These are easily the softest and tastiest baked keto donuts you’ll ever make… guaranteed! Think pillowy-soft results at just 1g net carb a pop.
Gluten Free & Keto Donuts
Suuuuper Soft!
Been working over here for the past few months in bringing you a true grain free and keto donut recipe. I’m talking about truly pillowy-soft baked donuts (rather than cakey and dense ones)!
Turns out the secret lies in making an easy keto choux pastry, which I first used for our keto churros. And with a couple small modifications, you’re guaranteed to end up with the softest keto donuts… ever!
And note that you can also pretty much do your topping of choice! I love a good chocolate glaze, but brushing them with melted butter and sprinkling with cinnamon ‘sugar’ is also sooo delicious.
p.s. don’t miss out on our glazed keto donut holes and the chocolate donuts twist!
The Method
The batter for these keto donut holes is essentially a choux pastry (used to make anything from eclairs to gougeres). But this is just a fancy way of saying that you first boil together water with sugar, butter (or coconut oil) and salt. Adding in the flour and cooking it until it forms into a ball. And step three, mixing in the eggs off the stove. I also add a bit of baking powder at the end for extra rise!
Now, when you mix in the eggs the dough will be very stiff, and given that we’re also adding in baking powder, the job is best done with a hand-mixer here. The final dough should be very elastic (courtesy of the eggs and xanthan gum).
For the shaping you’ll need a pastry bag (disposable ones are terrific) or simply use a thick plastic bag. You don’t need a tip here! Just to pipe it out onto a donut pan as smoothly as you can (so they rise evenly).
Alternatively, if no donut pan is at hand, line a baking tray with parchment paper and draw circles 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Your donuts will come out flat on the bottom, but will taste the same.
Top Tips For Success!!
As many of you seasoned bakers know, choux pastry is light, absolutely delicious and honestly very easy… but it is a bit finicky and known to deflateunder certain circumstances, so be sure to check out these tips!
- The most common reason for deflating choux pastry is excess liquid. This can come in the form of too large eggs (just try using 2 rather than 3!), be sure you’re cooking your dough long enough that it actually forms into a ball (see video), and make sure your oven is calibrated to the correct temperature (or just get a cheap oven thermometer- like most pros do anyways!).
- You also want to be sure your dough is below 125°F/52°C before beating in the eggs. It can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your room temperature. Otherwise you could be curdling your first egg (or two), leading to a lack of structure = deflating donuts.
- Allow your final choux dough to come to room temperature before transferring to a piping bag. I’ve come to realize this is a very important step to keep your donut (holes) from deflating post bake; the donuts will rise a bit less but hold their shape great.
- And last, but not least, be gentle! Refrain from opening your oven for the first 20 minutes… and if possible don’t open it at all! Definitely be careful to not slam your oven door (I know mine has a tendency to do that), and be gentle when taking them out of the oven. Don’t have your A/C blasting, keep doors closed, etc… i.e. ensure there are no drafts!
What to do if yours deflate?! Turn them into French toast (for real!). During my latest experiments to see what was causing the pastry to deflate, I ended up with a lot of ‘mistakes’… and it turns out that they make the most delicious French toast bites ever (and you’ll come back raving about it either way lol!).
The Flours
I like a mixture of super fine almond flour (Anthony’s is awesome) and coconut flour (again Anthony’s, best taste and texture by a mile!). Add a touch of psyllium husk powder and xanthan gum, and we’re golden.
Borrowed from molecular cooking, xanthan gum is the binding agent which makes your toothpaste jelly-like (and your cream cheese, well cream cheese-like). And it’s also the most common gluten-replacer in gluten free baking. And there’s absolutely no skipping it here!
In all honesty, no substituting anything here. You really do need the full combo of grain free flours to get the choux just right.
The Sweetener
This choux pastry to make the keto donuts is very lightly sweetened (and fairly bland solo), think just a couple tablespoons. But this is really to accommodate for the glaze or topping of choice.
So to sweeten the keto choux pastry itself you can use anything from erythritol (Lakanto is my fav here), allulose and xylitol (non-corn though to avoid tummy troubles!) . So you’ve got options!
And if just grain free, coconut sugar is your best bet here. And of course, raw sugar works great too.
If you’re opting for the glaze, which comes highly suggested, you can use any of the sweeteners from above- but they must be powdered.
So get your blender out, make sure it’s completely dry, and process your sweetener of choice until powdered. Just make sure you wait a few moments for the dust to settle before opening the blender or food processor.
Or you can always grab a bag of Powdered Lakanto (just keep in mind its twice as sweet).
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
And… The Video Story!
(1g net carb!) Pillowy-Soft Keto Donuts
Ingredients
For the keto donuts
- 64 g almond flour
- 28 g coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husk ground
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 240 ml water
- 57 g grass-fed butter or coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons erythritol or xylitol*
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the chocolate glaze
- 75 g powdered erythritol or powdered sweetener
- 14 g cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon melted butter or ghee/coconut oil, as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- milk-of-choice as needed
Special equipment
- pastry bag or plastic bag
- donut pan optional**
Instructions
- See recipe video for guidance!
- Preheat oven to 425°F/220°C. Grease and flour (with coconut flour) a donut pan. Alternatively, line a baking tray with parchment paper and draw circles 3 1/2 inches in diameter.
- Whisk together in a medium bowl almond flour, coconut flour, psyllium husk and xanthan gum. Set aside.
- Heat up water, butter, sweetener and salt in medium pot (or Dutch oven) until it just begins to simmer. Lower heat to low and add in flour mixture, mixing constantly to incorporate. Continue to cook and stir until the dough pulls away from the pan and forms into a ball, 1-3 minutes.
- Transfer dough back to the bowl and allow to cool for 5 minutes. The dough should still be warm, but not hot enough to scramble the eggs. And if you have an instant thermometer, temperature should be below 125°F/52°C.
- Add in one egg at a time, mixing with an electric mixer at medium/high speed until fully incorporated (if using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment). Be sure to mix the dough for 2 minutes after adding in the last egg; the final texture should be very elastic. Mix in vanilla extract and baking powder. .
- Allow the dough to rest until it comes to room temperature (about 15-20 minutes). I've come to realize this is a very important step to keep your donuts from deflating much post bake; the donuts will rise a bit less but hold their shape better.
- Spoon dough into a piping bag or plastic bag (no tip needed). Cut out bottom of piping bag 2 cm (3/4 inch) wide. Pipe out dough onto donut pan, or onto prepared parchment paper (staying within the drawn circle). Wet your finger tip and smooth out where the ends meet (for a more even rise).
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425°F/220°C, lower temperature to 350°F/180°C and continue to bake for 17-20 minutes until deep golden. Do not open your oven door before the first 20 minutes (or at all if possible!), as choux pastry is notoriously sensitive to drafts. Allow to rest in pan for 10 minutes before removing. Note: if your donuts are browning too much, feel free to tent them with aluminum foil (just be sure it isn't resting directly over them!).
For the glaze
- Sift powdered sweetener and cocoa powder onto a bowl. Add in vanilla extract, butter and milk-of-choice (as needed) until desired consistency is reached. The glaze should be thick, but pourable (I like to use our fingertip here to test for thickness!). Glaze donuts by dunking them onto the glaze (if your tops came out a bit wonky, you can always use the rounder bottoms as your new 'tops'!). Alternatively, feel free to brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon 'sugar'.
- These are best enjoyed still warm and freshly glazed, but they keep quite well for a day or two stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
- UPDATE: I've updated the baking temperatures and methodology a tad, and this should keep your donuts from deflatting. But if it happens to you, its generally due to excess liquid (the main reason why baking goods collapse in general). Please note that keto flours vary tremendously from brand to brand, and of course the size of your eggs- so just try using 2 eggs rather than 3!
Video
Notes
- The most common reason for deflating choux pastry is excess liquid. This can come in the form of too large eggs (just try using 2 rather than 3!), be sure you're cooking your dough long enough that it actually forms into a ball (see video), and make sure your oven is calibrated to the correct temperature (or just get a cheap oven thermometer- like most pros do anyways!).
- You also want to be sure your dough is below 125°F/52°C before beating in the eggs. It can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your room temperature. Otherwise you could be curdling your first egg (or two), leading to a lack of structure = deflating donuts.
- Allow your final choux dough to come to room temperature before transferring to a piping bag. I've come to realize this is a very important step to keep your donut (holes) from deflating post bake; the donuts will rise a bit less but hold their shape great.
- And last, but not least, be gentle! Refrain from opening your oven for the first 20 minutes... and if possible don't open it at all! Definitely be careful to not slam your oven door (I know mine has a tendency to do that), and be gentle when taking them out of the oven. Don't have your A/C blasting, keep doors closed, etc... i.e. ensure there are no drafts!
No way could I have piped this recipe. Definitely try it first with two eggs. Way too liquidy! I ended up using a muffin pan.
You know Jamie, in my experience if your batter is turning out too liquidy with three eggs (and they’re standard ‘large’) you may want to cook your dough a tad bit longer to get more water out at that stage.
Would like to see the video, but I see no video or link to one.
Cannot believe the texture, this is the closest I have ever gotten to a baked dough consistency. This is genius, how come everybody doesn’t copy this recipe?!?!
If making mini doughnuts, what would be the time difference? Lovin all your recipes!
I think that in the list of ingredients, it is important to clarify that it is Psillyum Husk POWDER that is used, because it changes the consistency and does not deflate.
Something that I noticed and it is important to emphasize is that it is 15 minutes at 425º F, then lowering the temperature to 350º F AND continue baking UNTIL 17 or 20 minutes or until it is golden brown.
I hope it will be helpful for people who have problems in the deflation issue.-
I made these today. I used powdered Lankanto Monkfruit so cut amounts in half. And I used raw, grass-fed butter. Came out amazing! But with the chocolate glaze, MyFitnessPal has it at 5 1/4 net carbs per donut. Can’t wait to make them again and try a different glaze/topping to try to lower the net carbs. Thank you 🙏🏻!!
I’m a third grade teacher, and my class won a donut party, but I had a student with type one diabetes. I was already following keto, and I found this recipe. My student’s mother approved this recipe, so I made a batch and brought him two donuts so he could enjoy our party. He absolutely loved them. I enjoyed them as well. I’m definitely making these again!
How many minutes to make mini doughnuts.
Hi! I really wanna make these but have issues finding psyllium husk, are there any replacements?
I NEVER leave comments because most Keto recipes I fine on the internet are just ok, but nothing to brag about. First time I made these they did not come out right, my fault. This time OMG awesome, soft and fluffy, the closest to a real donut I’ve ever found and I’ve tried MANY. I got 11 out of the recipe in a silicone pan and that’s filling each over half. Dipped in melted S.F. chocolate chips. Will be making another batch today as my husband and I ate them all already. Going to do the Donuts holes next. Thank you for coming up with something I (a diabetic) can eat with NO WORRIES.
I made these sans glaze and really liked them! My husband loved them so much he’s already asking when I’m making the next batch!
I ended up with 12 donuts and used five of them a couple days later to make a keto-friendly bread pudding! Just chopped the donuts, made a keto custard, and divided into three large ramekins. Omg so good!