cranberry crumb cake donuts for the paleo keto diet

First week of the new year, and already baking a favorite healthier donut recipe of mine! These kelt-friendly paleo cranberry crumb cake donuts are perfect for a satisfying low sugar breakfast or midday pick-me-up.

Keto-Friendly Donuts

Keto-friendly sweet and fluffy cake donuts sound like a weird discord of adjectives to pair together, but this cranberry crumb cake recipe can confirm otherwise. Low carb baking is surprisingly easier than it sounds! All it takes are a few simple ingredient swaps.

Keto-friendly sweeteners I’ve been loving (that aren’t sugar alcohols!) include monk fruit, stevia, and allulose. Monk fruit and stevia are an easy one-to-one swap, while allulose is slightly less sweet than traditional table sugar so you would have to use a little more if you take that route. Other must-haves for keto-friendly recipes include almond flour, coconut flour, and low-sugar/low GI fruits like cranberries, raspberries, and lemons/limes.

healthy low carb cranberry donuts made with monk fruit and keto ingredients

Even though I’m far from following a keto diet, since I was diagnosed with severe gut dysbiosis and ulcerative colitis in 2020 I’ve totally eliminated refined sugar and high-fructose foods from my diet. Foods high in sugar actually feed the “bad” bacteria in our microbiome, which can eventually crowd out all of the good probiotic species living inside of us. Low sugar recipes and desserts have kept me sane after making this lifestyle switch to manage maintaining a healthy microbiome composition! Especially since I’m pretty sure I have the biggest sweet tooth in the whole world.

Fluffy Grain-Free Donuts

I know what you might be thinking: “fluffy” and “almonds” sound like a weird sound like incompatible words to put in the same sentence. But trust me on this one!

Grain-free gluten-free crumb cake donuts with cranberries for the paleo diet

Tapioca flour is the secret to fluffy grain-free donuts. Although tapioca flour isn’t considered “keto” by any means, just a little bit goes a long way! It’s also really important to use a “dry” granulated sweetener since liquid sweeteners (think honey and maple syrup) weigh the batter down too much.

Baking with Cranberries

Cranberries may not be your cup of tea, but I hope this recipe changes your mind! They tend to have a slight tart, sour punch to them that can be an acquired taste. It took me a long time before I could sincerely say I loved them!

In my opinion, cranberries should be considered a superfood! Cranberries are a nutrient powerhouse. Not only are they high in antioxidants, prebiotic polyphenols, and anti-inflammatory compounds but they are also extremely low in sugar!

When you put cranberries in a sweet baked cake donut, it’s the perfect balance of sweet, tart, buttery flavors that make them impossible to pass up! I use fresh chopped cranberries tossed in a little monk fruit and tapioca flour so they adhere better to the donut batter before baking.

What You’ll Need

How to Make Paleo Cranberry Crumb Cake Donuts

Step 1: Preheat the oven and lightly spray the silicone donut molds with non-stick coconut oil spray. in a small bowl, combine the ingredients to make the “crumble” and set aside.

Step 2: In a mixing bowl, stir together the “dry” ingredients. Add the eggs, melted coconut oil, vanilla, and almond milk to the flour mixture and beat with an electric hand mixer until a smooth batter forms.

Step 3: Toss the chopped cranberries in a pinch of tapioca flour and monk fruit and fold into the donut batter.

Step 4: Spoon the donut batter evenly into each donut mold and top each donut with the crumble mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Drizzle with melted coconut butter and enjoy!

healthier paleo keto friendly cranberry donuts

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