With a short ingredient list, eight grams of carbs, and seventeen grams of protein each, I’ll go out on a limb to say this blueberry cake donuts recipe is one of best low carb donuts recipes you’ll find. And if you think that’s hyperbole, you should know I donut play.
There are juicy blueberries in every single bite of the moist cake donut and a sugar free glaze that makes everything just melt in your mouth.
Okay, let’s get into the ingredient and recipe notes. As always, the recipe is simple and the ingredients are nearly all customizable.
Ingredients for Low Carb Blueberry Cake Donuts
Let’s quickly run through the primary ingredients and touch on potential modifications, in case you’re wondering:
- almond flour
- protein powder
- Greek yogurt and eggs
- sugar free glaze
Blanched Almond Flour and Substitutes
I’ve quickly fallen in love with almond flour in baking since I discovered it can be swapped (most of the time) 1:1 with my other flour-love, all purpose flour. If you don’t have almond flour on hand and want to use all purpose, 3/4 C or 90 grams of all purpose flour should work great.
If you need another gluten free, low carb option, you could always try coconut flour. That said, coconut flour does not swap 1:1 like almond and all purpose since it’s so absorbent.
Protein Powder
The recipe calls for PEScience Select Whey and Casein. If you’re using a whey-only protein powder, you may need a bit more protein powder or less Greek yogurt as casein protein is a bit thicker and more absorbent.
I originally made this recipe with 4 scoops (112g) of a whey concentrate protein.
My biggest tip when using different protein powders is to match the weight, not scoops, using a food scale. Since different protein powders have different scoop sizes, that can produce drastically different results.
Try to stick as close to the recipe as possible and venture out at your own risk. Protein powder baking is tough!
Greek Yogurt and Eggs
Aside from a bit of runoff from the blueberries, the liquid ingredients for these blueberry cake donuts comes exclusively from Greek yogurt and eggs.
Fat free Greek yogurt is a great way to remove higher calorie ingredients like oil and butter as well as add a bit more protein to recipes. If you need to remove the dairy from this donut recipe, you could always add the oil or butter back in. I’d suggest about 1 to 1 1/4 C of oil or butter in place of the 1 C yogurt.
Additionally, you could try using plant based yogurt alternatives instead of the Greek yogurt. I don’t have the personal experience in this area to make recommendations, but I’d love to hear about your findings!
The Sugar Free Glaze for Blueberry Cake Donuts
The recipe calls for Swerve Confectioners which is a zero-calorie, non-glycemic powdered sugar substitute. If you don’t have any on hand (get some), you could use another powdered erythritol product, real powdered sugar, or try the following glaze:
- 1/2 scoop (16g) vanilla protein powder
- 1/2 Tbsp (4g) corn starch
- 1 Tbsp stevia or 0-cal sweetener
- 2 Tbsp (30mL) unsweetened almond milk or low-cal liquid
Blend the dry ingredients for 30-60 seconds. Simply mix with your choice of milk and stir. Pour or spoon the glaze on top of the donuts and give them 1-2 minutes to set.
Final Blueberry Cake Donuts Recipe Notes
The recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I used both fresh and frozen in testing. You can microwave frozen blueberries for about a minute before adding to the batter to remove some of the excess liquid from freezing. You’ll have a bit of bleed into your batter, making it blue, but that won’t affect anything other than aesthetics.
All right, donut delay any longer. Get to cookin’.
If you make these low carb blueberry cake donuts or any variation, I’d love to see ’em! Snap a pic and tag me on Instagram @mason_woodruff. Or you can join my free Facebook group and share it with the Proton Party.
High Protein, Low Carb Blueberry Cake Donuts
Ingredients
Blueberry Cake Donuts
- 3/4 C 84g Almond Flour
- 2 scoops, 62g PEScience Protein Powder, vanilla
- 2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar Substitute, I used Swerve granular
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt, or 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 C 227g Vanilla Fat Free Greek Yogurt
- 2 large Eggs
- 3/4 C 120g Fresh Blueberries, if frozen, microwave for 45-60 seconds first
Glaze
- 1/4-1/2 C 36-72g Swerve Confectioners, or a powdered sugar substitute
- 1-2 Tbsp Water
Instructions
- Preheat and oven to 350F and place a silicone donut mold on a baking sheet or spray a 6-donut tin with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Add the yogurt and eggs to a large bowl and stir until evenly mixed. (For best result, whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl before adding so you don't overmix the batter.)
- Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Transfer the batter to the donut mold, filling each nearly all the way full.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes or until the donuts are cooked through.
Cooling and Adding the Glaze
- Remove the mold from the oven and allow the donuts to briefly cool before removing and transferring to a wire rack to cool.
- For the glaze, mix the confectioners sugar and water in a shallow bowl and dip the cooled donuts face down. If you'd like less glaze or a drizzle, use the lower end of the measurements and spoon it on top by hand.
Notes
- Each donut has 3 Smart Points.
- Nutrition info does not include carbs from the zero-calorie Swerve. If you track these carbs or use real sugar instead, each protein donut will have 12 grams of carbs.
- Macros do not include the glaze since you may want to tweak the amount used. If you follow a net carbs regimen, you can ignore the macros from the glaze as Swerve is a zero-calorie, non-glycemic sweetener. If you track everything, I'd log the carbs listed on the label.
Nutrition
More Recipes You Might Like
For another low carb dessert option, be sure to check out my flourless low sugar brownies recipe next.
My 3-ingredient protein powder pancakes recipe is one of the easiest (and tastiest) you’ll find, and you can use it to make homemade McGriddles with chicken breakfast sausage patties or other breakfast proteins!
The glaze on these is what pulls them together. I made them as muffins (sometimes mini ones) and they still turn out delicious.
These were so pretty to make and eat! I didn’t have vanilla Greek yogurt— so I used plain. They were a bit dry for my liking but it could have been the Greek yogurt switch.
These were so pretty to make and eat! I didn’t have vanilla Greek yogurt— so I used plain. They were a bit dry for my liking but it could have been the Greek yogurt switch.
These donuts are delicious and super easy to make! They even passed the taste test for my 4 year olds. I used a standard donut pan, and I was able to get 8 donuts with this recipe. Will be making these again!!
These donuts are delicious and super easy to make! They even passed the taste test for my 4 year olds. I used a standard donut pan, and I was able to get 8 donuts with this recipe. Will be making these again!!
Thank you so much for this recipe – I’m really excited to try it! I unfortunately don’t have Swerve Confectioners on hand. Do you have any other recommendations for substituting sugar in both the donut and glaze? (I have coconut sugar and maple syrup if one of them might work)
I’d use real powdered sugar if you have it. Or you could try mixing something like tapioca flour, arrowroot starch, corn starch, etc. with a granulated sugar substitute (or coconut sugar) to make a powdered sugar substitute.
Made these tonight and they were so yummy, even my 5 and 7 year old liked them!! I wonder if you could add some lemon zest for a blueberry lemon flavor??
Oh yeah, that’d be great! I bet you could add some zest or even a little lemon juice to the glaze, too.
Made these as muffins for the second time and used plain instead of vanilla yogurt. This recipe is amazing! Great for those of us who need to limit sugar and carbs.
My twin toddlers and I all give this a 5/5! Best healthy dessert I’ve ever had! Helps me give them a sweet treat and helps my fit my macros!
Made these this week and I loved them! I guess I didn’t realize I bought a “small” silicone donut pan because it made 8 small donuts in my pan plus two big muffins. I’m also not familiar with silicone pans but I did notice the tops got Done more quickly than the bottoms and the muffins definitely took longer than the donuts too but that is to be expected. Taste is 10/10. I am loving these for breakfast and/or dessert! Will definitely be making again.