Keto Cinnamon Ring Doughnuts. 1g net carbs!!!!
Forget keto home-made doughnuts that end up flat, dense and stodgy. These rise superbly, don’t deflate once out of the oven, and have the texture of real doughnuts. Oh yes. They taste AMAZING, too!
Full of healthy, nutritious ingredients and super easy to create. All you need is a mixing bowl and an electric whisk. Fill your silicone moulds and bake. Watch them rise to extraordinary heights and drool 😀
Once cooled, brush with coconut oil, coat with cinnamon ‘sugar’ and you’re done. No deep-frying necessary.
These clean keto doughnuts are chunky and very filling, so one is more than sufficient to satisfy any sweet-tooth craving.
Ingredients for Keto Cinnamon Ring Doughnuts
You may see a long-ish list of ingredients, but you only need minimal quantities of each. If you want to achieve ultimate rise, texture and deliciousness, I recommend that you stick with the same ingredients. I know that crème fraîche is not so common in some parts of the world. If you cannot get it, use sour cream instead.
A note on the high-oleic sunflower oil I use. I’m aware than many people shun vegetable oils because they’re demonised as being high in PUFAs, inflammatory, blah, blah, blah. Well, yes, it’s possibly true, depending on what you read. What matters most is the extraction method and if from organic, GMO-free seeds to begin with. The high-oleic quality of cold-pressed, organic sunflower oil, means it is high in monounsaturated fats (much like extra virgin olive oil) and low in PUFAs. Which makes it THE best seed oil for baking. In my humble opinion.
Regardless of subjective views on vegetable oils, if you use only a little, there’s no harm that can possibly be done. In this recipe, you need just 30g which, divided by 6, means 5g per doughnut. Surely not worth worrying about it. If you want an oil that is light, neutral in taste and creates perfect bakes, high-oleic, cold pressed sunflower oil is the one to use.
However, MCT oil works fine as an alternative.
For the cinnamon ‘sugar’ coating I use a combination of allulose and erythritol. Why? Firstly, because allulose is quite powdery and easily absorbed, which would make the doughnuts wet. Secondly, because erythritol on its own delivers that cool sensation that many dislike. By mixing the two sweeteners I recreate the familiar look and ‘granularity’ of classic sugar-coated doughnuts, whilst minimising the ‘cooling’ effect.
If you’re in the UK, you can get allulose HERE. But there’s nothing to stop you using an alternative sweetener of your choice.
Finally, do make sure the protein powder you use is whey protein isolate (see recipe links). It matters a great deal, as it’s a key ingredient for the wonderful airy texture of these Keto Cinnamon Ring Doughnuts. My favourite is a specific UK brand, from grass-fed, non GMO animal product. It is not only great for baking, but also the lowest in carbs I’ve ever found. I’ve tried many similar products, yet this one remains the very best. Expensive indeed, but not in the scheme of things, because a little goes a long way.
Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
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- Yield: 6-8
- Serving: 1
- Calories: 169
- Fat: 14g
- Net Carbs: 1g
- Protein: 9g
- 2 medium eggs (100g)
- 40g erythritol (U.S. option HERE)
- ½ tsp pure stevia powder (U.S. option HERE)
- 80g crème fraîche
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (U.S. option HERE)
- 30g high-oleic cold pressed sunflower oil (U.S. option HERE), or MCT oil (U.S. option HERE)
- 2 tsp ACV (U.S. option HERE)
- 30g whey protein isolate (U.S. alternative HERE)
- 10g psyllium husk powder (U.S. option HERE)
- 30g ultra fine almond flour (U.S. option HERE)
- 2 tsp baking powder (sifted)
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- 15g coconut oil (U.S. option HERE)
- 20g allulose (UK option HERE)
- 20g erythritol
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- pre-heat oven to 150°C fan (170°C static).
- whisk eggs until pale and foamy, add sweeteners and liquid ingredients, whisking again to incorporate homogeneously.
- mix dry ingredients and combine.
- fill 6-holes silicone doughnut mould (U.S. option HERE) right up to the top.
- bake for 18-20 mins until golden-brown, then open oven door fully and leave doughnuts in situ for 5 minutes.
- meanwhile, mix allulose, erythritol and cinnamon in a large bowl.
- take the mould out of the oven and wait until the doughnuts are completely cool.
- unmould and brush with melted coconut oil before coating them in the cinnamon 'sugar’.
If you decide to swap the high-oleic sunflower oil for coconut oil, or butter, or strong flavoured seed oils, you will not get the same spongy and well-risen doughnuts. Best alternative is MCT oil.
For the cinnamon coating, I combine two sweeteners: allulose provides the sweetness without after taste and erythritol provides the ‘crystals’. This combination makes the ‘cooling’ effect of erythritol virtually undetectable. You can, of course, use whichever alternative suits you best.
Nutrition calculated on the basis of 6 doughnuts.
The only way to ensure accurate measurement of ingredients is with Metric Kitchen Scales (U.S. alternative HERE).
My family loves this donut recipe, thank you. Do you have any advice on how I could make a chocolate version? I would typically replace some almond flour with cocoa powder, but since there is so little flour in your recipe I thought I’d see what you may suggest. Thanks.
Hi Jenny, thank you for reaching out.
I suggest the following: 10g psyllium husk powder, 20g whey protein isolate, 20g fine almond flour, 15-20g cocoa powder depending on how absorbent the one you use is. Start with 15g, then add 5g (or a little more) to make the batter assume the right consistency.
Can I sub sour cream for the crème fraîche? Just want to make sure as to not waste any of my precious ingredients if it won’t work as a substitute.
Yes. You can.
They came out perfect! Except the sunflower oil I thought I had was actually safflower oil but it still worked. My next question is, do they freeze well?
Hi Daphne, thank you for your feedback.
I’ve never tried to freeze them, but I can’t think of any reason not to (without the cinnamon ‘sugar’ coating). It might be that once defrosted the texture changes a little and becomes a little denser – not a big deal if it helps with convenience. I would defrost them at room temperature, then add the coating.
Hi Antya, I made them and they didnt turn out good- I know now its becasue I didnt read the note about substituting the sunflower oil. I did it with coconut cooking oil and they were dry, crumbly and not good. So Im going to get some of that oil and try again. Maybe that note should also be at the top of the recipe, just for future. Ot maybe I need to read the recipe AND notes before I start, lol! Looking forward to trying again..Oh, and the brushing oil at the end, you say coconut. Is it melted coconut oil, or mct or can you use sunflower? Which is it, I wasnt sure?
Thanks!!
Hi Laura, you must have missed the bit in the recipe ingredients list where I have a link to the high-oleic sunflower oil – alongside which I say OR MCT oil. Coconut oil is too heavy for the dough. Then in the instructions I specify ‘brush with melted coconut oil’. You could brush with MCT oil, as an alternative. No difference.
Hi Antya
I made these today and they tasted great. I will definitely make them again. But are you certain about the 1g net carb? Confusingly, when I imported the recipe onto CarbManager for future reference it popped up as 2.9 net carbs per serving. I am sure you are meticulous in your calculation, I just wondered why the discrepancy should occur. It’s quite a difference, not just a teensy one.
Hello Cathy,
thank you for your feedback. I have recalculated the macros and the results are still the same: 0.945g net carbs per doughnut, rounded up to 1g. I suspect that the variation is likely due to ingredients. Or CarbManager’s database. To calculate my recipe macros I use Fat Secret, and I select the specific products I use, rather than generic ingredients, which can vary enormously between brands and apps. If I can’t find an item, I add it to the database myself, based on the values reported on the label provided on the packaging. I also separate fibre from total carbs, to ensure consistency, as I use the U.S. site. For your information, the net carbs for this recipe are as follows:
Tesco’s Creme fraiche 2.13g
Pink Sun Whey Protein Isolate 0.21g
NKD Living psyllium Husk powder 0.4g
Real Food Source extra fine almond flour 1.68g
Cinnamon powder 0.48g
100g eggs 0.77g
Which, added together and divided by 6, equal 0.945g.
Thanks Antya! I thought that might explain it. I can be reassured then, as I used all the same brands as you.
You’re welcome! I know many bloggers round their macros down a lot (e.g. 0.9g carbs would be stated as zero), but I never do.
I made these a couple days ago. They are tasty little spongy cakes.
Oh, I am so sorry, I read that wrong. That makes sense now, I will get that thru your link. Thanks!!
Hi Antya,
I clicked on the link for allulose, I have never heard of it. I react badly to some calorie free sugars, all the -“tol” ones and am anxious to try. But my question is, the link one is a blend of allulose, erythritol and stevia. And then you add more erythritol? Just double checking before I buy it. They have it straight too, without the blend. Im excited that there might be something that browns, that’s the one thing I hate about keto desserts- they are nothing like the real thing and everyone is a disaster. I even told google to remind me not to make keto desserts! Until I saw your recipe and that new sweetener.
Hi Laura,
the doughnut mix has 40g erythritol + 1/2 tsp pure stevia powder, so you could replace those with something that suits you. I tend to add a little stevia to most of my sweet recipes, to achieve the correct sweetness without using too much “tol” sweetener.
For the cinnamon “sugar”-coating, I explain in the post why I combine allulose (powdery and absorbent) with erythritol (granular and more mimicking of white sugar). You could use allulose on its own, however. As for the link, I’ve just checked, and the product it links to is the one I have, by the People’s Keto Company (black and green pouch). It is ALLULOSE, with a bit of STEVIA and MONKFRUIT – not erythritol.
Where can I find U.S. conversions for your recipes?
Hello Fay,
You cannot convert from metric to U.S. measurements, only the other way ’round, and even then it’s just an approximation.
Professional bakers always use the metric system for weighing. If you’re serious about baking, spend a few dollars on a metric scale and you’ll never look back. I add links to scales in every recipe – just look at the bottom, in the recipe notes. Best wishes.