Keto Chocolate Glazed Donuts

Cake donuts vs. yeast donuts

• A cake donut is made with a sweetened dough that has a dense, crumbly texture (think old-fashioned donut from a bakery). It’s leavened with baking powder to help it rise. This recipe is a cake donut.
• Yeast donuts, like the ones at Krispy Kreme, use yeast-based dough. They’re lighter, airier, and chewier. Traditionally, both types are fried in oil.

I bake the donuts in this recipe because it’s faster and cleaner on a weekday morning. If you want a fried version, I have a separate keto apple fritters recipe that covers the frying technique, or check my glazed donuts recipe linked above for fried keto donuts specifically.

Ingredient substitutions for keto donuts

When it comes to sugar-free baking, I have strong opinions about flours and sweeteners because I’ve tested most of them. My go-to combination is almond flour with protein powder (or coconut flour as the backup).

I use this combo for two reasons.

• First, the combination mimics all-purpose flour better than almond flour alone. Your donuts will have a texture and consistency close to a traditional old-fashioned cake donut.
• Second, these flours are easy to find. Most grocery stores carry almond flour, coconut flour, and protein powder now.

Substitutions I’ve tested:

• Sunflower Seed Flour – If you’re allergic to nuts, this is your swap. It measures cup for cup with almond flour, so use 2 cups. The flavor is slightly earthier but still works well with the chocolate glaze.
• Coconut Flour – If you don’t have whey protein powder, use coconut flour instead. I find the texture is a touch drier, but it holds together fine.
• Sweeteners – My favorite is Lakanto Classic Monkfruit. It’s a blend of monkfruit and erythritol that measures cup for cup with sugar. I chose it because it doesn’t have the bitter aftertaste or cooling effect that plain stevia or erythritol give you. Any sweetener that measures 1:1 with sugar will work.
• Yogurt – Swap the sour cream for plain yogurt or ricotta cheese. The sour cream gives these donuts their characteristic tang and provides the acid that reacts with baking powder to help them rise. If you need a dairy-free option, try my dairy-free keto chocolate chip muffins for a similar approach using coconut cream.

Equipment you need

The main tool is a donut pan. I use the one by Wilton. It makes six donuts and it’s non-stick, although I still spray mine with cooking oil every time out of pure paranoia that they’ll stick. A silicone donut pan also works well and the donuts pop out even easier (I cover this in the FAQ below).

If you don’t have a donut pan and don’t want to buy one, you can still make these. Roll your dough into a snake shape and join the ends into a circle on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can also make donut holes by rolling the dough into 1-inch balls. Same recipe, same bake time, no special pan needed.

Sugar-free sprinkles

Homer Simpson and I have something in common: we both need sprinkles on our donuts. I’ve been this way since I was a kid. Even though sprinkles don’t really add flavor, they make a donut look right.

I’ve found a few sugar-free options online. I haven’t been able to find them in grocery stores yet, but hopefully that changes soon.

Good Dee’s is my pick. They’re sweetened with erythritol, gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan. Add them right after dipping in the chocolate glaze, before it sets. If you wait even a minute too long, the sprinkles won’t stick.

Storage and reheating

This recipe makes about 10 donuts, so you’ll probably have leftovers. I store mine in an airtight container or Ziploc bag at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.

You can freeze these too, but here’s what I’ve learned: freeze the plain cake donuts without the glaze. The chocolate gets weird and crackly after thawing. I wrap each one individually in plastic wrap, toss them in a freezer bag, and they’re good for about a month. When I want one, I thaw it at room temperature for 20-30 minutes, then make fresh chocolate glaze right before serving.

To reheat a refrigerated donut, I microwave it for 10-15 seconds. Just enough to take the chill off without melting the glaze. If you’re reheating an unglazed one from the freezer, 20 seconds in the microwave works, or pop it in a 300F oven for 5 minutes to get that fresh-baked texture back.

If you want more low carb donut variety to rotate through, my keto apple cider donuts are great in fall and my keto jelly donuts are the ones I make for special occasions.