This Low-Carb Chocolate Donuts recipe is my first one here on the blog. My boys and their friends go gaga for this low-carb dessert and once you try it you will too!
Low-Carb Chocolate Donuts Recipe with Coconut Flour
Thankfully, this is another super easy low-carb recipe, with only 7 ingredients total. All you need to whip these up is coconut flour, cacao powder, salt, baking soda, eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup. To make it simply dump the ingredients into a food processor, throw the mixture in the doughnut pans, bake it, and bam! You’ve got gluten-free, grain-free low-carb donuts.
Nut-Free Low-Carb Donuts
My husband said this nut-free Paleo dessert tasted like an Entenmann’s cake style doughnut. My boys simply scarfed them down. They love my low-carb treats and are total suckers for anything with sprinkles. I tested this doughnut recipe with both coconut oil and palm shortening and found that coconut oil was far superior in this recipe. When I tested the donuts with palm shortening it was a challenge to get them out of the pan and their texture was too dry.
Low-Carb Chocolate Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
Topping
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon palm shortening
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse together coconut flour, cacao powder, salt, and baking soda
- Pulse in eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup until thoroughly combined
- Fill each well of a donut mold half way full of batter
- Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes
- Remove doughnuts from pan and place on a cooling rack
- Use a paring knife to cut hole in center of each doughnut
- In a saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening
- Drizzle doughnut with chocolate glaze
- Cool and serve
Equipment
Creating and Testing a Low-Carb Nut-Free Donut Recipe
As with all of my recipes, I tested this one several times. Each time I test something, I make a very minor change, so that I can investigate how this single change impacts the recipe overall. For one of my test batches, I played with the amount of batter needed to make each doughnut. From that test, I can tell you a couple of things. First, do not fill up the donut wells in your donut mold all the way. Fill the wells around halfway with batter, and spread the batter evenly in each well. This batter will rise and the wells will be full when you are done baking. You’ll have perfect homemade doughnuts.
How to Make Low-Carb Donuts
I use two silicon doughnut molds
Low-Carb Donuts for Kids with Sprinkles
You can eat these adorable low-carb donuts with or without the glaze. For the boys, I add India Tree sprinkles
Keto Dessert Recipe with Erythritol
If you’re looking for recipes for a very low-carb diet (VLCD) check out my Keto Diet Recipes page. If you’re in need of a keto dessert, you’ll want to make my Keto Brownies recipe sweetened with erythritol! Although I can’t eat erythritol because it’s made with corn and is a sugar alcohol that I can’t digest, I created my Keto Brownies recipe for my readers and I hope you all enjoy it!
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first published this recipe in February 2015.
youngbaker2002 says
this may be your first doughnut recipe but please keep it up. not only do these look amazing ( and although i haven’t tried them yet ) i’m sure they taste SUPER AMAZING, too.
love all your recipes and all the hard work you put into them Elana!
Ruhi says
Just made these for my husband since he’s a big Dunkin Donuts (yuck!) fan. :) He absolutely loved them! WIll be making these again for him and my three little ones, as these definitely won over their taste buds!
Lauren Gaskill | Making Life Sweet says
I love how easy this recipe is! Definitely a new favorite for me. :)
Rene says
I am allergic to eggs at the moment and cannot et them. Is there an egg substitute? How about for cacao? I would love to eat these!
Tara says
Try a “flax egg” egg substitute and Carib powder instead of cocoa?
Brianna says
Made these for my husband and I to enjoy on “National Doughnut Day” and they were amazing!! We used raw honey instead of maple syrup since that’s all I had on hand and they came out wonderful.
Thanks for creating such a yummy treat! :)
Karen says
I do not have a food processor either so I appreciate your comment about using a whisk, Jennifer. Elena, could I use my mixer for the recipes you post that call for using a food processor?
Tiffany says
I use coconut oil in place of palm shortening in every recipe and it works just as well in this one. I also have a metal and a silicone donut pan, and they both work. I spread my batter straight across the wells in the pan, making sure to scrape across the top of the center of each well to make the “hole” visible. I fill the wells full with a slight dip and they even out perfectly in the oven.
Mira says
Great tips! Is there a texture difference between metal vs. silicone? And which one do you find is easier for removing the donuts out of the pan?
Elana says
Hi Mira, I prefer silicone molds for the donuts as this type of mold makes for a super easy release. If you click the words “donut mold” in line #3 of the instructions you will be taken to the exact donut mold I use :-)
JB says
Do you think Avocado oil would work in place of the palm oil? My partner doesn’t like coconut and I fear there would be too much of a coconut flavor come through…Thanks for your thoughts.
Elana says
JB, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)
Alyssa says
May I use honey instead of maple syrup?
Jennifer says
I don’t own a donut pan and didn’t want to make it into usual muffins. So, I tried the same recipe in madeleine pan, and it worked great! I made it twice, once using a processor & the other time just using a whisk to mix all the ingredients in a big bowl. Both turned out fine, so I may go with a whisk & bowl next time for simple cleaning.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!!
Heather says
Dumb question: do you melt the coconut oil before adding to the food processor? It’s really cold here in VT and my coconut oil is solid. Thank you!