Got thirty mins and craving cinnamon rolls? Whip up these easy and scrumptious gluten free and keto cinnamon roll knots in a jiffy! Think just 2g net carbs a pop.
Gluten Free & Keto Cinnamon Roll Knots
Ready in 30!
While you guys already have some proper keto cinnamon rolls (you know, with yeast and all!), this hack is just so easy and yummy. i.e. Ideal for satisfying those out-of-the-blue cravings!
Also, I’m not sure if any Swedish peeps are reading this (Paola here!). You see, these little cinnamon knots remind me quite a bit of some cinnamon roll packaged cookies you buy in Sweden. Alas, I cannot remember the name (useless I know!)! But they really are good and addictive in the best of ways.
Having said that, I prefer to bake them for just 10 minutes so they stay all nice and dough-y inside. As if you you do 20 mins, you’ll get a more cookie-like texture. Both are well and good, just a taste preference.
The Dairy Free & Keto Dough
You might (or not!) be surprised to hear that I use our grain-free tortilla dough here…! A little bit wetter, and with a tad bit more baking powder.
You can get roughly 10 cinnamon roll knots out of a batch of dough. But feel free to make them a little bigger (they come out even dough-ier).
The Flours
I like a mixture of super fine almond flour and coconut flour best. Add a touch of xanthan gum, baking powder, and we’re golden.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds. And for the coconut, I always favor Anthony’s (best taste and texture by a mile!).
No substituting flours here and the xanthan gum is absolutely necessary. And, if possible, weigh your ingredients for consistent results.
The Sweetener
You’ve got options! Feel free to use either sugar alcohols (erythritol and xylitol) or allulose. Oh, and Lakanto golden is particularly nice here with its maple tones!
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! 🐕
p.s. if just gluten free (or not restricted by sugars), simply sub 1-to-1 with regular or coconut sugar.
Gluten Free, Low Carb & Keto Cinnamon Roll Knots
Oh, and if baking with cups rather than grams is your thing, just click on US Cups for an instant conversion.
Ingredients
For the keto dough:
- 96 g almond flour
- 24 g coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 5 teaspoons water as needed
For the keto cinnamon roll knots filling
- 14 g grass-fed butter or coconut butter/oil, melted
- 3-4 tablespoons golden erythritol or xylitol, to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon to taste
For the cream cheese glaze (optional, but highly suggested!)
- 30 g cream cheese softened
- 14 g grass-fed butter softened
- 1-2 tablespoons powdered erythritol
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt
- 1-3 teaspoons almond milk as needed (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a baking tray with a baking mat or parchment paper.
For the keto dough:
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt to food processor. Pulse until thoroughly combined.
- Pour in apple cider vinegar with the food processor running. Once it has distributed evenly, pour in the egg. Followed by the water. Stop the food processor once the dough forms into a ball. The dough will be sticky to touch.
- Wrap dough in cling film and knead it through the plastic for a minute or two. Think of it a bit like a stress ball. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes (and up to 5 days in the fridge).
For the keto cinnamon roll knots
- Roll out the rested dough between two sheets of parchment paper with a rolling pin until roughly 10x10 inches in size. To get a perfect square, simply trim the uneven edges, patch them up and keep rolling until evenly sized.
- Assemble by brushing with melted butter and sprinkling with the cinnamon 'sugar' (to taste- we do 3TBS sweetener with 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon). Fold the dough in half and cut into 8-10 strips with a pastry cutter. Twist and roughly make into knots, pinching the dough together to seal closed (it'll naturally form into rounds as you twist). You can freeze the cinnamon roll knots at this point for a month or two, and bake straight from the freezer (adding a few more minutes in the oven).
- Place the knots in prepared tray and bake for 8-12 minutes (we do 10), until they just begin to brown. You want to only bake them briefly so they stay moist and doughy, otherwise you'll get cookies (still good, but not ideal!).
- While your cinnamon knots are in the oven. Cream together with an electric mixer the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the powdered sweetener, vanilla extract and salt. If you want it more of a drizzling consistency, add a few teaspoons of almond milk to thin it out.
- These guys are best served warm straight from the oven, with a generous drizzle of cream cheese glaze. But they also do re-warm quite well.
ANOTHER successful gnom-gnom recipe! Wow this is delicious, it feels like a cheat meal. You don’t have to be keto to love this. I had some issues with twisting the knots and the dough breaking, so after I botched 3 of them, I just rolled them like little pinwheels. That worked well for me and they were just as gooey and yummy. These remind me of those little cinnamon rolls you’d get at Burger King for breakfast. Will be making these again, and in a bigger batch next time! Can’t believe these are so easy to make, delicious, and keto!
I have had such mixed results baking keto that my continual mantra while mixing is ‘please be good, please behave, please turn out’. These little devils are a world of yes! The dough is just lovely to work with, and just the right flavor for sweet bakes. I used your 10 minute bake because I also like that bit of gooey left in the center. We loved them warm, but I love them cold too. Brilliant, and *such* terrific macros….keep doing the angels work, my dear!
I’ve made a bunch of different things with your keto dough and they’ve all been great, but these knots with the cream cheese frosting were AMAZING.
Wonderful to hear Cara! These are also some of my favorites (but the actual cinnamon rolls with yeast beat these… but take a lot longer oops!) xo!
I just finished making these gems and they were fantastic. I did convert the coconut flour to almond just because I can’t eat it. They look great and taste fantastic. Thank you.
When you convert to AF, how much did you use in total instead?
These are dry when combining(basically won’t even combine). Not even close to enough liquid in order to form a dough.
Hi Jim! Coconut flours can vary a lot in absorbency (it’s also a flour to easily overpack if you’re measuring by TBS rather than grams), which is why the recipe says 5 tsp water, as needed. Alternatively were your eggs small in size? Either way, a super easy problem to solve by adding a teaspoon of water at a time xo!
They are absolutely amazing! For the cinnamon sugar, I love to use more granulated xylitol to have that texture. Can’t get enough 😀
Paola!! I just made these and they are sooo nice. I love them so much. thanks for your great ideas and please keep up the greaat work. you are the keto-queen. you make keto diet so amazingly easy.much love from dubai
I have a son who is allergic to dairy so i made the frosting with coconut milk and it came out amazing! so happy to have found this website, I love it! Thank you for sharing
Kanel gifler 😃. Hej from Denmark
YES!! Oh lol thank you! 🙂
Newbie here! Would I be able to substitute Truvia as a sweetener or does it not act the same when baked?
Hi Chrissy! What are the ingredients of Truvia? If it’s erythritol and stevia like I think it is you’re good to go xo!
Just made these today! Tastes amazing and came together very easily! My 3 girls loved them and had no idea they were sugar free!
3 year old proof is the best kind ;)! So happy they were a success Dahl!
Dough was very sticky and stuck to parchment paper. I followed directions. Ideas?
Hi Andrea! It just sounds like too much water, either your egg was too large or added a bit too much water (alternatively didn’t measure the dry ingredients properly and came short on those). Hope it helps! xo
I absolutely love your blog and your recipes. I think you/this blog is/are the reason I have been able to continue on my ketogenic journey. Thank you for all you do! Cinnamon rolls are one of my weaknesses and I was wondering when you might have a yeasted version recipe to share?
Karen I’m sorry to have missed your comment earlier! There is now a yeasted version recipe on the site (also linked to this recipe above!) xo!
What would you recommend for a dairy free substitute for the cream cheese and butter in the glaze? I was thinking full fat coconut cream, but not sure on how that would turn out.
Thanks!
Hi Chanda! In all honesty I don’t have a keto and dairy free sub. A while back I did make a good one with cashews, but that wouldn’t be a great option for keto. Maybe worth scouring a few vegan blogs? xo!
Chanda, I made these amazing cinnamon rolls last night to serve to my husband this morning on our anniversary. We also eat dairy free. I took canned coconut milk and dipped some of the thicker coconut milk off the top of the can (didn’t shake before opening), then added cinnamon and stevia for the icing. My only problem was that I didn’t make enough. Next time I’ll double the recipe for my family of 6. Thanks so much, Paola, for an amazing recipe!!!
ooh thank you for sharing your df frosting Julie! And it’s my absolute pleasure, so happy they were a hit 😉
I haven’t tried anything yet but the pictures alone tell me i am SO LUCKY to have found you <3
LOL! Hope you enjoy the recipes too Avalon 😉 xo!
They are fabulous! Being an easy is another plus.
That’s awesome to hear Gerri! 🙂 Thanks for reporting back once again!! xo!
I’m new to your blog, but I have been ketogenic for over a year now and every time I have fallen off the wagon and went on a weekend binge it was for bread, tortillas, or pasta. Your recipe for keto dough is a LIFE SAVER!!! Today I made this recipe into pesto pinwheels and added a tsp of dry active yeast to the dough (no sugar) I just needed, okay, I wanted the yeasty smell and taste. I rolled them like traditional cinnamon rolls and baked them in mini muffins cups! What a delicious addition to my dinner of your keto pasta with Bolognese!!! 💜
Oh Samantha those sound wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing your idea with us, so happy to hear you’re enjoying the keto dough so much 😉 xo!
Thanks for this post. A must try. Am wondering though, can a flax or chia egg be a suitable substitute for us folks allergic to eggs? Thanks!
Hi Judy! In all honesty I haven’t tried it myself, but a reader did report back on making the dough with a flax egg and succeeding (cannot guarantee it though, as I haven’t tried it myself). Hope this helps xo!
I don’t have a food processor so can I just mix the ingredients with a hand mixer?
Hi Betsy! Yes, it works well with a hand mixer too (you’ll just have to knead it a bit more) xo!
What an awesome recipe! Can i sub xanthan for psyllium? Or other? I can’t really have xanthan gum :/
Thank you Lucia! Unfortunately no, xanthan gum is the only thing I’ve tried that works spot on 🙁
HI! Do you think Vital Proteins beef gelatin can be a substitute for xanthan gum? Thanks:)
Nope, it’s not a binder!
Hi Paola!
We loved these, and I love your approach to this style of cooking! Please don’t get tired of re-inventing things for me to try. I’m having a great time, thank you!
—Marv
Melbourne, FL
That’s awesome Marv so happy you loved these (and the blog!)! And don’t worry, the recipes will keep coming 😉 xo!
Hi, will try making these later today. Not sure of the Swedish word you’re looking for, but they remind me of gifflar. Love your site!
Just a quick question, do you bake them in muffin tins or do they stay together in the little knots on a cookie sheet? Thanks!! I always know where to look when I need a little “fix”. Love your chocolate chip cookie recipe!! I prep the dough and freeze for when I need a little something 🙂
Hi Alexandra! I’m sorry I missed your comment!!!! :-S I bake the on a a cookie sheet, and if you press them together well they will stay together quite well. But you can of course bake them in a muffin tin too. Also so happy you love the chocolate chip cookies! 🙂
Hi! Can I roll and cut this the traditional cinnamon roll way or does it need to bake as a knot? Just wondering if it affects the taste. Thanks!
Hi Karelle! You can technically roll them traditionally, but in all honesty I liked them better as knots because they stay more doughy inside. Personal preference I suppose! xo!
These look awesome! Just wanted to check one thing – the description mentions the recipe uses yeast, but I don’t see it in the actual recipe card.
Hi Alex! No yeast in this recipe! The description simply states that you guys will be getting proper cinnamon rolls soon though (i.e. with yeast). Think of these as a shortcut for quick cravings 😉 xo!
Hi! When your recipe converts to cups- it changes the baking powder to 5 teaspoons instead of 2 like in your metric recipe! Just thought you might want to know! I’m going to try making these tomorrow. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the heads up Kelly! What would I do without you guys?! 😉
These look stellar and I love the idea of freezing them and baking a few as needed. How wonderful! I wouldn’t trust myself around a whole batch of them otherwise. Great recipe….thanks!
Oh trust me I know from first hand experience these are a bad idea to have around all at once! Luckily they’re very filling, or I would have polished the whole batch in a sitting! 😉 xo and hope you enjoy!
p.s. another reader just now commented that they used half the dough for the hot pockets and the rest for this- so you can always mix and match!
Is there a way to make these without almond based products. Highly allergic…
Hi Jessi! A few readers have reported back that sunflower seed flour is a good sub in this dough (taste is a little different though). That’s the only possible sub as sunflower seeds are similar in fat content etc. to almonds. Another idea would be to make them with hazelnut flour, though flavor would be very different (maybe better match with a chocolate filling!). xo!
Ummm so these are amazing! I used half the dough to make a hot pocket from last week’s recipe and the rest for these. SO GOOD!
Well isn’t that a great idea?!! So happy you enjoyed them! xo!
Can you sub almond milk for the water?
Hi Bella! If you want yes, but it won’t make much difference (almond milk is essentially water). xo!
Oh my! I so have been craving cinnamon rolls but cannot eat the traditional kind and now I can make them with less carbs, yes!
I look forward to trying your recipes. This one has got me pumped. Thank you!
Hope you enjoy Dunia!! You guys will also be getting ‘proper’ cinnamon rolls soon though too 😉 xo!