Kirbie's Cravings

4 Ingredient Keto Lemon Donuts

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These soft lemon flavored donuts are low carb and keto-friendly. The donuts are just 4 ingredients and easy to make. You only need one bowl to prepare the dough and no mixer is needed.
A pile of lemon donut holes

These easy donuts are so easy to whip up for breakfast, snack or dessert. The donuts are also low carb, low sugar, high protein, gluten-free and keto-friendly. You can dip them in your favorite glaze or enjoy them plain.

Ingredients

  • Superfine almond flour
  • Sweetener
  • Greek yogurt
  • Lemon zest

Superfine almond flour: The donuts are made with superfine almond flour. Make sure you use superfine almond flour and not regular almond flour or ground almonds. Superfine almond flour has a texture that is most similar to regular flour.

Sweetener: For this recipe, I recommend using a monkfruit sweetener. Avoid using allulose. Allulose will make the dough too wet and will also cause the donuts to brown too quickly.

Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is used to bind the donuts and keep them very soft.

Lemon zest: Lemon zest is added to the donut dough to give the dough a bright, zesty lemon flavor. If you want an even more intense lemon flavor, you can add a few drops of lemon extract. I don’t recommend adding lemon juice to the donut dough because it will make the dough too wet.

How to Make Keto Lemon Donuts

  • The almond flour, sweetener and yogurt are mixed together until a dough forms. The lemon zest is then stirred in until evenly incorporated.Dough for lemon donuts in a glass bowl
  • Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough and roll the dough between your palms to form smooth round balls.
  • Place the donuts on your prepared baking sheet and bake until golden brown and done.
  • Allow donuts to cool a little before eating. You can also dip them in glaze before serving.

Donut Texture

These donuts are soft, moist and slightly chewy. They don’t taste like fried yeast donuts but they are similar to baked donuts.
A lemon donut cut in half

Expert Tips

  • These donuts are best enjoyed soon after they are done baking. Otherwise, I recommend you reheat leftovers before eating them because they do become firmer and less soft when they are cold.
  • The donuts are lightly sweetened so they can be enjoyed plain but you can also add a glaze to add more sweetness. You can also make the glaze with lemon juice to add more lemon flavor.
  • The donuts are flavored with lemon zest. I don’t recommend using lemon juice because it will make the donuts too wet.
  • Avoid using allulose or a sweetener blend that contains allulose. Allulose will make the dough too wet and cause the donuts to brown too much.

Lemon donuts topped with lemon zest

More Keto Lemon Recipes

4 Ingredient Keto Lemon Donuts

Servings: 14 donuts
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Soft lemon flavored donuts that are low carb and keto-friendly. These donuts are just 4 ingredients and the dough can be prepared in one bowl, no mixer needed.

Ingredients

  • 1 7/8 cups (179 g) superfine blanched almond flour (you can measure out 2 cups and remove 2 tbsp for 1 7/8 cups)
  • 1/4 cup (48 g) sugar-free sweetener see note before starting
  • 1/2 cup (118 g) plain Greek yogurt can use fat free, low fat or whole milk
  • 2 tsp (3 g) lemon zest

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Mix the almond flour, sweetener and Greek yogurt in a medium bowl until a thick dough forms. The consistency shoud be something you can scoop and roll into balls. If your mixture seems too wet, you can add a little more almond flour. Stir in the lemon zest until evenly mixed in.
  • Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough. Roll the dough between your palms to form a round ball. Place onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing the donuts about 1 inch apart.
  • Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the tops are light golden brown. The balls should also feel slightly firm and should not feel soft or mushy if you apply light pressure to the surface.
  • Let donuts fully cool before adding any optional glaze. Donuts are best consumed within a few hours after they are cooked. They will become more firm and less soft if they are left out too long. Store uneaten donuts in the fridge or freezer. I recommend reheating leftover donuts so that they become soft and chewy again.

Notes

  • Sweetener note: These donuts work best with a monkfruit erythritol blend. Avoid using allulose or a sweetener blend with allulose because it will cause the donuts to be too moist and to brown too quickly.
  • I used Lakanto monkfruit with erythritol sweetener (Amazon | Target | Walmart)*
  • *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • If you prefer a stronger lemon flavor, you can add 2-3 drops of lemon extract.
  • Optional lemon glaze:
    • 1/2 cup powdered sweetener (I used Lakanto powdered monkfruit with erythritol (Amazon | Target | Walmart)*
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice
    • 1-3 tbsp water, milk or milk alternative 
    • In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sweetener, lemon juice and liquid of choice until smooth. Start with 1 tbsp and add more as needed until it reaches your desired consistency. Using milk or a milk alternative will give you a more rich glaze.
  • Estimated nutrition does not include optional glaze. 
  • If you are on a keto diet, please remember to look at net carbs and not just total carbs in the estimated nutrition. The net carbs count excludes fiber and carbs from sugar alcohols.

Nutrition

Serving: 1donut, Calories: 87kcal, Carbohydrates: 6g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 0.4g, Sodium: 3mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, sugar alcohol: 3g, NET CARBS: 2

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

Did you make this recipe?I'd love to see it! Mention @KirbieCravings and tag #kirbiecravings!

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4 comments on “4 Ingredient Keto Lemon Donuts”

  1. Hi, Kirbie.   I love many of your recipes and I have a question about this one (4 ingredients lemon donuts).   Is there a way to make this, and some of your other recipes, work with the Dash personal donut maker and/or the Dash mini donut maker?   I have both and they are great little appliances (I also have most of their products) but the recipes they provide do not have suggestions for keto or low-carb and, as you know, just trying to substitute low-carb ingredients for regular ones does not always work too well.   I appreciate any suggestions you might be able to offer.   Again, thanks for all of your great recipes.

    Sharon

    • Hi Sharon! We have not tried our recipes using one of the donut makers but you could give it a try! We think it should work

  2. I have friends who would enjoy these, but theyre severely lactose-intolerant. What would you recommend as a replacement for the Greek Yogurt?