I Don’t Know What To Do Without Donuts (Shhhh…Nobody Knew These Were Keto)

When I was a competitive swimmer, my pre-race meal was always the same: two Winchell’s cake doughnuts with sprinkles and a carton of milk. Every. Single. Swim meet. Yes, we were super on top of nutrition back in the 70s and 80s. I’m sure the sugar/fat bomb combo only lasted for a couple of hours and was quickly replenished by a snow cone and a Marathon bar. Did I even eat real food during those meets? I have no recollection of any, but I’m sure my mom forced something healthy on me – those meets were loooooooong. But, whatever else I may have eaten, I only remember the doughnuts.

Doughnuts. Yum. I know I talk about them a lot (On here. On twitter. While I’m running.). I love doughnuts. I truly thought keto would be the end of my doughnut love affair, at least for awhile. But, after having some success with other keto desserts, I became obsessed with making a really good keto doughnut. My criteria: non-keto friends and family would not know the difference.

I’m not negging on keto substitutions. Sometimes the subs taste better than the real thing (keto bagels), and sometimes it just is what it is (keto zoodles are YUM! but no substitution for real pasta). Doughnuts just felt, to me, like something I didn’t want to just settle on. I wanted GOOD doughnuts. If not, I didn’t really want them. I felt a temper tantrum brewing.

Time to make the doughnuts. (Oh, wait. That is a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial, not Winchell’s. Whatever.)

When I promised chocolate doughnuts, I had no idea that the recipe would take so much tweaking. I made batches of doughnuts, some too cakey, some too dense, too sweet, not sweet enough. And I had to taste THEM ALL! The horror! I’m only semi kidding about this. Let’s just say it will be awhile (like a week) before I want another chocolate doughnut. Okay, maybe two or three days.

Because this recipe is keto, I intentionally kept the sweetness fairly mild. I don’t really like using a TON of artificial sweetener because I think it can start to taste funky if you overdo it. My goal here was to make the doughnuts pleasantly sweet, but make sure there was no weird aftertaste.

I personally think frosting is a must on doughnuts (especially cake doughnuts like these), but you can definitely eat them plain. Just make sure you let them cool completely. The taste is a zillion times better when they are fully cooled.

This recipe is for a batch of six, but just double it if you want to make a full dozen.

Chocolate Doughnuts

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup fine almond flour (not almond meal)

1/4 cup granulated Swerve

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I like Ghiradelli)

1 tablespoon butter (for greasing the pan)

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using the butter (or other oil), grease the doughnut pan very well. If you use something besides a doughnut pan, your cook time will be different.

In a food processor, mix the eggs on high until frothy. Add the heavy whipping cream and vanilla, and blend again.

Add the almond flour, Swerve, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt.

Blend the batter for one full minute. Scrape down the sides and blend again until very smooth.

Spoon batter out evenly into doughnut molds.

Place doughnut molds on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 to fourteen minutes. A toothpick should come out clean.

If desired, ice and decorate.

 

Chocolate Ganache Icing

1 bar Lily’s chocolate, chopped (Your choice, here. I like to use 1/2 Milk Chocolate and 1/2 Original or Dark)

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (plus more, if needed), warm.

In a double boiler (heat-proof bowl over a pan of boiling water – not touching), heat the heavy cream to a low boil. Add the chocolate and stir until very well combined. You want the mixture to be shiny, so keep mixing until it has a nice sheen.

If you need to add more cream, make sure you heat it a bit in the microwave. Adding cold cream can cause the chocolate to “seize,” and turn grainy.

Alternatively, you can do this process in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, but it won’t be as smooth and shiny.

Dip the doughnuts into the icing to coat evenly, or drizzle over for a lighter coat. Top with your favorite keto toppings.

 

Tagged as: Chocolate Doughnuts, Donuts, keto, LCHF