How to Make Healthy Donuts on a Keto Diet

In case you grew up eating sweets, then donuts might just be something that you cannot do without. But as several studies have shown, sugar has a lot of ill-effects and can be quite addictive. Now that you have taken the step to eat more healthy, there will be many things you will have to stop eating. When following a keto diet, one of the essential things you will miss eating is sugar. Since sugar contains a lot of carbs, and keto is about foregoing the carbs, you will need to bid goodbye to anything with too much sugar. Does this mean that all donuts are unhealthy and to be avoided? Not necessarily! There are several ways you can make healthy donuts which though not celebrated, might be welcome once in a while, while on a keto diet. Here’s a look at how to make healthy donuts while on a keto diet!

Why are Donuts Considered Unhealthy?

The keto diet requires people to give on carbs so that they push their body into ketosis. Ketosis is the process by which our body starts burning fats to get enough energy to carry out the body’s activities. Rather than relying on the carb, we take in, ketosis urges the body to break down fat stored within the body. This helps in breaking down extra fat, which, in turn, helps in reducing weight considerably. The main ingredients which make donuts unhealthy are refined flour, frosting and sugar. Therefore, we can make keto-friendly donuts by substituting these ingredients with something healthier. 

How to make Healthy Donuts?

The first thing you need to change if you want healthy donuts which are keto-friendly is the flour you use to make donuts. Replace ordinary refined flour with almond flour to make healthy low-carb donuts. There are several low-carb flour options when you explore the area, but out of everything, I have found almond flour to be the best. Almond flour has excellent taste and texture, making it a great low-carb keto-friendly option for making both pancakes and donuts. Furthermore, it tastes great when mixed with coconut flour, which helps in creating great flavored donuts. In case you have a nut allergy of some kind or do not like the taste of almond, you could replace refined flour with sunflower seed flour. The donuts you make using this might look green in color due to its reaction with baking powder, but they do taste great. However, you cannot use coconut flour alone to make donuts, as it absorbs a lot of moisture making the donuts too dense. Almond flour donuts are healthy because they have no sugar in them, and also contain only 3 grams of net carbs. 

Tips on Making Healthy Donuts while on a Keto Diet

1. Make sure you pick out your preferred low-carb flour. You can choose between sunflower seed flour, almond flour, walnut flour, gram flour and pumpkin seed flour. 
2. Rather than using natural flour which might have a very rough texture, go for finely ground flour to get a smooth batter.
3. Silicone donut pans might not make perfect pans when trying out different flours such as these, as they tend to get sticky. In case your donuts start sticking like crazy, just switch over to a non-stick donut pan, and you will see that your healthy donuts release quickly.  
4. Make sure that you grease your pan correctly before laying the batter in it. These healthy donut recipes tend to have a stickier batter, and hence you need the container to be properly greased. Get all the sides and edges to ensure that the donut doesn’t stick inside. 
5. Fill the pan only three-quarters of the way in to prevent the batter from spurting out while you bake them. Also, if you don’t fill it enough, the donuts will come out flat and bland. 
6. The most common mistake most people make while baking is that they don’t leave it in the oven for long enough. While you might be tempted to take them out earlier, make sure you don’t do this as it leads to them crumbling. Leave the batter in the oven long enough for it to entirely turn dark golden brown. 
7. Once your almond-flour donuts turn golden brown, they need five more minutes to come out of the oven ideally.
8. In case you use baking powder which has been lying around in your house, your donuts will not rise well. Therefore, make sure you use new, fresh baking powder to get soft and mushy donuts. 
9. If you try to take your baked donuts out of the pan before they cool, they will crumble in your hands. So, remember to let the healthy donuts cool in the container itself, and then remove them once they are sufficiently cool. 
10. Run your knife around the hole in the middle, because the batter seems to stick the hardest there. Remove all the dough that has overflowed to prevent it from sticking onto the pan. Afterwards, gently pry the donuts out from all the edges. 
11. Use erythritol instead of sugar if you wish to have a sugary glaze above the donut. You can also opt for xylitol instead if you prefer a more rustic taste. A more paleo-friendly would be coconut sugar which you can toss above the donuts. 

Healthy Donut Recipes

Almond Flour Keto Donuts

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Blanched almond flour
2. 1/4 cup Erythritol 
3. 2 tsp Gluten-free baking powder
4. 1 tsp Cinnamon
5. 1/8 tsp Sea salt
6. 1/4 cup butter 
7. 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
8. 2 large Eggs
9. 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 177 C. 
• Grease your non-stick donut pan well on all sides and edges.
• In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients and then stir them together well.
• In a smaller bowl, mix the melted butter, egg, vanilla extract and almond milk. 
• Whisk this mixture into the mix in the larger container. 
• Fill the batter 3/4th of the way into the cavities in the pan.
• Bake the batch for around 25 minutes or till they turn dark golden brown.
• Cool then within the pan, and then gently pry them out. 
• For the coating, mix the sweetener and cinnamon in a small bowl.
• Once the donuts cool, brush them with butter, roll in the cinnamon mixture and then serve.

Nutrition Facts

1. Calories 257 kcal
2. Fat 25g
3. Protein 6g
4. Net Carbs 3g

While this is the basic recipe for a healthy donut, you can mix things up by adding new ingredients such as fresh fruits, walnuts, seeds and even dark chocolate. Mix around with the batter till you find something that you love. I feel that blueberries, peanut butter, walnut and dark chocolate all help in making delicious healthy donuts that will surely satiate your sweet tooth.! Let us know in the comments below what your favorite healthy donut recipe is.