I’ve loved baking for years but I was never a “create my own recipe” gal, until I cut out sugar and grains. Now? I’m baking Cinnamon Roll Muffins and Cookies and all sorts of deliciousness and its become one of the main reasons the hubs and I haven’t gone back to the dark side.
A MUFFIN THAT TASTES LIKE A CINNAMON ROLL
If you’ve ever eaten a cinnamon roll, you know they are oozing with flavor, sticky with icing and melt in your mouth delish.
I made my first keto friendly muffin a couple of months ago because I wanted something quick and easy for breakfast. This week I decided to use that foundation to create a cinnamon roll muffin, just as good as the real thing.
BUT DOES IT REALLY TASTE LIKE A CINNAMON ROLL?
We think so. It’s important to note that since we ditched sugar, our taste buds don’t gravitate towards that “that’s so sweet I just got a cavity” sweetness anymore.
We like sweetness, for sure. But, it’s a subtle sweetness that doesn’t overpower the muffin, allowing your tastebuds to enjoy ALL the flavors and not just the “sugar” taste.
The good news is that this is the type of recipe you could totally sweeten up even more if your heart screams for it (just save some of the “filing” in the fridge and top your muffin with extra “frosting” before you eat it or add a bit more sweetener to the batter). I bet that would be AMAZING.
SUGAR-FREE, GRAIN-FREE & KETO FRIENDLY
You don’t need to be eating a sugar-free, grain-free, keto or any other kind of special diet to enjoy these cinnamon roll muffins.
BUT, if you are eating a special diet, avoiding the sugar and grains, this recipe is PERFECT for you. It’s lower in carb, higher in fat, with moderate protein. Perfect for a quick, on-the-go breakfast or evening treat and goes GREAT with your morning bulletproof.
Oh, and PS – If you’re considering ditching the dairy and going vegan, this recipe looks AMAZING.
THERE’S A SECRET
I think the secret to this recipe is making the batter first and topping it with a separate filling before baking it. Cream cheese takes on a really great texture in muffins after its baked. When its sweetened and swirled into the batter before baking it turns a regular ol’ cinnamon muffin into a cinnamon roll dream.
I use granular erythritol in the batter and confectioners erythritol in the cream cheese filling. It’s a matter of preference, but I do think the powdered version in the “frosting” gives it a creamier, melty texture.
The muffin itself is incredibly moist (sorry to those of you who can’t stomach that word), spongy and dense. It’s hard not to eat them all!
I always notice baked goods taste better on day 2 when baking with erythritol. I mean, they’re awesome on day 1 too, but day 2? Day-um! We store them in the fridge to keep them fresh throughout the week. You can eat them cold or pop them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to enjoy them at room temp.
THE RECIPE
The recipe is below! I am so excited to have turned my berry pancake muffins into a scrumptious little cinnamon roll muffin. They are super easy to make and totally fill that Cinnabon void 🙂
| Servings |
muffins
|
- 4 Ounces Cream Cheese
- 2 TBSP salted butter
- 3 Large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 TSP vanilla extract
- 1/4 TSP apple cider vinegar
- 4 TBSP erythritol (or other sugar sub)
- 2 TBSP Cinnamon
- 1 3/4 CUP Almond Flour
- 1/2 TSP baking soda
- 1/4 TSP himalayan pink salt
- 3 ounces Cream Cheese
- 1 TBSP heavy whipping cream
- 1 TBSP erythritol (or other sugar sub)
- 1/2 TSP vanilla
Ingredients
Batter
Filling
|
|
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with parchment liners. You can also grease your pan, but grain free /sugar-free desserts tend to stick.
- Add the butter and cream cheese to a large bowl and soften (I pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds).
- Then, add remaining wet ingredients eggs (lightly beaten), vanilla and ACV). Mix together well until combined.
- Add all of the dry ingredients to the wet (erythritol, cinnamon, almond flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together until well combined.
- Evenly fill the muffin liners with the batter (I use a cookie scoop which yields about 2 scoops per muffin).
- Add the cream cheese to a small bowl and soften (I pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds).
- Then, add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and erythritol and mix well until blended into a "frosting".
- Using a teaspoon, top each muffin (batter) with the filling. I usually dip the teaspoon in the filling and grab enough filling to take up 1/2 the teaspoon. Do this for each muffin (doubling back if needed) until all filling is equaly distributed on top of the muffin batter.
- Using a toothpick, swirl the filling into the muffin batter. This isn't a perfect process. Just swirl it around until you feel it's swirled enough.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!
SERVING SIZE: 1 muffin
MACROS: 170 calories | 14.5 g fat | 6 g protein | 3.5 g net carbs
Nutritional Info Disclaimer: I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I provide nutritional information for my recipes as a courtesy based upon the ingredients I'm using. I encourage you to find a nutritional calculator you like best and calculate individual nutrition info based upon the ingredients you are using. All carb counts are based upon total carbs unless otherwise noted.
CHECK OUT MY BERRY PANCAKE MUFFINS RECIPE BEFORE YA GO!
*DISCLAIMER: This post is a combination of my personal insights, opinions and thoughts on various topics and products and may contain affiliate or referral links. I earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, which helps me continue on this fabulous journey of blogging! Full disclaimers avail. here.
