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!
I’ve been wanting to make these for ages.
I finally made them today. They were amazing. I didn’t have the donut pan so I used piping bag. I made a circle on paper as a template. I may have made them a bit big as I only got 6 regular sized and 1 mini.
I didn’t care for the chocolate glaze. Not sure where I went wrong. But I did make 2 with butter, cinnamon and erythritol topping. And that was a winner!
Thanks again, Paola!
Hmmmm….what shall I make tomorrow?
These are delicious! I made them today. The frosting was really smooth with some vigorous stirring. I left it thicker and fluffy to frost rather than dip and glaze. I love your recipes! Thank you for this one!
I am so happy these are so low in net carbs because I COULD NOT eat just one! LOVE…thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
Hi, what size eggs do you use? M or L ?
Is there a way not to use almond flour? Anything nut free becauseof allergies 🙁
Is there another type of flour I can use instead of the almond flour that will still allow them to come out just as nice? I’m okay with the coconut flour but can’t have nuts. Would an all-purpose 1-1 GF flour blend work, or switch to a rice, tapioca or corn flour? I’m not keto, so that isn’t a big issue for me…it’s just the gluten and nuts.
Thank You!
I want to know too! Almonds are a no for me.
Yum! These almond flour donuts are the first of their kind our house-hold, and even made it to my newly founded news letter.We made the donuts for my class, but there was some allergys that we had work around, and we ended with four dairy free donuts, and a lot of dairy full donuts.My class (and me!) loved ’em.WE WILL MAKE MORE!
-Laylah(9 years old)
This was so dissappointing. The bottoms of my donuts burnt after 5 min in the oven. Have you tried the method with the parchment paper on a baking sheet? I’m sure using this method affected the rise in the two donuts I made in the toaster oven which didn’t burn but also flattened even when still in the oven.
Yum! These almond flour donuts are the first of their kind our house-hold, and even made it to my newly founded news letter.We made the donuts for my class, but there was some allergys that we had work around, and we ended with four dairy free donuts, and a lot of dairy full donuts.My class loved ’em.WE WILL MAKE MORE!
-Laylah(9 years old)
So very excited to try these!! I have a question about one ingredient, the Xanthan gum. I have plenty of guar gum. Is there any way at all that I can use this as a substitute for it? Thank you! <3
Why psyllium husk and I leave it out or use something else
My round donuts did flatten, but my small mini muffin ones did not (they sat out to room temperature further). I quadrupled the recipe, so it took way too long to cool down I just cooked them anyway. Next time after the dough is finished, I will probably go ahead and put them in the molds already and then let them sot and cool so it happens a bit faster! Thank you for the recipe! It was very tasty.
As a question, have you ever tried using cacao butter instead of real butter? I’m not even sure that would come close to working, but curious if it would add a good flavor…
I just made these and I only regret attempting them for the first time while trying to help daughter with her science project, baking bacon, making raspberry ice cream, making kids French toast. They do require a lot of attention, but it was worth it! I added cinnamon to one of them, poked 5 blueberries into another one and they were my favorites!
Absolutely delicious doughnut! Did not care for the chocolate icing recipe – wish it had specified exactly what was used instead of variables. I used melted butter, a little heavy cream, & some unsweetened almond milk – it was a clumpy mess.
Will definitely make the donuts again but will try a different glaze or icing.
I had a lousy experience with the glaze too. I used cream and it was lumpy and pale brown :(. The donuts are amazing! If I can’t find a nice glaze recipe next time, I may brush with melted butter and dip in cinnamon and erythritol. I also sifted the dry ingredients. I was very impressed how light and fluffy they were.
I just made these, and they are DELICIOUS! My question, if anyone can help, is how did you get the frosting so shiny? Mine is dull. I used coconut oil, if that helps. Also used some half & half as I didn’t have any alternatives on hand.
Its shiny because they’re freshly glazed 😉
How do you get the chocolate so dark? I use cacao powder but they were light. Also mine are dry. They didn’t fall but maybe over baked. I followed instructions precisely.
I make a warm glaze with just a little melted parowax (1/4 tsp) in it. Wisk together on the stove, low heat, with your butter, vanilla and swerve icing sugar. Dip while still warm. It will give you a nice shine.
I meant to add 1/2 a cup of heavy cream to the above comment. (shiny glaze)
Probably in the picture the glaze wasn’t cold yet.
I did it! Mine didn’t fall and were yummy!! New favorite recipe!
I would love to try your recipes but I cannot use the sweeteners, that aftertaste is just unpalatable to me. Any advice or suggestions? 🙏
I’m wondering if I can freeze these. Has anyone tried? Any suggestions?
Looking forward to making these.
Hello,
I love your recipes. It really has helped in the cutting carbs but still loving food department. Thank you. I tried making these yesterday and while I know I forgot to let the dough come to room temp, they came out with an eggy texture and taste. Not terrible but still. Was curious if there was a way to fix this? I used the normal 3 eggs it calls for. Maybe try only 2? Thank you for time
Ugh. I really feel like this recipe should have read to double so I don’t have to repeat it in the morning. My kids were gobbling them up before I could finish glazing. Thanks!
Tastes so good!
It was a bit finicky getting the ingredients as I’ve never used some of them but I’m so glad I tried them! I’ve been missing dough-y textures from doughnuts and bread, and this is just the fix! Ate them without the icing too!
I’m curious about the glaze. Does it harden when dry or it stays sticky?
Bravo! Excelent dough mix! I Just failed the cacao glaze because non powdered eritritol. Next time better. Dough enough for 8-10 donuts but then I decided to make petit choux instead which deflate a bit. Result: sort of dorayakis 😉
Where is the video? Click the “jump to video” button but theres no video.
I made these as per recipe, and with silicone baking moulds. This worked really well apart from over browning the tops right at the beginning of the bake despite placing a baking tray on the shelf above from the start of baking – the bottoms are perfect. No burnt taste imparted so a chocolate glaze will fix the look of them. Making the choux in our damp climate is somewhat time consuming though.
I have a cheaper version of a Thermomix and there’s a recipe for choux pastry in the book (in French – thank you Google Translate). I used the method with tweeks to match your method more closely, bearing in mind that the flours in this recipe are very different to wheat flours. I also used one less egg as the first (manual batch) took a little longer to cook and the blender method doesn’t evaporate the liquid away because it’s a fairly closed system.
This method will make prep for my daughter’s wedding much easier as I have a lot to do for it (two of us attendees are GF and I’m also Keto). This latest batch will now undergo the freezer test. 8 donuts on the loose is too much temptation!
Thank you for enabling us to have donuts at the wedding too!
How did they come out in the freezer?
Jacqui, I think perhaps the overbrowning of the tops was due to the baking sheet in the rack above…this will trap the heat rather than allowing it to circulate evenly. Still a better option to loosely tent them if they begin to overbrown 🙂
I have yet to make these,but will very soon. I have read the comments, and being a chef, my advice to the people whose puffs are collapsing, when done turn off the oven and open the door a crack so the heat slowly decreases. keep your eye on that they don’t get too dark, but this is what you would do with a traditional puff to dry it out abit. worth a try
Thanks for sharing Lori, this is a great tip yes!
Is the psyllum husk powder needed?
Can you use a mini donut maker instead of baking in the oven???
I just made them tonight. They were great healthy doughnuts, but definitely not “real” doughnuts. I think they deflated a bit, but they were so spongy I loved the texture! Will definitely make them again
I’m thinking about using this to make eclairs, filled with pumpkin cream cheese, and then making a maple glaze. I’m assuming this dough would work for that? Maybe just pipe out large logs, then after baked, cut them in half and fill?
Kind of works… they just don’t get crispy (like ever!). So I honestly wouldn’t suggest
Delicious! I made regular size and minis. The regular size were pillowy soft. My glaze turned out thick because I only have heavy cream, but I double dipped them. Sooo good! I’m thinking of trying to make cream filled and chocolate glazed. I also want to make cream puffs and eclairs with this dough. I never thought I could make choux dough, and I feel proud of myself for it actually coming out.
I used to make choux pastry in traditional ingredients for about 40 years… With “conversion” to Keto I was missing terribly this dough. But Paola made it happen! I made my profiteroles based on this recipe with whipped cream chocolate frosting . I used 2 eggs room temperature and about 5 minutes of stand mixer to incorporate them into the dough. All Paola’s advises are very useful and easy to follow!
Another home run recipe for gnom-gnom! As a keto and GF family we are able to continue a birthday breakfast tradition – which for my daughter this year was a real treat and surprise. Thank you Paola! Your recipes and creativity are making the world a better place! LOVE – LOVE – LOVE all things gnom-gnom!
Another home run recipe by Paola and gnom-gnom!
I was nervous to make the choux pasty for the first time – hadn’t even heard of it before becoming familiar with Paola’s recipes and I read this recipe a few times over the last year before deciding to try it. I even had doughnut pans just waiting patiently in my cabinet for months while I pondered.
(Thank you Paola for the patience and detail in your directions! I’ve told you this before but you are teaching me to cook! My family and everyone I know appreciates it!)
Finally, I wanted to make a special birthday breakfast for my GF daughter and decided to go for it. I used to buy Krispy Kremes for her birthday breakfasts – but that was before she had to be GF – so this continued a very special tradition for us. The only think I did “wrong” was clip the hole in the plastic gallon bag too big so I only ended up with 6 doughnuts. I made myself leave that oven door closed until they had baked for 17 minutes (made 20 because they were a bit bigger) minutes at the lower temperature – and they were absolutely perfect! The other thing – I don’t keep milk in the house anymore so I substituted cream in the glaze recipe and it came out more like frosting instead of glaze, but not important. THESE DOUGHNUTS WERE AWESOME – and now a birthday tradition will continue in our home! Thank you Paola! You are truly making this world a better place. !Muchos besos!
P.S. Wondering if it’s possible to add cocoa to the choux pastry for a chocolate doughtnut?
Can I double donut recipe?
I need to make 5 recipes Tuesday morning
Yes mam!!
Saw anyone tried replacing the psyllium husk with golden flax meal?
Yes I double it and turns out perfect! I also use a little less water and bake a little longer because I live in a humid climate