Keto Muffins
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My keto muffins are super moist and fluffy, and bake up in just 15 minutes. They need just six low-carb ingredients, and you can customize the flavor to your liking.
If you thought muffins were a no-go on a keto diet, think again. My low carb muffins look and taste like actual bakery-style muffins, but skip the sugar and wheat flour.
I was inspired by my keto cinnamon rolls and transformed their flavor and texture into an ultra-fluffy, delicious muffin. I use a combination of almond flour and protein powder to mimic flour, and a mixture of applesauce and nut butter to add richness and moisture. Bonus? These don’t need any eggs!
Why I love this low carb muffins recipe
- Made in the blender. Because let’s be real. Less mess = more muffins.
- Quick and easy. I guarantee you’ll have these muffins on the table in under 15 minutes.
- 6 simple ingredients. And they happen to be dairy-free and egg-free, too.
- Easy to customize. Treat this muffin batter as a blank canvas. Use it to make choc chip muffins, blueberry muffins, or peanut butter muffins.
Key Ingredients
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
- Almond flour. Always use superfine or blanched almond flour, not almond meal. The latter tends to yield a more earthy and drier texture.
- Vanilla protein powder. I like to use a flavored protein powder as it adds sweetness to the muffins. If you use unflavored protein powder, you’ll need to add some allulose, monk fruit sweetener, or some keto maple syrup.
- Baking powder. Helps the muffins rise.
- Almond butter. Smooth and drippy almond butter with no added sugar. You can swap this out for another nut or seed butter, like tahini or peanut butter.
- Unsweetened applesauce. Adds moisture to the muffins with very few calories. Pumpkin puree and mashed banana can be substituted (although the latter will add extra carbs).
- Coconut oil. Measured in its melted state. If you prefer no coconut flavor, use refined coconut oil.
- Glaze. A combination of keto powdered sugar and water or milk.
How to make keto muffins
Step 1- Make the muffin batter. Blend all the ingredients until smooth.
Step 2- Assemble. Distribute the muffin batter evenly among a 12-count muffin tin.
Step 3- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“Made this recipe precisely according to instructions! It’s a keeper! Perfect!” – Emily
Arman’s recipe tips
- Do not over-bake. These muffins continue baking as they cool down, so remove them from the oven once a toothpick comes out ‘just’ clean.
- Use the right protein powder. I find casein protein powder or brown rice protein powder to be best for baking. Whey protein will work, but you’ll need to keep a firm eye on the muffins and ensure they don’t overbake (whey protein tends to dry out baked goods).
- Glaze once cooled. Adding the glaze to still-warm muffins will cause the muffins to sink in the center. Only glaze the muffins once they are completely cool.
- Add mix-ins. Sugar free chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and fresh berries are all fabulous options to add to the batter.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover muffins will keep well at room temperature in a sealed container for up to two days. For the best flavor and texture, the muffins will keep well for up to five days.
To freeze: Place the muffins in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Frequently asked questions
You can, but you’d need to reduce the baking time by 5 minutes and keep a firm eye on them. In recipe testing, they went from fluffy and dome-shaped to flat and dense within minutes.
You can, but it will only make the muffins more dome-shaped than they are already. I’ve specifically created this recipe to be eggless.
More low carb muffin recipes
- Almond flour muffins
- Coconut flour muffins
- Almond flour blueberry muffins
- Keto pumpkin muffins
- Keto lemon blueberry muffins
If you tried this Keto Muffins recipe, please leave a star rating and comment. It helps others thinking of making this.
Keto Muffins
Video
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup almond butter or any nut or seed butter
- 1/2 cup applesauce can sub for pumpkin or mashed banana
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
For the glaze
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar substitute
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a 12-count muffin tin with muffin liners and set aside. This can also be made using a mini muffin tin.
- Add the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon, almond butter, applesauce, and coconut oil to a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Evenly distribute the muffin batter amongst the muffin liners. Bake for 10-15 minutes, checking around the 10-minute mark by inserting a skewer in the center and seeing if it comes out clean. If it does, muffins are done.
- Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cooled, prepare your cinnamon roll glaze by combining all ingredients and mixing until combined. Drizzle over the muffin tops and allow to firm up.
Made this recipe precisely according to instructions! It’s a keeper! Perfect!
Is the batter supposed to be a little thick? I’ve made them twice now, and the batter is on the thicker side. However, they taste great.
Also, I get 7 muffins from the 1/2 cup measurements instead of 12, but I suppose that my molds are a little bit bigger. So the calories are a little off for me, but still, all good.
Wonderfull recipe.
Definitely need to buy almond flour!
So light and fluffy! Just love them, really do. I use this recipe a lot when expecting
visitors.
Best keto muffins ever.
Baking for someone who is allergic to coconut and dairy. Is there something I could substitute for the coconut oil? The only oil she is allowed is olive oil. Thanks!
Butter works!
Would whey protein isolate do the same as protein powder?
You could try!
Nailed it!😂 They are completely flat and a bit gritty. Not sure what happened. I added two raspberries per muffin but didn’t think would impact rising. Bummer.
What is the equivalent of “scoop” for the protein powder? My bag does not have a scoop? Also, the brown rice protein powder I have says Protein 17g per 3 tbsp, will this be ok? (Organic sprouted raw brown rice protein powder by North Coast Naturals)
Usually 1/4 cup is a standard serving (32 grams)
can i do without the protein powder?
Not that I’ve tried. You are better off making one of my keto muffins instead.
the best low carb muffins recipe I’ve ever made- they tasted like real muffins!
We love those muffins! We have been baking them now regularly.
They hold well together, don’t fall apart . But I have a question for you: they rise while baking but when I cool them down the middle of the muffin sinks in. What do I do wrong?
Hi! It sounds like it’s the protein powder brand that is causing that but there is a way to rectify it!
Next time you bake it, turn up the oven heat to close to 400F for the first 5 minutes for the muffins to rise, then quickly drop it back to normal temperature.
Can I use vegan pea protein powder in these cinnamon roll muffins?
LOVE this recipe, thank you so much for it!
JUSt made these- they were perfect. Everyone who is saying they have issues with it must not be using the right protein powder- that is key!
So glad to hear that- Yes the protein powder makes a big difference!
I successfully substituted 3 TBS of Coconut Flour and 1 TBS psyllium husk powder for the protein powder. I also opted for the applesauce. Also, I don’t use any form of granulated sugar, so for the glaze I used 3 TBS of milk and 1 TBS of applesauce along with coconut butter. Huzzah! A great recipe– and that glaze tastes just like a cream cheese frosting. I want to put it on everything!
Hello! I just made these last night and i used Casein powder. And they sunk, and weren’t like the picture. Would you say it’s the brand of Casein powder that was the issue? I used a different brand than you suggested. Could that be the problem, you think?
Hi Angela- It does sound like that. Different brands of casein yield different textures, and this one tends to be a favourite one 🙂
Is it possible not to add the protein powder? Thx
I haven’t tried it myself but feel free to experiment and see 🙂
how much is 2 scoops of protein powder? I bought mine from bulk store so I’m not sure how much to add?
Hi Wendy, start with 30 grams per scoop!
We have four in our family so I usually double recipes. I made the recipe as it states except I added a teaspoon of cloves and since it was doubled and looked more like crumbles I added 5 eggs. They are wonderful family thinks they were the best cake so far. Thank you for the recipe. I think in the future I will continue to add the eggs the consistency and texture were excellent and nice spice. I also used peanut butter next time I will try almond butter
Thank you so much for the feedback!
I have Bob’s Red Mill protein should I add an egg? I ordered your protein though.
Hi there! I haven’t tried that, I’m afraid.
Is the btter supposed to be like cookie dough consistency or like thick muffin batter? Mine was more like a slightly wet cookie dough batter.
Hi! It should be like a thick, muffin batter 🙂
LOVED IT! I know I did alter a bit but it worked out great. I doubled the recipe and added 1 teaspoon of cloves and then 5 eggs. My batter was crumby so I thought the eggs would help. I also had some candid pecans that I used swerve and butter to make. I crushed those up with 2 tablespoons of quick oats…( know they are not keto) 1/4 cup of almond flour and butter made a paste put on top of the muffins WOW they were yummy I hate when people change recipe but the fact that the batter was so crumbly not sticking together I felt I had no choice. I will try your recipe as it instructs. Thank you for all your recipes…
How many net carbs is there per muffin?
Not sure, feel free to calculate it using myfitnesspal or similar 🙂
I’m sorry but I didn’t not have luck making these. They fell apart completely and were the farthest thing from a muffin. I followed the recipe exactly and well… everyone in my family agreed they could not be salvaged in any way as they tasted so strongly of protein powder and were so dry, I had to throw them out. Such a waste! BTW I used Vega protein powder – this could have been the issue so heads up to anyone do not use this kind!
Hi there, I can only attest to the protein powders I’ve used- I try this recipe out with all 3.
Just made these and they are delicious! I plan on having them for breakfast. I made them using the mini cups since I did not have the regular size cups on hand and it came out to 33 cupcakes.
That sounds fabulous- Cheers, Erica!
Made these last night and halfway through I realized we were out of baking powder, whoops! They were slightly dense but it didn’t bother us at all. Also added pumpkin pie spice from Trader Joe’s and omg – so good.
For reference, I’m a low-carb vegan and my boyfriend is a full-on carnivore and he LOVED these! Great recipe 🙂
Aw that means so much, Kallie!
Awesome flavour ! So nice to have a Keto breakfast that tastes good. Great idea using protein powder, for a flour like texture. Eggy almond flour muffins are yuck and too common online. I used brown rice protein and melted my coconut oil , mine did not rise at all. Would less oil / more baking powder or half an egg help ? I’m guessing my almond butter was pretty high oil / the oil amounts I think are fighting the baking powder. Still going to make this again ! Yum !
Hi John! I think it really depends on the brand of protein powder. Try an egg if you can tolerate them 🙂
These turned out quite dry, couldn’t get small amount of pumpkin purée so I used unsweetened applesauce; also, I used a beater to beat the wet ingredients together and to incorporate the dry. I will say they were very tasty, so I’ll try them with pumpkin next time.
Hi Eva! It might have been the protein powder you used, that is usually the main culprit!
I tried the recipe and they taste pretty good, but do not look any where near the photos on this page. Were the muffins in these photos made by using this recipe?
They sure were, did you use the exact same protein powder listed?
I used Ancient Nutrition unflavored bone broth. It was terrible. The meaty, bony flavor overpowered everything even though I sliced generously. 10 more to get down… what a bummer.
That doesn’t surprise me, I can only vouch for the protein powder I used.
Hello, when you say keto free you mean it is good for keto.
Depends on what sort of diet you follow! 🙂
Mine were not fluffy, I did not forget the baking powder. What does fully incorporate mean? Use a beater? it was really hard to mix in the solid coconut oil but I just used a spatula .
What can I use instead of coconut? All these keto friendly use that. I’m allergic!
I haven’t used it in this recipe.
would vega protein powder be okay to use?
I don’t see why not! 🙂
It was tasty, but I would stick with the pumpkin puree instead of trying other substitutes. I tried mine with a smashed banana. It was too dry and it ended up being very crumbly, not a muffin consistency.
My son is allergic to nuts. Is there another flour suggestion?
I’ve only tried it with this 🙂 You could try oat flour and see!
Could I sub regular butter for the oil?
You can experiment and see!
The flavor was amazing, but mine were also incredibly soft/crumbly and didn’t hold together at all. I just piled it on a plate and told my kids it was cake. Haha. I’ll have to keep experimenting.
Hi! It really depends on the protein powder 🙂 Try casein or brown rice protein powder! 🙂
Is the coconut oil supposed to be melted first?
It would be the firm state 🙂
Mine didn’t rise at all and were very dry! Any tips?
Hi April, what protein powder did you use?
Can you use more banana / apple sauce instead of oil ??
My daughter followed the recipe carefully. They were delicious, but they just crumbled. What can we add to help them have a muffin consistency.
Hi! It sounds like the protein powder used dried it out- Perhaps some mashed banana or pumpkin .
Can you use flax meal instead of almond flour?
I haven’t tried, feel free to experiment and see!
Great taste! Mine are crumbly also
You are so welcome! Try cooking a little less time 🙂
28 grams of fiber! Wow! That’s almost the daily intake in one muffin:)) awesome
I feel like these were missing eggs or something to hold them together. Mine just crumbled apart like cereal. Could it have been the protein powder I used?
It sounds like it, I can only vouch for the protein powders I have tried 🙂
I used 1 egg and they held together a lot better.
Same problem, used a whey protein
Hi there, whey protein doesn’t work and isn’t recommended. It dries recipes out.
Can you use just regular butter instead of all these fancy nut butters?
Not for this recipe!
Do you think I could use regular grass fed butter in place of the coconut oil?
I haven’t tried, feel free to experiment and see
Do you use solid coconut oil or liquid?
Have you experienced success with hazelnut flour? I would to try this recipe!
I used macadamia flour and they turned out pretty good
These muffins look very delicious and so fluffy!
Great recipe ???
Thank you!
What a great idea making cinnamon rolls muffins! Look delicious and so easy to make ♥
Hey, Armani! I love your blog! Everything looks so delicious and healthy. Thank you for sharing these awesome recipes!