These healthy Keto Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes are easy to make in an air fryer. And each donut hole has just 1g net carbs.
Hello!
Hope your morning is going well. I’ve spent mine happily experimenting with my new air fryer. If you don’t know about them, air fryers are these magical machines that fry food using only air. It’s a far healthier and less messy way to fry foods. So for my first foray into air frying, I thought I’d start with something that I love, but that is a total pain to fry the normal way.
I decided to make keto cinnamon sugar donuts.
Donut holes to be exact.
I’ve been systematically trying out different cook times and methods to make these donut holes. Like 8 minutes with just air, 9 minutes brushed with oil, 7 minutes brushed with butter.
You get the idea.
But I am going to be honest with you, I taste tested waaaayyy too many Donut Holes this morning.
I gobbled up the first couple whole because they were so delicious. But now I really wish I had paced myself. I finally found the perfect combo of butter and cook time, but now I am stuffed to the gills with these addictive cinnamon sugar donut holes.
But onwards and upwards with these devilishly addictive treats .
They are made from real yeast bread dough, so you’ll need to proof some yeast, mix up your dough, knead it and then let it rise before cooking it in the air fryer. But you can still do it all in less than an hour.
And soon you'll have some lovely Keto donut holes with only 114 calories and 1g net carbs each.
I used Carbquik Baking Mix for this recipe.
It's a low carb flour mix that is meant to replicate Bisquick. And it actually does act quite a bit like real flour. It’s made from wheat, but they’ve converted most of it to fiber to bring the net carb count down to nearly nothing. If you are an absolute Keto diet stickler, then you may want to move on to another donut hole recipe.
But if you are like me, and are doing "Lazy Keto" then you are all good.
If you like this Keto breakfast recipe, then you might like my recipes for Carbquik Pancakes, Keto Waffles or Keto Granola.
Now, a word of warning.
You are going to see sugar in the ingredients, but hold up a minute before you pass judgment. The sugar is needed to feed the yeast. But it’s converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide in the fermentation process, so the carbs are canceled out. You should also know that since the Carquik is made from wheat, it’s not gluten-free like most other low carb and Keto baked goods. So, just a word to the wise.
But enough chit chat, now I have a date with some Pepto-Bismol.
Plop plop, fizz fizz!
📋 Recipe
Keto Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes
These healthy Keto Cinnamon Donut Holes are easy to make in an air fryer. And each donut hole has just 1g net carbs.
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 donut holes 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Diabetic
Ingredients
- ½ cup warm water (between 100 - 110 degrees F)
- 1 teaspoon sugar*
- 1 envelope (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 1 ½ cups Carbquik Baking Mix
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup Swerve Granular
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Step 1. In a large bowl, mix together warm water, sugar, and yeast. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rest for 7 minutes until frothy with small bubbles. If it isn't frothy like the head on a draft beer, then your yeast is dead and you need to start over with fresh yeast.
Step 2. Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a wooden spoon to mix Carquik into the yeast mixture. Mix it until it is a kneadable dough. If it's too wet to knead, then add a little more Carbquik and if it's too dry to knead, then add a little water.
Step 3. Either use the dough hooks on the stand mixer or your hands to knead the dough for 3 minutes.
Step 4. Make the dough into a ball and use a large knife to cut it into 8 equal pieces. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough into a ball with your hands and place them on the parchment-covered cookie sheet.
Step 5. Allow the dough balls to rise for 15 minutes. They will not rise a lot, but you'll be able to tell that they are a bit bigger.
Step 6. While they are rising, set your air fryer to 350 degrees F and preheat it for 10 minutes.
Step 7. Brush four of the dough balls with melted butter on all surfaces and place them in the basket of the air fryer. Air fry at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.
Step 8. Remove the donut holes from the air fryer and set them aside to cool a little bit. Repeat the process with the remaining dough balls.
Step 9. Once the donut holes are cool enough to touch, brush them again with melted butter on all surfaces.
Step 10. Mix together cinnamon and sweetener in a medium-sized bowl. Roll the donuts in the cinnamon mixture until coated on all sides.
Step 11. Best when eaten warm. Can be reheated in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften them back up.
Notes
*The sugar will be converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide in the fermentation process so the carbohydrates are canceled out. The sugar has been left out of the nutritional info.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 donut hole
- Calories: 114
- Fat: 10
- Carbohydrates: 9
- Fiber: 8
- Protein: 4
Keywords: Low Carb Air Fryer Donuts, Low Carb Air Fryer Doughnuts, Sugar-Free Air Fryer Donuts
Jenn says
Do you think this dough could be used for elephant ears?
Emily Krill says
No, I don’t know of any low carb dough that would be flaky enough for Elephant Ears.
MJ says
These came together easily enough, but tasted as I expected they would- like a sugar coated biscuit. Next time I'd add some cream cheese, flavored sugar free syrup, and/or a pinch of sweetener to the dough.
★★★
Michele says
Holy cow! I haven't tasted these yet-but I'm anticipating they're going to be fantastic!*they're in the air fryer now*
Are they supposed to be quite large? Mine are! If you get this humongous donut hole for1 net carb,this is the only food I'm ever going to eat!!
★★★★★
Emily Krill says
Yep, 1g net carb. Hope you like them!
Ed Estioko says
A little confused....you first stated it 1g of net carbs per ball but then under nutrition it says carbs of 9g per ball...as person doing keto and keeping a close eye on carb intake which is it? Cuz its the difference of eating 2 or 9
EmilyKrill says
When I said 1g, I was referring to the amount of net carbohydrate in a donut hole. The total amount of carbohydrate is 9g, but the fiber is 8g, so the net carb amount is 1g. Net carbs are the carbohydrates in food that you can digest and use for energy. To calculate net carbs, you take a food's total carbs and subtract the fiber. Since your body doesn't have the enzymes to break down fiber, it passes through your digestion system unchanged. So when we calculate carbs, we don't count the fiber.
Here is more info on net carb calculation because it's a concept you need to master if you want to do Keto.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/net-carbs
Kristen Skaggs says
Can you bake these in the oven? If so what temp and how long?
EmilyKrill says
Yes, that should work, but you need to experiment to find the right cooking time. Try 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
mandy mcquillan says
These turned out amazing Can these be put in freezer ? Till I want one
EmilyKrill says
Yay! So glad you like them. I haven't tried it, but they should freeze fine.