finely yourself. It should be the blanched kind, not the one with the skins.
All went well until I tried to twist them. They cracked and fell apart. What did I do wrong?
I really can’t say. Did you use all the same ingredients as I indicated?
Yes, I did.
Hi , I would love to try this recepy but we only have full fat mozzarella cheese should I use less butter ?
Thanks
Thank you for time and effort you put in
What I think you should do is be prepared to work in more almond flour in the kneading stage until the recipe resembles real pizza dough.