Healthy Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes that taste like the REAL thing! A few simple ingredients + a few minutes. No cooking/baking/frying. And just ONE carb each! (Gluten/grain-free, dairy-free, low-carb/Keto, Paleo and Vegan approved!)
Jaw-Dropping Taste, Unbelievable Method!
You guys. Oh... my... GOSH. These are literally one of the BEST things I've ever made in my life.
They taste like they're made with sugar, flour, and butter, but you won't find ANY of those ingredients here!
Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor!! lol. I'm in awe. I'm obsessed. And I can't WAIT for you to try these cinnamon sugar DONUT HOLES!
They're not only scrumptious but have an unbelievable method of making them. Just mix, scoop and roll! No baking or cooking of any kind. It sounds crazy, but it really works!
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post, however I received complimentary products to review, but all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links where I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase.
Who's Snickering Now, Snickerdoodles?
My original plan was to bake some Snickerdoodle COOKIES, because FALL (and yum, of course.) Fall makes me want to BAKE and makes me crave all things CINNAMON (like this Cinnamon Bread!)
And I *did* actually bake this dough into cookies (which was delicious, but still needs some tweaking to the temp and bake time) But I could NOT get over how delicious the raw cookie dough tasted!!
(Don't worry, it's 100% egg-free and safe and you're not going to die from salmonella poisoning, ha)
I couldn't BELIEVE how much the balls of dough legit tasted like cinnamon sugar donut holes. FOR REAL.
So, sorry, snickerdoodles. For now, you're on the back burner, lol. These babies completely stole the show. UPDATE: I did make AMAZING Keto Snickerdoodles!
THERE'S NO SUGAR
If I had done a blind taste test, I would absolutely say with certainty these are made with REAL sugar. Yeah, that bleached white stuff that I avoid like the plague.
The folks at Lakanto were kind enough to send me some of their monkfruit to try and I was blown away at the taste!! WOW.
I was so impressed with the taste (and lack of bitter aftertaste!) Such a pure, clean flavor. And a real 1:1 replacement for white sugar -- WITHOUT the carbs! Yeah, it has zero net carbs and does not impact your blood sugar.
They have a whole line of low-carb sweetener products, and if you miss white sugar, this classic granulated monkfruit is a MUST TRY. 
Ingredients for Healthy DONUT HOLES
Simple, natural ingredients you can feel GOOD about!
- Almond flour (to make them gluten & grain-free)
- Coconut oil (to make them dairy-free)
- Flaxseed (to make them egg-free)
- Monkfruit (to make them sugar-free)
- Flavorings: Cinnamon, Salt & Vanilla (to amp up the deliciousness!!)
Easy, No-Bake Recipe
No need to bust out the deep fryer, or even the oven! These donut holes are raw, but they don't taste raw. They taste like bites of buttery, cinnamon sugar HEAVEN. They're a little dense, and chewy, and absolutely my favorite thing in the world right now.
So to make them, you simply MIX together all the ingredients. Scoop into balls (I used a cookie scoop) roll smooth and then roll in some more cinnamon "sugar" aka cinnamon monk fruit.
No cooking. No waiting. 5-10 minutes start to finish. As soon as you roll 'em, you can pop one into your mouth.
But for a slightly denser texture, chill them in the fridge for 20 minutes or so. They're great straight from the fridge!
1 CARB Each!! ONE.
The most glorious news I could hear after making these heavenly holes is that they're ULTRA LOW CARB. Praise hands.
There's some confusion about it, but it's pretty simple once you learn it. To calculate the net carbs of a recipe, take the [total carb count, 7] and subtract [fiber, -1] and [sugar alcohol, - 5], = 1 😀
Thank you, monkfruit. I'm forever going to be in love with you and telling the world about how AMAZING you are!!
Family Approved, Reader Fave!
If you have family that's not keto/paleo/ETC, take my advice and HIDE these donut holes! Ok maybe it's a little selfish of me, but this mamma does NOT want to share, haha.
I let my family taste these and they immediately went CRAZY for how good they are! But my kids get to eat gluten, sugar, junk but I don't, so THESE ARE MINE. Back off 😉
Update: Since this recipe was published in 2018, these have become one of my most popular recipes to date! Check out some of the reviews:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “No way did I believe these would taste like donut holes. I. Was. WRONG!!!…Just like a donut hole and quite possibly even better!!! I hesitated several times to make these and NOW they will be a regular item in rotation ESPECIALLY in the fall!”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Oh.My.Goodness are these delicious!! I just made them and HAD to brew a cup of tea to truly enjoy these ball of deliciousness!"
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I had been promising my coworkers that I'd try this recipe and bring some in work to share after passing every-single-time on the endless work donuts! #notworthit. Well, turns out that everyone loved them. My husband included. Every time he tries a low carb dessert and its delicious, he goes into this diatribe about how criminal the food system is. He's right (and I taught him well).. Here's an amazing (and healthy) dessert that can be thrown together in 5 mins w/ 7 simple ingredients. #enjoy and check out @emily.likes.food b/c there are so many great ideas on her page!"
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "From the beginning of my weight loss journey I have been on a quest to find alternatives for sweet treats as they have always been my weakness! These are hands down the BEST Keto Donut Holes I have ever tasted! Thank you @emily.likes.food for sharing your amazing recipe!"
No-Bake Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes (Keto, Vegan & Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 Tbs coconut oil - melted
- 1 Tbs ground flaxseed + 2 Tbs water
- ¼ cup granulated monk fruit - sub coconut sugar for non-keto
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of Pink salt
- 1 Tbs granulated monk fruit + ½ teaspoon cinnamon - for rolling
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix flax with water and set aside for a few minutes to thicken.
- Combine almond flour, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
- Add monk fruit, oil and vanilla to the flax mixture and whisk together. Pour wet over dry and mix well.
- In a small bowl, stir together 1 Tbs monk fruit and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside.
- Use a cookie scoop to make "holes" out of the dough. Roll each one smooth in your hands.
- Roll each "hole" in the cinnamon "sugar" mixture to coat. ENJOY!
Notes
More Low-Carb Donuts!
Low-Carb Blueberry Donut Holes
Tina Phillips
Would Swerve work just as well?
Emily
I have never tried swerve, but if it's a 1:1 sugar replacement, then yes! 🙂
Angela
Wow, well done! I think these could satiate my summertime mini donut cravings! Next piece of keto bread I ingest will have Lakanto sugar & cinnamon on it as well. Thank you for this treat!
Emily
You are so welcome! Glad you liked them
Krista
Hey guys! Just made this recipe and was a lil skeptical at first because it wasn't cooked it looked to good to be true. Do I decided to down size the recipie to literally make two donuts. I tried it and was AMAZED TGEY WERE SO GOOD SO IMMIDELATLY MADE A NEW BATCH ! RIGHT NOW THEY R IN THE FRIDGE TO HARDEN A BIT BEFORE I roll them. OF U ARE Debating on making this or not TRY IT OUT IT WONT DISAPPOINT. My whole family loved it. I used olive oil and jaggery sugar and it was awesoome
Emily
Haha I’m glad the donuts proved themselves! Thanks for leaving a review
Tina
Hello - is there an alternative flour that could work to make this nut-free? Thanks!
Emily
Hi, you could try pumpkin seed flour. Any seed flour with a neutral flavor should work.
Alyssa
Are the macros based on a serving size of 1?
Emily
Yes 🙂
Jenny
Can i use eggs instead of flaxseed?
Emily
You can likely use 1 egg white if you're ok with raw eggs.
Or 1 Tbs almond butter + 1-2 Tbs water as a binder.
If you try a sub, please report back how it goes
Kayla
I know they dont need to be cooked but has anyone deep fried them? Sounds amazing!
Emily
I thought about trying that! I think they may absorb too much oil though. They’re already rich tasting on their own. But if you try it, do report back with results 🙂
Mary
Very delicious and easy to make. But it doesn't take 5 minutes by any stretch of the imagination. Took me a half hour. Granted it was my first time making them but 5 minutes is grossly understated. It takes at least 10 minutes for the flax egg to thicken before you can use it...
Terri
Just made it- delicious!! Thanks! Keep the recipes coming 🙂
Emily
You got it! 😉 So glad you like them!
Daniel
Hi Emily! In Portugal the almond flour is very very expensive. What other flour do you suggest to replace it? Thanks!
Emily
Do you have a food processor? If so, you can grind any nut or seed into a flour.
Nut & seed flours are the only flours I would recommend for the right consistency. Regular (grain) flours are too starchy and don't have enough fat.
Hope you can find a way to make them. Let me know if you try an alternative 🙂
Sarah
These are amazing!! Made a double batch 3 days ago and they are all gone. Tonight I made a quadruple batch to hopefully get us through the next week. Definitely recommend letting them sit overnight to let the flavors blend together.
Emily
Yay! So glad you liked them!
Angela
are you using liquid coconut oil or solid, i found mine came out to powdery
Emily
Powdery? That is strange! Mine are always very moist. I use liquid oil. Did you remember the water? Any other changes?
Sandy
Can you use coconut flour? I'm allergic to nuts
Sandy
How would coconut flour work in this recipe? I know you would need to use a smaller amount than almond flour, do you know how much that should be? I'm allergic to nuts
Emily
Coconut flour is pretty tricky (especially because it varies quite a bit by brand), but if you want to try it, I would start with maybe 2 Tbs. mix and let it absorb for 5 min, then see if it needs a little more (adding a teaspoon or so at a time until it holds together)
If you can’t do nuts, I recommend trying seeds, such as pepitas or sunflower seeds - finely ground into a flour using a food processor. Seeds will have a similar outcome in most recipes and it’s a 1:1 replacement.
If you try a sub please report back how it goes 🙂
Brenda
Hi, did you use almond flour or almond meal? The link provided is for meal.
Emily
I use almond flour, but either should work 🙂
Evie
Can I use stevia instead of monk?
Emily
Possibly if it’s a granulated stevia that has the same consistency as sugar. Otherwise the texture won’t be the same
Leona
Hit the spot, exactly what I've been craving! Can't wait to try the blueberry version. Thank you for your delicious creations!!
Emily
You are so welcome!! Yes definitely try blueberry next Thanks for your comment, Leona!
Jen
These are delicious! What do you recommend for storage? I'd love to ship a batch to a friend who just started keto .
Emily
Yay! So glad you like them!
You can store these in an airtight container. I would put them in a small plastic box in a large padded envelope to ship.
No need to keep chilled. They should be good as long as they’re tightly packed. You could wrap them in tissue paper in to keep them in place.
And that’s so nice of you to send to a friend! Kudos
Leanne Forsberg
Hi..can ground chia seeds supplement flax seed?
Emily
Yes that should work! Or you can use a little almond.m butter to bind them together.
Kathleen Grisanti
SO let me get this straight, one donut hole is 6 carbs?
Kathleen Grisanti
Never mind. I forgot to subtract the sugar alcohol. Yaaay! 1 carb. Plus, I just saw your note of them being 1 carb. I'm a goof!
Tehseen
Oh.My.Goodness are these delicious!! I just made them and HAD to brew a cup of tea to truly enjoy these ball of deliciousness! I made two substitutes though: I used 1:1 psyllium husk in place of flax and used melted ghee instead of coconut oil as I didn't want the coconut flavor. The psyllium gets pretty congealed once you let it sit with water so I added a splash of more water and zapped it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds before adding it to the dry ingredients. The mix felt very dry at first but as you keep mixing it (I used my hand), it gets moist and pliable. I sent pics to my sisters and have been ordered to make these when they visit in a few weeks!!!! :). Proof of how good they are: hubby refused to taste them at first and then wanted more once he had one!!!!
Lisa Bellenir
How much water do you mix with the flaxseed?
Emily
2 Tbs
Juliette
Great recipe! I would agree with others who say that they're better after being refrigerated for a day or two. I think it improves the texture and allows the flavors to meld. I have a suggestion for am amazing keto dessert that you can make with this dough... If you form into long skinny ropes, instead of balls, you can make small cinnamon roll shapes. Then, whip up some keto cream cheese frosting to top them with! I happened to have some leftover from another dessert recipe I made and these balls dipped into it was AMAZING!! Here's how to make keto cream cheese frosting:
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp sour cream
1/4 tsp liquid stevia
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Whip together until fluffy and frost those cinnamon rolls with it!
Brandy
I have been selling these at the farmer's market and people rave about them. Their only complaint is Swerve (I use it instead of monk fruit)..it has a cooling effect. So, just wanted to give you a virtual high five and thank you so much for sharing this recipe! You are making many people happy!!
Emily
Oh awesome, Yay!! Makes me so happy to hear that people like them!
Patricia
Hi! I was in the mood for a sweet treat, something reminiscent of spicy fall flavors. Something I had the ingredients for and not complicated. This donut hole recipe was just perfect on all counts! Even my skeptical husband popped one in his mouth and said mmmmmm! I made one tiny addition to the recipe-a dash of nutmeg-otherwise stuck to the recipe. Next time I think I'll add some finely chopped toasted walnuts to the dough. Thanks for the recipe!
Emily
So glad to hear you and your skeptical hubby enjoyed them Nutmeg sounds like a great addition!
Kate
Quick, easy, and delicious- all the hallmarks of my favorite recipes! Didn't change a thing from the recipe, although next time I would probably soften the coconut oil since mine was a little hard and took a while to integrate into the mix.
Emily
Wonderful! So glad you liked them!
Good point on the oil! I will update the recipe to specify melted. That does make it easier to mix 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and rating. Appreciate it!
Kathryn
Hi. I can’t have flaxseed..can I use bobs egg replacer instead?
Emily
I’ve never tried bob’s, but that may work! Or possibly a little almond butter?
Mark
In the metric conversion, there is a mistake. The recipe says that 1/4 Cup of granulated monk fruit weighs 0.9 Grams. According to the site https://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/food-volume-to-weight it weighs 48 Grams.
Emily
Thank you! I use an app that automatically calculates the values and just assumed it was correct. I will adjust it
Ad
Hi, I'm really not a fan of coconut oil, is the flavour noticeable or is there anything I could sub?
Mark
Emily
Refined coconut oil and palm oil are flavorless. Butter may also work. However coconut flavor is not noticeable to me
Terri
I do not like coconut at all and using coconut oil ruins the taste for me. Is there a substitute for coconut oil?
Emily
Palm oil
Leslie
These were great! Great Fall flavor that really answered my craving FAST so I didn't cheat on my meal plan. My husband loved them too!
Emily
Yay!!
Ida
Made these today and they were easy to make, but I found them to be overpoweringly sweet. One was more than enough! I followed the recipe to a T, but it could be me not being a huge fan of overly sweet American desserts. It also took me 25 minutes to make them, not 5 (the rolling itself took about 10 minutes). Having said that, they were tasty!
Crystal Tenty
These are to die for!! And super easy to make.
Emily
Thank you so much!
Tina
Thanks! I was considering pumpkin seeds, so appreciate your thoughts/confrim!
sara
Could I make this with stevia powder as you do in some of your other recipes? Looks so good btw!
Emily
You could sweeten it, but it wouldn’t have the same texture. It would be more like cookie dough. Also there wouldn’t be cinnamon “sugar” coating without the monkfruit blend
Judy
I just made these, and they're really good! I can't have almond, so I subbed pumpkin seed flour. I mixed for a looong time 🙂 but it was still too crumbly. So I ended up adding an extra 2T coconut oil & 1T water and then they were fine. Next time I'll probably try 1 cup flour and do the rest according to the recipe. Thank you! 🙂
Becky
Hi! Instead if almond flour, can I use Bob's Red Mill baking gluten free flour?
Emily
Unfortunately that won’t work. GGLF flours are mostly starches which turn gummy and need to be cooked. It won’t work in a no-bake recipe and would need lots of modifications to work if baking. Another nut or seed flour would work though. Just changes the flavor.
Sandy
I just made these with the 1 tbls. of almond butter and 1-2 tbls. water. Ground flaxseed and I are not friends. I wasn't fond of the raw egg white idea. The almond butter worked out just fine. If anyone is using that route I suggest using more cinnamon. It's not that I don't like almond butter but I didn't want to taste that so strongly. More cinnamon is better. Nice easy recipe.
SJ
I’m surprised at how much the texture is like an actual donut hole despite not requiring any baking! I used granulated golden monkfruit with allulose as my sweetener and I messed up by adding the sweetener with the dry ingredients instead with the wet, but all was well after I mixed everything thoroughly by hand. I also added a bit of nutmeg. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe with pumpkin spice and maybe even some cacao powder next time!