These sugar free donuts taste just like the real thing, just without all the sugar and carbs! They are deliciously moist and pillowy-soft, with a hint of vanilla and rolled in granulated sweetener.
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On a scale of one to ten, donuts score at least a 14. You put a plate of these beauties on a table, and within minutes it'll be empty, guaranteed.
I've never been a fan of Krispy Kreme - they are just too sweet and fake-tasting. But before I started my low carb diet, I did love a proper bakery donut. Especially when they were fresh out of the oven, still warm and deliciously soft.
There is a 24-hour bakery in London where we used to go to after a long night out. We'd stock up on bagels for breakfast and munch on a donut or two on the way home. Saturday night wouldn't have been the same without it!
These days, I'm more likely to be found on my sofa than partying, and in bed before midnight. A good night's sleep is sacred in midlife. But donuts. I missed them!
It was time for a healthy sugar free donuts recipe.
I used my sugar free lemon mug cake recipe as a starting point. This cake is ultra moist, which I absolutely love. It uses almond flour, which has a gently sweet taste and mimics the texture of wheat flour very well.
I increased the amount of butter in the recipe to make my low carb donuts pillowy-soft and rich at the same time, just like real donuts should be.
Seriously, they are so good, it's hard to believe they're only 1g net carbs a piece!
Shall I show you how easy the recipe is?
Ingredients
Here are the ingedients you'll need for keto donuts:
- Almond Flour: I use ground almonds in most of my recipes. This is the same as regular almond flour in the US. This recipe also works with super-fine almond flour.
- Butter: Should be melted.
- Cream: Adding heavy cream makes the donuts moist and delicious. It is my secret ingredient.
- Eggs: I used 4 medium eggs. Alternatively, use 3 large eggs.
- Sweetener: I like allulose in this recipe, or erythritol monk fruit sweetener blends.
- Baking Powder and Vanilla Extract
Tip: Check that your baking powder is fresh. The main reason why baked goods don't rise is out-of-date baking powder. You can check whether it's active by putting a pinch in warm water. It should bubble and fizz.
Instructions
This section contains step by step instructions and photos that show how to make the recipe.
1.) Melt the butter in the microwave or in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat.
In a bowl using an electric mixer or with a food processor, blend the butter, cream and granulated sweetener until smooth.
2.) Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the mixture and blend until combined.
3.) Then add the almond flour and baking powder and blend until you have a smooth batter.
4.) Spoon the batter into a well-greased donut pan. I greased mine with melted butter.
5.) Bake the donuts for 15 minutes or until golden on top. Then remove them from the oven and let them cool fully.
Only once they are at room temperature, carefully release the donuts from the pan.
6.) Roll in a bowl with granulated sweetener and enjoy!
Which sweetener should I choose?
I like to use either pure erythritol or an erythritol blend with either monkfruit or stevia.
You could also use xylitol - some people find it has less of a cooling taste than erythritol. Xylitol is higher in carbs, so do take this into consideration if you need to. Also, when purchasing xylitol, look for a brand that extracts it from birch trees and not from GMO corn.
A third option is allulose. It tastes surprisingly similar to sugar. It's available on Amazon in the US. In Europe, the UK and elsewhere you can get allulose from iherb.
Use a mini donut pan
As I find almond flour is rather filling - this is because it's actually got nutritional value and contains plenty of healthy fats, I decided to use a silicone mini donut pan as opposed to a regular size pan.
Silicone pans are a godsend for low carb bakers, because they are pliable and you can release your baked goods much easier. Grain-free flours such as almond flour or coconut flour do not contain gluten, which means they are more fragile.
Whether you are using a silicone or a non-stick pan - make sure you grease it REALLY WELL. I used butter, but you could use another oil such as coconut oil. Don't miss this step!
You can use a larger mould if that's what you have at home and make 6-7 full size sugar free donuts. Simply increase the oven time by 5-8 minutes. Cover the top with aluminium foil if they start browning too much.
Don't have a donut pan? You can use a regular muffin pan as well! Fill it only half way and bake 15 minutes.
One of my readers even used this sugar free donuts recipe to make waffles.
Don't Overfill The Mould
In my first attempt, some of my donuts did not have a hole in the middle because I overfilled the mould. I ran a knife around the centre to get my hole "back".
If you DO end up with hole-less donuts, why not make the best of it. Simply fill the inside of the donut with sugar free raspberry jam or lemon curd. 🙂
To achieve donuts WITH a hole, check out how much I filled my pan in the video and on the step-by-step image.
How Many Eggs
I used 4 medium eggs in my recipe. If your eggs are large, 3 are enough.
Check the consistency of your batter and compare it to mine in the video. As a rule of thumb, if your batter is too runny, just add another 1-2 tablespoon of almond flour.
See the picture below how lovely and moist they are on the inside!
How To Make Dairy-Free Donuts?
It's possible to make this recipe dairy free by replacing the butter with coconut oil and the cream with coconut cream.
Recipe Variations
How about adding 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter for cinnamon donuts?
Or, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice and the zest of 1 lemon to make lemon donuts.
Like everything chocolate? Try my keto doughnuts, which have a chocolate crumb and a chocolate glaze.
Coating Ideas
I decided to go for a "sugar donut", because that's my favourite type. Obviously, I did not use real sugar, but granulated erythritol.
A brown sugar substitute would also be lovely here. Or, add ½ teaspoon of cinnamon to the bowl to make cinnamon "sugar".
If you prefer a glaze, mix 2 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon heavy cream and 2 tablespoons powdered sweetener with a couple of drops of vanilla extract. Let the mix cool until it starts to firm up. Then, pour it over the donuts.
You can also melt dark or sugar-free chocolate with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil for a chocolate glaze! If using dark chocolate, go for a variety with 85%-90% cocoa solids.
Storage
Store these donuts in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
More Sugar Free Desserts
- Keto Madeleines20 Minutes
- Chocolate Yogurt (Like Pudding!)5 Minutes
- Keto Peanut Butter Fudge45 Minutes
- Fail-safe Keto Coconut Cream Pie2 Hours 50 Minutes
Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating below!
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Recipe
Sugar Free Donuts
from Sugar Free LondonerNote: The servings slider only changes the first amount in each line and not any subsequent amounts. Please make your own calculations where necessary.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour 100g, ground almonds work as well
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter 75g, melted
- ¼ cup granulated sweetener 50g
- 4 eggs medium, or 3 large
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream 30ml
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sweetener 50g, to roll the donuts in. Option to add ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit. Brush the inside of the silicone donut pan with melted butter or grease with cooking spray.
- Blend the melted butter, cream and sweetener in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or in a food processor until smooth.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and blend until combined. Then, add the almond flour and baking powder. Continue blending until a smooth batter forms.
- Spoon the batter into the well-greased donut pan. Take care not to overfill the donut moulds. The batter will rise as it bakes.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove the donuts from the oven and let them cool completely before removing them from the pan.
- Put granulated sweetener in a small, shallow bowl. Option to add cinnamon and stir to combine. Press each donut into the sweetener to coat on both sides.
Sara
Hi. Can I check they amount of sweetner. I bought some stevia and 50g was so much so I just put 5g in??
Katrin Nürnberger
I'm guessing you're using granulated stevia sweetener. Check that it's a 1:1 sugar replacement like erythritol. Also, some stevia sweeteners (and also Splenda) are very light in weight, much lighter than erythritol. This means that 50 grams would be way too much - you'd have to measure in US cups. However, if you're using stevia drops, you would have to calculate how much you need - 1 tsp of sugar equals about 4-5 drops.
Marie C.
Wow! just made these and they are disappearing fast! They are light, fluffy and easy to make!
I made a chocolate-peanut butter spread and a cream cheese spread...wow!
this recipe has given me my donuts back. I will be making these regularly .
CT
I thought I had almond flour, but it turns out I have GF all-purpose flour. Would I still use 1 cup flour?
Katrin Nürnberger
I have never tried it myself, but I have read that you can replace wheat flour and almond flour pretty much 1:1. Personally, I would use a little less to start with, because it is finer. Check the consistency of the dough (compare it to mine in the video) and see where you're at.
Bonnie
Made donuts today, they came out great. Didn't have a donut pan so used mini cup cake. Made dount holes I guess. Love cinnamon, so mixed that an butter with sf brown sugar. Then dipped. They wer wonderfuk. Thanks for recipe.
Jeanne Bernadette Rivera
Hello!
Lovely recipe! Just a question because when I did it, it dint form a dough. It was very runny. I followed the recipe as is and used a food processor. What should I do?
Thanks!
Katrin Nürnberger
HI Jeanne, if you measured all your ingredients correctly, this could only mean that your eggs were much larger than the ones I used. If you're making these again, and your batter ends up much runnier than mine, just add an additional tbsp or 2 of almond flour/ground almonds.
Rachelle
I have made these a few times love them. Looking for some kind of lemon recipe to put in the middle
Katrin Nürnberger
you could use my lemon curd
Amy
Thank you for this versatile recipe. I actually made blueberry muffins with it and they turned out incredible, no eggy taste and the texture was soft and spongy, the best recipe by far that I have found! I used 4 large eggs which resulted in a very runny batter so I added another 1/4 cup almond flour. Last night I made hamburger buns, using 3 large eggs and omitted the sweetener and adding a bit of salt. The batter was the right consistency. It made 5 buns, using a muffin-top pan. They turned out perfect and I enjoyed a hamburger on a “real” bun! This is now my go-to bread recipe!
Katrin Nürnberger
I love how creative you've been with this recipe! Thanks for letting us know all the details 🙂
Beverly Carr
They aren’t Krispie Kream, but they’re low carb!! Thanks! I tried your recipe today; very good! I was going to post a picture of mine, but I didn’t see an option to do that.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Beverly, you can post one on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sugarfreelondoner/ I'd love to see it!
JoyceK
This is the first site that ever enticed me to try sugar-free baking. My first attempt was Katrin's chocolate donuts, and they are realllllly good! That emboldened me to go on to other sugar-free recipes to replace what I used to bake. This recipe is equally delicious! Thanks, Katrin, and I hope you write a book soon with all your blog recipes in it!! It would be so handy, and I could get rid of all the paper I have used to print out your fabulous recipes...
Katrin Nürnberger
Ah, that's so good to hear! I'm really happy you like what you find here 🙂
Christy Bedford
I need a little help, please. I had a few issues while baking these little ditties. 1.) When I added my almond flour to the liquid mixture it got a little clumpy, is that normal? 2.) And when I went to make my glaze it also became clumpy should I have melted the butter first? But am I causing an issue with the whipping cream because it is still cool? Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Christy, I used melted butter for both, so maybe that was the issue. But even if you use room temperature butter it should be fine for the dough, as long as you blend with an electric blender long enough for the dough you should end up with a smooth dough. I don't think it makes much difference whether the whipping cream is cold or room temperature as it's not a lot.
Christy Bedford
Ok great! I will try again. I will say I put them in the frig overnight and they tasted great. Not so pretty, but as my Gradfather used to say that all that mattered. Thanks again.
Cindy
I made these recently and they turned out wonderfully. I did add some fresh blueberries to add a little bit of a different flavor and texture. I felt that when I sprinkled the sugar over them, I could taste the sweetener too much. I also tried a glaze over part of them and felt that failed. But wasn't discouraged. They still tasted very yummy. I will use a cream cheese glaze on the next batch. Love your recipes.
Katrin Nürnberger
Hi Cindy, what a great idea to add blueberries in these. I bet a cream cheese frosting would be lovely on top! Maybe add some zing with some lemon juice and zest