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.
I am new to keto for health reasons; before finding this site, I was really bummed about missing all of my favorite foods. This was the first gnom gnom recipe and it was AMAZING — the knots were so good on their own, I almost skipped making the cream cheese topping. I’m so glad I didn’t because that topping took them to a whole ‘nother level! Thank you! Chocolate Zucchini bread next!
It is normal that when you bite into it, its a little grainy and slimy? Thanks!
If you are using erythritol that is not already powdered, take it into your vitamix or other mixer to powder it before using it 😊
Hi, I don’t any almond meal, can I just use coconut flour for this recipe? I do have other flours like white rice flour, brown rice flour, millet, sorghum, tapioca, glutinous rice flour. Do any of these work?
Loved them! My husband and I just ate them hot out of the oven and didnt stop until they were all gone! They were that good! I didnt use the cream cheese icing since I’m out of cream cheese. I used a combo of regular monk fruit and truvia sweetener since that’s what I had available. The dough is amazing and I’ve used it for calzones as well and make several batches of it at a time to keep handy! Thanks again for a great recipe!
These are so fast and tasty! I make a savory version with butter, garlic and grated fresh parmesan instead of butter, cinnamon and sweetener. I call them garlic knots, and make them to go with dinner. I love both the cinnamon and the garlic knots, and so does my husband!
Hi Paola, should I use this keto dough to make croissants? Did you try it? I only find at internet recipes using mozzarella cheese with cream cheese. I think the croissant should taste to cheese and I like to enjoy a really sweet croissant with syrup on it with a coffe. It could be possible with your recipe? Thanks in advance, Karin
I mean, they just won’t be flaky Karin… I feel like the pie crust recipe is a bit more akin to croissant dough. I’m still working on a rough puff though!
Well they taste okay, but for me…trying to roll them was a DISASTER. They broke apart…did I need to add more water? I’m not a regular baker but I did exact measurements and the ball was definitely sticky/moldable…everything was great until I tried to twist.
I had the same issue, what did I do wrong?? I ended up just having to bake them straight 🙁
It says:
1. Fold the dough in half and
2. Cut into 8-10 strips with a pastry cutter.
3. Twist and roughly make into knots,
4. Pinching the dough together to seal closed (it’ll naturally form into rounds as you twist)
So, you do not make it as a roll 😉
What can be used instead of the xanthum gum and the other ingredients that will make us with IBS to be sick all day ?
These didn’t brown at all for me. At 10 minutes the dough still tasted kind of raw. At 12 minutes, edges were starting to get a little crunchy, so took them out. They taste great but they look raw, which isn’t the most appetizing. Wondering what I did wrong? Should I have broiled the tops for a few seconds?
I sure don’t know *what* makes you sick . . . if you want your question answered, you may need to specify.
XANTHAN gum can usually be left out, but makes the dough more fragile. You may have to roll, rather than twist these.
Other than that, a website that is specifically *for* IBS, or a paleo site may work better for you.
Good luck.
Wow, wow, wow! Best thing ever!! Thank you for this recipe!! I doubled it.. and it definitely won’t last long!!
This was so delicious!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, and for all your hard work!! ❤️❤️❤️
Yum! this looks good! I got reactions to xanthan gum. Is there something that replaces it in this recipe? Will it alter the taste of the role? Appreciate it. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Check out (google) glucomannan and guar gum.
How is this dairy free when you use cream cheese and butter????
If you read the recipe, there is paleo (dairy free) option and cream cheese option
I found some cashew based cream cheese at my local grocery store. Might want to try that.
Gifflar!!!
Yup, that’s the name in Sweden and Norway 🙂
Failed on twisting them, but the recipe is delicious and simple, just what I was looking for !
Hello we are new to keto and baking 😬. 12 are a lot for us but I would like to keep the extra dough prepped to remove and bake when wanted… Can this dough be frozen till ready to use? If not how long will the dough keep in the fridge? How long do baked rolls keep how do I store them?
Thank you
Debbie
Paola answers that question at the end of Step 2: “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). “
Awesome recipe and so easy to make the dough ahead of time.I added crushed pecans to the filling for another level of yumminess.
What can be used if I do not have a food processor?
I used my stand mixer for the whole thing. You can also just use a whisk in the mixing bowl for the portion with the dry ingredients and the vinegar.
Ok. I have a hand mixer and a whisk…I made these, but I think I rolled my dough too thin…didn’t puff at all or look like photo. Taste is ok. Hopefully eith practice my trials will look as good as the photo (probably not as food IRL rarely looks picture perfect) 😉 Willing to try again and cinnamon taste curbed my craving so a mostly win for me!
I loved these but found out that I can’t have xanthum gum because it made me sick all day. Apparently it’s a laxative.
maybe, but xylitol, erythitol, and MCT oil definitely can be for some