These keto cinnamon rolls are the ultimate comfort food. They taste so good it’s hard to believe they are sugar free, grain free, gluten free and come in at only 1.3 net carbs per roll!
How much do I love cinnamon rolls?
Where to begin.
First, the smell.
This beautiful warm smell of cinnamon and baked goodness that fills the house and wraps itself around you like a fluffy warm duvet. Smelling cinnamon rolls releases my happy hormones, just like stroking kittens does, sleeping in during the week or settling down to watch Outlander on Amazon Prime.
Then, the swirl.
Can it be that the swirl in a cinnamon roll has hypnotic properties? Think about it. Remember how Kaa the snake from the Jungle Book did this swirly-eye-thing to Mowgli and he would be at her mercy? That’s what a cinnamon roll does to me. Somehow, I feel magically drawn towards it! Cinnamon rolls lure me in in, like a wonderful psychedelic maelstrom of promising pleasure. This swirl, it shuts off the logical thinking part of my brain. It has secret come-hither-powers that should never be underestimated.
And lastly, the taste.
The taste! Can you picture biting into a freshly baked cinnamon roll right now? Sinking your teeth into that fluffy, gooey goodness? I bite into a cinnamon roll and it’s like I have arrived IN THE NOW. There are people that meditate for years to achieve this state of enlightenment. I am telling you. There’s absolutely no need to travel to India and checking into the silent Ashram. No need to grow a beard or stop cutting your nails.
Bake cinnamon rolls.
Eat them.
Experience their certain je ne sais quoi.
Feel complete. Hallelujah!
My dear sugar free and low carb friends, I have tried many versions of healthified (meaning: no-wheat, no-yeast, no-grains, no-sugar) cinnamon rolls using grain free flours such as almond or coconut flour. They all taste great, but their texture is either too cakey or crumbly to truly resemble the original, badass cinnamon rolls of my youth.
Then I tried this recipe.
And I have to say.
Keto Cinnamon Rolls win by miles.
Just looking at the close-up above is making me salivate again. Keto cinnamon rolls are made using the Holy Grail of Keto dough, which is a truly genius invention using mozzarella cheese. It was conceived as a pizza base (I am talking about it in detail in my Genius Grain Free Pretzels post – I’ve traced the origins of the recipe as far back as I could). With a few tweaks it makes a brilliant dough for sweet pastry as well.
I’d go as far as saying this: Holy Grail dough (which has become famous as Fat Head dough) is the cleverest brainwave since the conception of low carb eating. I want to hug the person who thought of combining an Italian cheese with almond flour to create a dough that actually mimics the taste of wheat dough. How could you possibly come up with an idea like this? Was it a coincidence? Someone accidentally dropping flour into melted mozzarella? It’s a bit like that person who banged two stones together and created fire. Boom, and the world is a better place.
The dough is a little tricky to handle – thanks to the inherent gooey-ness of mozzarella – but if you follow the instructions in the recipe section below, you should have no problems.
These Keto cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed warm, when they are soft on the inside and with the most tender crunch on the outside.
Should you have any leftovers, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge and do make the effort to heat them up again before eating.
Not likely there will be any leftovers though. One look at that swirl…
Keto cinnamon rolls – recipe tips and tricks
This recipe works best with pre-shredded mozzarella from the supermarket. Fresh mozzarella contains too much liquid and is too runny.
The dough is a bit tricky to work with. Do oil your hands if you find it too sticky (I used walnut oil). If it cools down too much, just warm it back up to make it easier to handle.
If you have it, use a brown sugar alternative such as Lakanto Golden to make the filling – it has a taste very similar to brown sugar that works great with cinnamon.
You can use butter instead of the water in the cinnamon filling, which gives the rolls a nice buttery taste. I made a few using butter, then decided to just dissolve the sweetener in water as the rolls are very high in fat already. The choice is yours!
If you do not have vanilla-flavoured stevia, you could add a bit of vanilla extract to your frosting.
If you don’t have extra fine almond flour and are using almond meal or ground almonds, add an additional 2 tbsp of almond meal/ground almonds or 1 tbsp of coconut flour so the cinnamon rolls keep their shape.
Another option to make the rolls is to roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a large rectangle. Spread the cinnamon filling on top, roll into a log and cut into slices.
Try my other Fathead dough recipes:
- Easy Low Carb Pizza Recipe (Keto Fathead Crust!!)
- Keto Low Carb Tortilla Chips
- Genius Grain Free Pretzels (Fathead dough)
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Keto Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 175 g shredded mozzarella (see notes!) (1 1/2 cups)
- 80 g almond flour (extra fine) (3/4 cup)
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the filling:
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp granulated sweetener
- 2 tsp cinnamon
For the frosting:
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- 1 tbsp greek/full fat yoghurt
- 2 drops vanilla stevia
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180 Celsius/360 Fahrenheit.
- Melt the mozzarella and cream cheese in a non-stick pot over a low heat or in a microwave (1 1/2 minutes, stirring half way through). Take off the stove and/or make sure the cheese is melted, but not bubbling.
- Stir in the egg.
- Now add the almond flour and baking powder. Start to combine using a fork, then use your hands to make a ball of smooth dough. This can be easier if you lightly oil your hands first.
- Divide the dough into 6 balls of ca 50g each.
- Form long rolls (ca 40cm), then flatten out with your hands. Make the dough as thin as you can.
- Prepare your cinnamon filling: boil water, then stir in the sweetener and cinnamon.
- Spread the cinnamon paste over the flattened dough rolls.
- Roll each into a bun and cut sideways in half.
- Now you have 12 buns which you place on a non-stick baking sheet or in a pie dish.
- Bake for ca 20 minutes.
- While the rolls are in the oven, prepare the frosting: Mix cream cheese, yoghurt and stevia.
- Spread over the warm rolls and serve
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Amanda Miller says
I had the hardest time with this but it was definitely user error! Had to roll out twice because I forgot the egg, kept breaking the rolls, they ended up being much too tall, and filled the pan funny. Subbed butter because I had no yogurt… They weren’t pretty but turned out as good as they could get for me messing up so much!! Delicious. Plus my house smells amazing. I’ll have to try again with more patience. Only thing is the dough did taste just a *little* cheesy, but to be expected. I’ll probably add a little stevia to it next time.
Katrin Nürnberger says
It’s all about the taste! I’m glad you have a good result in the end, especially after all those hiccups
Adelle says
Hello Katrin,
If I would like to add a banana, how much more almond flour would u recommend to add?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Depends on the size of your banana! Maybe 2-3?
christina says
HI there, loved the recipe. Question though – do you melt both cheeses together and then add the egg?
I saw the video showed adding the cream cheese after and I added it with the mozzarellas.
Let me know
Christina
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Christina, to be honest, it doesn’t make any difference. I’ve done it both ways and one works as well as the other.
Annette says
Made these today for a special breakfast treat . Oh my they are delicious, I’ve tried fathead dough before and it never turned out this good , I’m saving your dough recipe to use for my savory pastry dough from now on! Absolutely amazing , I’ve been missing ooey gooey cinnamon rolls since going keto but not anymore. Thank you for saving me from cheating, even my teens loved them (and I didnt tell them they were keto)!!
Katrin Nürnberger says
My teens have hollow legs!!! I hide these from them 😉
Carly says
SOOOO YUM! THESE ARE AMAZING, they kept their shape when in the muffin pan and had a wonderful swirl! soooo filling after two I could even eat lunch. I would definitely recommend spreading butter on the dough before filling it makes it way more moist and crispy! also, I added a little butter on top after cooking them for about 6 minutes to make them golden brown. I made this recipe and like others, my family was sceptical of the “cheese” but we were all so delighted! I only made 12 but next time I will definitely make more! If you are keto you MUST MAKE THESE!
Katrin Nürnberger says
So glad you all like them!!!!
Justine Cole says
I used Carmel Apple Greek yogurt because the store didn’t have plain . Aaaahhhhhmazing.
Barbara says
Just made them, fell in love, thank you for so much. I needed this.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Glad to make your Easter weekend nicer 😉
Jolynn says
What size egg should be used? I read in another review that a bigger egg could cause it to spread out. I used a large egg and mine spread out to fill the pie pan!
Katrin Nürnberger says
A large egg is fine. I think the spread may have something to do with the type of almond flour you’re using. If it’s not super-fine as the recipe requires, your dough will have less staying power and the rolls can spread. Add an additional 2-3 tbsp almond flour next time if you’re using “regular” almond flour and not super-fine.
Jolynn says
Hmmmm, I was using superfine almond flour. Maybe my oven wasnt hot enough. I shall play around and master these eventually!!
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hope you will! Of course, it could have been the oven. I’ve had readers make these in muffin pans to prevent spreading, which worked well for them. If you thought the texture of the rolls were good, then that may be something to try too.
Larry Mayer says
Made these. And for your awareness, is the 4th or 5th thing I’ve made from your web site. I’m hooked. And I’m no baker. I’ve perfected Almond bread and I loved these cinnamon buns. But they did sit down and were still delicious. Thanks for all you do for us weight watchers. Ive lost 10 lbs in a month with the staples from your site.
Thank you.
Katrin Nürnberger says
That’s wonderful! Thank you so much for putting your trust in my website. And congrats on the weight loss!
Cori says
These were awesome! I put the dough between two pieces of parchment paper to roll it out and then cut the log into 12 sections. After reading reviewers say they flattened out, I decided to spray a cupcake tin with coconut oil and put each roll inside each hole. They kept their shape and came out easy. I didn’t have yogurt or vanilla stevia for the frosting so I used cream cheese, butter, truvia granules and vanilla extract. Yum yum!! And I honestly didn’t taste any salty/cheesy flavor. I think I’ll be doubling the recipe next time!
Katrin Nürnberger says
What a great idea to bake them in a cupcake tin! Glad you enjoyed them
Larry Mayer says
My wife suggested the same. My comments below.
Melissa says
I wish I could say I was a fan of these. I followed the recipe to a T, using my scale and all. The only thing I changed, I didn’t have any sub brown sugar, so I used half real brown sugar and lakanto monk fruit sweetener. But these cinnamon rolls were not sweet at all, and I could barely taste any cinnamon. The rolls started off cute and tall but ended up spilling together as they flattened. The dough tasted like mozzarella. My husband liked the first one, but after the second, he wasn’t too thrilled.
For those of you trying this out, a tip for making 12 out of 6 easily: after smearing the cinnamon sugar spread on the 6 pieces of flat dough, I used a cream cheese knife/spreader to cut them lengthwise (a pizza cutter will also work). Then roll each individual roll. Made it very easy and neat.
The dough used seems to be good for savory items, but if I were to try again, I might actually put sweetener in the dough itself next time.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Melissa, thank you for detailing your tips on how you make the rolls. Sounds like you prefer a sweeter roll – so if you do try them again, just add a bit of sweetener into the dough itself!
Anna Funnell says
Oh my god. They were a bit of a faff to make (definitely nearer an hour than 30 minutes, at least the first time) and they didn’t rise much, but oh god, the mouthfeel. I have missed soft, flakey pastries SO MUCH since starting low carb 8 years ago, but these are definitely the closest I have tasted to the real thing. Thank you Katrin!
Katrin Nürnberger says
8 years is a long time without a good cinnamon roll!!!!! You certainly deserved these 😉
Anna Funnell says
I’m having a couple for breakfast this morning. Feels truly decadent!
Katrin Nürnberger says
It’s a Friday – perfect day for a really good breakfast!
Heather Vickery says
Thank you for this recipe is sounds delicious
will be trying them tomorrow
Thanks for sharing your recipes Heather
Katrin Nürnberger says
Can’t wait to hear how the rolls turned out Heather!
Angela says
Can I prepare this recipe entirely, refrigerate overnight and bake off in the morning? I want to make the dough, assemble and put it in the pan and just pop in the oven in and AM.
Katrin Nürnberger says
Yes, I think that will work. Bring it to room temperature before popping in the oven though so the baking time is the same. It’s possible it will rise less if you bake straight from the fridge and I don’t want you to be disappointed.
Kathy says
I want to make these and read the comments about them flattening. Would placing each roll in a silicone muffin pan possibly solve that issue and make a nice roll?
Katrin Nürnberger says
Hi Kathy, I’ve never had a problem with spreading. But your idea would definitely prevent them from spreading, so do give it a go 🙂
Laura says
What are the macros for this recipe?
Thank you!
Katrin Nürnberger says
The nutrition information is at the bottom of the recipe card at the end of the post. You deduct the fibre from the total carbs to get the net carbs.
The Nicols says
Tried these for the first time and my husband and I liked them, overall. I did end up needing to make more filling and icing; I guess we like them more filled and topped. I didn’t have yogurt, so I subbed sour cream for the icing, which was fine. Next time, I will add extra sugar to the filling (they could be sweeter for my taste) and I will roll out all of the dough under parchment – rolling out six separate pieces took much longer than I expected. Regardless, it’s nice to have something sweet for breakfast again without paying for it in loads of carbs and sugar! Many, many thanks!
Eunice says
I tried making these and mine also flattened out. I will try increasing the temperature on my next batch. But they taste delicious. Thanks
Katrin says
Hi Eunice, I hope they’ll keep their shape next time around!
Hana says
Hi
I tried the recipe and firstly although I followed the steps and the measurements the dough was wet and I ended up adding few spoons of almond flour to dry the dough a bit.
Then I struggled with shaping the dough. I managed to put them in the oven. I left them for longer than 20 minutes. They came out decent in taste but not in shape .
Can you please advice on how should I amend the recipe?
I love your recipes a lot.. Much appreciated.
Hana
Katrin says
Hello Hannah, fathead dough can be a little tricky to work with, if you’re not used to it. It’s important to use pre-shredded mozzarella, which is harder than the white mozzarella we use for salads. And if they do is too hard, it becomes difficult to roll out. Then you need to warm it up again so you can work with it. I hope this answers your question, please let me know if there is anything else I can help with
Rebecca says
Love love love these, thank you for a wonderful easy recipe that tastes as good as the real thing, this is what I was missing when I went low carb
My swwet tooth is a bit more than yours so I just increased the amount of sweetener to my tastes, instead of using vanilla stevia on the frosting I used 1 tbsp of powered swerve and vanilla extract and it made a much sweeter frosting
Thanks again
Katrin says
We all have different ideas of what’s the perfect level of sweetness! I’m glad you made the recipe work for you 🙂
Holly says
These were fantastic even without the frosting, will definitely be making again! Are there any savoury options I could try?
Katrin says
You could make pizza rolls by leaving out the sweetener and cinnamon and adding tomato sauce, ham or salami pieces and topping them with parmesan. Or simply try my low carb pizza!