These chocolate glazed donuts are my favorite low carb breakfast treat. Baked cake donuts with a rich sugar-free chocolate glaze, and each one is 4.8g net carbs.
I have a Homer Simpson problem. I cannot resist a donut with sprinkles. Even on keto, especially on keto, I need a donut in my life. So I spent a weekend testing four batches of these chocolate glazed donuts until I got the cake texture exactly where I wanted it: dense enough to hold up under a thick layer of melted chocolate, soft enough that it doesn't crumble when you bite in.
Each donut comes in at only 3.5g net carbs without the glaze. That's the number I calculated myself after a reader named Sun asked for macros without the chocolate coating (her husband just wants a plain fry cake). With the glaze, you're still well under 6g net carbs per donut. For a full breakfast with coffee, I'll eat two and still stay on track.
These are baked, not fried. I have a separate Krispy Kreme-style fried donut recipe if you want that lighter, yeast-risen texture. But these cake donuts are the ones I reach for on weekday mornings because they're faster and I don't have to deal with a pot of hot oil before I've had coffee. The combination of almond flour, protein powder, and sour cream gives them that old-fashioned cake donut density. I've tried swapping coconut flour for the protein powder and it works, but the texture is a touch drier.
The chocolate glaze is just two ingredients: sugar-free chocolate chips melted with a tablespoon of coconut oil. I dip the tops while the chocolate is still warm, then hit them with sugar-free sprinkles right away before the glaze sets. You can also do a white chocolate version with a couple drops of red food coloring for a pink glaze (my daughter loves that one).
If you love keto donuts as much as I do, I have a whole collection: churro donut holes when I want cinnamon sugar, and a single-serve donut for those mornings when I don't trust myself with a full batch. This recipe makes about 10 donuts, and I can have the whole batch mixed, baked, and glazed in under 30 minutes.
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.
How to make chocolate glazed donuts
Mix your dry ingredients first (almond flour, protein powder, sweetener, salt, xanthan gum, baking powder), then add the wet (melted butter, sour cream, hot water). The dough should be thick and pressable. If it's crumbly, add water a tablespoon at a time.
Press the dough into the pan firmly. I use my thumbs to push it into the donut mold, filling almost to the rim. These don't rise much, so don't be shy with the dough.
Bake at 325F for about 10 minutes. I pull mine when the edges just start to turn golden. They firm up as they cool.
Let them cool completely before glazing. If the donuts are warm, the chocolate slides right off. I learned that one the hard way.
Dip into melted chocolate and add sprinkles immediately. The glaze sets fast, so work one donut at a time. I melt my chocolate in 30-second microwave bursts to avoid scorching.
If you want another chocolate breakfast, my keto chocolate pancakes use a similar almond flour base.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a donut pan with cooking oil.
2
Dry ingredients
Add all the dry ingredients for the cake donut to a medium bowl. Mix until combined.
3
Wet ingredients
Add in wet ingredients. Mix until combined. If dough is crumbly, add a splash more of water.
4
Press the donut
Grab a handful of dough and press it into a donut pan. Add enough dough to reach almost the top of the rim. These donuts don’t rise much.
5
Bake it
Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until the donuts are set and lightly brown around the edges. You also have the option to fry these donuts. Add lard or your favorite cooking oil into a small non-stick skillet. Heat to medium heat. Add donuts and fry on each side until golden brown.
6
Let cool
Let cool completely in the donut baking tray then transfer to a wire rack.
7
Melt chocolate
Once donuts have cooled, melt chocolate and coconut oil in a flat bowl. To melt sugar-free chocolate, microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring in between until chocolate is melted. You can also melt your chocolate using a double boiler if you don’t want to use a microwave. For a pink chocolate glaze, use sugar-free white chocolate and add a couple drops of red food coloring to it.
8
Dip the donut
Dip the top of your donut into the melted chocolate and top with sugar-free sprinkles right away. Set back on a wire rack to cool the chocolate.
Nutrition
Per serving: 1 donut
Calories
391
Fat
34.6g
Protein
12.5g
Total carbs
17.6g
Net carbs
4.8g
Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients listed. Brands vary, so check labels if you track closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many net carbs are in one keto chocolate donut?
I calculated the macros myself: each donut without the glaze is 297 calories, 27.4g fat, 8.8g protein, and 3.5g net carbs. With the chocolate glaze, you're looking at roughly 5g net carbs per donut depending on which chocolate you use. I use Lily's dark chocolate chips for the lowest count.
Can I make these donuts in an air fryer?
I haven't tested these in an air fryer myself, but based on what I know about air fryer baking, I'd try 300F for 8-10 minutes using silicone donut molds that fit your basket. The outside will crisp up more than oven-baked, which some people prefer. I'd still glaze them the same way after they cool.
How do I reheat frozen keto donuts?
I freeze mine without the glaze (the chocolate gets crackly after thawing). To reheat, I thaw at room temperature for 20-30 minutes, then either microwave for 20 seconds or warm in a 300F oven for 5 minutes. Then I make fresh glaze right before eating. The texture is almost as good as day one.
Can I add vanilla extract for more flavor?
Yes. A reader named Marilyn mentioned these felt like they were missing something, and I agree that a teaspoon of vanilla extract in the wet ingredients makes a noticeable difference. I didn't include it in the original recipe because I wanted the chocolate glaze to be the main flavor, but if you're eating them plain or with a light glaze, vanilla helps a lot.
Do I need a donut pan, or can I use a silicone one?
I use a metal Wilton pan and spray it every time, but silicone pans work great for these. The donuts pop out of silicone without any greasing, which is nice. Just make sure you set the silicone mold on a baking sheet before filling it so it doesn't flop around in the oven. I've used both and the bake time stays the same.
Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Not as a direct swap. Coconut flour absorbs way more liquid than almond flour, so if you use the same amount, your donuts will be dry and crumbly. I'd use about 1/3 cup coconut flour plus extra liquid (another 2-3 tablespoons of water or sour cream) if you're trying to avoid almond flour entirely. My preferred nut-free swap is sunflower seed flour, which measures cup for cup.
Can I make these donuts dairy-free?
I've made them with coconut oil instead of butter and coconut cream instead of sour cream. The texture is slightly different (a little denser), but they still hold up and taste good with the chocolate glaze. My dairy-free keto chocolate chip muffins use a similar approach if you want another dairy-free baking option.
Four batches is commitment, Terri. A warm donut won’t hold the glaze, it slides to one side before it has a chance to set. I should’ve put that in the notes.
Not sure I believed baked donuts would actually hold up past day one. Glazed a full dozen Sunday, stored them airtight, and had breakfast handled through Thursday. The sour cream is doing something real to the structure (stays tender even cold, no gummy texture by day four). 325 degrees looked low when I first preheated, but they come out springy, not dense. Double batch next week.
Tried adding a pinch of espresso powder to the glaze, chocolate got noticeably deeper without tasting like coffee at all. Also: freeze them unglazed if you’re not eating them right away. Cold surface sets the glaze in about 30 seconds and you avoid the soggy-bottom thing that happens when you refrigerate them already glazed.
Espresso powder in the glaze, not the batter. Hadn’t thought to do it that way. And the freeze-first method is what I do too, the glaze sets up so much faster on a cold donut.
Swapped the sour cream for Greek yogurt because I was out, and the dough came out a little denser but the chocolate glaze soaked into it differently, almost like it absorbed instead of sitting on top. Pulled them out looking pretty pale and thought I’d miscalculated, but once the glaze set they were genuinely good. Not what I was planning to fuss over on a hot Sunday, but I’ll probably just keep making them this way.
The fat in sour cream is what keeps these light. Greek yogurt is leaner so you get the denser crumb, and that extra moisture probably pulled the glaze in instead of letting it set. I want to try it that way now.
Pipe the dough instead of pressing it in. I used a zip-lock bag with the corner snipped off, and the rings came out clean with no gaps. Glaze goes on way more evenly that way. Worth the extra 30 seconds.
Piping is cleaner. The gaps mess up the glaze coverage, that’s the real problem with pressing it in. Going to try the zip-lock method instead of my actual piping bag, less cleanup.
I have never made donuts in my life and I bought a donut pan specifically for this recipe, which felt like a real commitment. Ten minutes at 325 and the whole kitchen smelled like a bakery. The glaze sets up glossy and thick, and I kept double-checking the net carbs because something that looks like that shouldn’t be 3.5. One question: can you press the dough into the pan the night before and refrigerate it, or does it need to go straight into the oven?
I’ve tried a few keto donut recipes and they always come out weirdly dense or crumble the second you try to glaze them, so I almost didn’t bother with this one. Made a batch Sunday morning and they actually held together, had a real crumb to them, and the chocolate glaze set without sliding straight off. The xanthan gum skeptic in me has officially been converted. Double batch next weekend.
Double batch is the right call. The xanthan gum gets a bad reputation but it’s what keeps these from crumbling – every time I’ve cut it down even a little they fall apart right at the glaze step.
I was completely sure baked keto donuts were going to be some sad approximation I’d force down out of desperation. The xanthan gum almost stopped me (bad experience with gummy almond flour bakes), and I stood there for a solid minute before just committing. Pressed the dough in, watched them come out at 10 minutes looking like actual donuts. Still didn’t trust it. Glaze went on, kept waiting for the disappointment. Then I bit in and the inside is soft and cakey. Actually soft and cakey. I’ve made other keto donuts that tasted like almond bread with frosting on top, this is not that at all. The 3.5g net carbs at that point just feels like an extra joke.
My husband is lactose intolerant, so I’ve had two years of keto baking with no dairy. These are on my Saturday breakfast list but the sour cream has me second-guessing. Full-fat coconut cream has worked in some recipes and completely bombed in others. Depends a lot on how much structure the dough needs. With almond flour and xanthan gum already doing the work, I’m not sure the fat ratio will behave the same way. Is the 1/4 cup a straight swap, or would I need to adjust anything else in the batter? Happy to do a test batch first — texture matters more to me than speed — but a starting point would save a lot of wasted almond flour.
Straight swap, 1/4 cup coconut cream for the sour cream. I’ve done it and the texture comes out a little denser but they hold up fine. The xanthan gum and protein powder are doing most of the structural work here, so the fat ratio change doesn’t throw the batter off.
Made these Sunday morning and my daughter ate two before I even had my coffee. She won’t touch anything she suspects is ‘healthy’ but the chocolate glaze looks so real she had zero idea. Now she’s requesting them every weekend so I’m scaling up.
Two before coffee is basically a win. When I batch these I freeze them without the glaze and make fresh glaze day-of. Holds up way better than refrigerated and takes two minutes.
My son is 9 and he has a whole routine with anything I bake. Pokes it, asks what’s in it, wants to know if it’s ‘healthy food.’ He picked one of these up, looked at it for maybe two seconds, and just ate it. No inspection, no questions. I think the glaze sets up firm enough that it looked convincing (it does, it actually looks like a donut), and that was apparently all he needed. Double batch next time.
Nine-year-olds are the toughest critics. The glaze sets firm so it actually looks like a donut should, not just a baked thing with chocolate drizzled on it. Double batch, yes.
Tried piping the dough into the pan instead of pressing it in by hand and it changed everything. I use a zip-lock bag with the corner cut, takes about two minutes and the donuts come out way more even. The xanthan gum makes the dough stickier than I was expecting (kept pulling off the pan when I pressed), but the bag keeps it clean and contained. Chocolate glaze set up beautifully after about 10 minutes in the fridge, which I wasn’t sure would happen with a baked donut, but it did.
Good texture, not gummy like almond flour donuts often are. The glaze sets fast though, so dip them while they’re still warm or it won’t coat evenly. The donut itself is a little mild on sweetness, so the glaze is doing most of the work there.
Every baked keto donut I’d tried before had that crumbly falls-apart thing where you pick it up and the ring just gives. I almost passed on this one, but the protein powder in the dough was new to me. These actually hold together. The texture is more like a real cake donut than the usual keto impersonation, and the chocolate glaze sets instead of dripping off the second you flip them.
Yeah that’s all the protein powder. I tested without it and you get the same crumble problem as every other baked keto donut. The xanthan gum helps but it’s not what’s holding the ring together.
