Gluten Free Monkey Bread
A soft pull-apart Keto Monkey Bread with a sugar free brown butter syrup
This gluten-free monkey bread is a sugar-free recipe that uses keto sweeteners instead of sugar to get a tasty sweet and sticky dessert. This pull-apart bread is made with a combination of almond flour and protein powder instead of traditional all-purpose flour for a keto, gluten-free bread. Each bread bubble is coated in a sweet cinnamon mixture and drizzled with a brown butter caramel sauce for the ultimate holiday dessert.
16
Servings
357
Calories
32g
Fat
13.3g
Protein
3.7g
Net Carb
7.2g
Total Carbs
Gluten free monkey bread is a classic dessert that will fill your kitchen with warmth and cinnamon. This sweet and sticky treat is even a great recipe for brunch on holidays such as Christmas or Thanksgiving! This pull-apart bread recipe differs from others out there because most gluten-free monkey bread recipes still use sugar and alternative flours that are still high in carbohydrates. This monkey bread recipe is low carb, so we use almond flour and sugar free sweeteners. You still get that pillow soft dough with each pull-apart morsel and a delicious sticky buttery caramel coating.
How to make gluten free monkey bread
To make this keto monkey bread, we make a low-carb pastry with almond flour and protein powder instead of wheat flour or fathead dough (commonly used in many keto pastry recipes). Once the dough is made, each morsel is rolled into a ball and the dough balls are coated with sugar-free sweetener and a mixture of spices, including cinnamon and nutmeg, to create that sweet and sticky cinnamon sugar outer layer. Once the bread is finished baking, it is drizzled with browned melted butter, sugar-free caramel syrup, and topped with crushed pecans for a bit of crunch.
Key ingredients
- Zero Carb Protein Powder – The dough for the keto monkey bread is made with a low-carb protein powder to keep the recipe keto-friendly. Protein powder adds volume and airiness to the pastry, making it light and fluffy.
- Sugar-Free Sweeteners – This recipe uses a granulated sweetener that can be swapped cup for cup with regular sugar. The granulated sweetener has zero carbs and zero calories, but it bakes and tastes just like real sugar. You can’t even tell the difference! The brown sweetener is very similar to brown sugar, and it also measures cup for cup. There is also a hint of molasses in the brown sweetener to give it that rich caramel flavor and dark color. If you don’t mind a little bit of sugar in your monkey bread, you could try coconut sugar, but adding coconut sugar will increase the carbohydrate count.
- Xanthan Gum – Xanthan gum gives the dough structure and support so that the dough holds together. It is tasteless, so you won’t even know it’s there!
Tools you will need
To make this homemade monkey bread recipe gluten-free, you will need the following supplies:
- Bundt pan
- Large bowl
- Small bowl
- Sauce pan
Gluten Free Monkey Bread Recipe Video
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Keto Monkey Bread Ingredients
4 cups almond flour - 1 cup unflavored low carb protein powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
Sweet Cinnamon Coating Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sugar free sweetener
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Brown Butter Caramel Syrup Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup sugar free brown sweetener
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup crushed pecans, optional
Gluten Free Monkey Bread Directions
-
Preheat oven
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
-
Combine dry ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt until combined.
Ingredients
- Almond flour
- Protein powder
- Baking powder
- Xanthan gum
- Salt
-
Mix in wet ingredients
Stir in melted butter, sour cream and eggs. Mix until well combined.
Ingredients
- Butter
- Sour cream
- Eggs
-
Make cinnamon sugar coating
To make the sweet cinnamon coating, add sugar free sweetener to a small bowl. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.
Ingredients
- Sugar-free sweetener
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
-
Roll each dough ball and coat bubble bread
Pinch off a small amount of dough and roll in between the palms of hands to form a ball about ¾ - 1 inch in diameter. Roll dough in sweet cinnamon mixture until evenly coated and place ball into the prepared Bundt pan. Repeat with remaining dough - rolling, coating, and filling up the pan.
Quick Tip
Try to make each dough ball the same size. -
Bake monkey bread
Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.
Quick Tip
Bake until golden brown on top. A loaf pan may also be used. -
Make brown butter caramel syrup
Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in sugar-free brown sugar and let cook for 2-3 minutes until bubbling. Turn down heat and slowly stir in heavy cream. Mixture will bubble up. Continue cooking over low medium heat until thickened (about 5-10 minutes). Sprinkle in salt. Remove from heat.
Ingredients
- Butter
- Sugar-free brown sweetener
- Heavy cream
- Salt
Quick Tip
When you add the heavy cream, the mixture will bubble violently. This is normal. It will simmer down as it cooks. You may consider using coconut butter here for a dairy free option. -
Top pull-part bread with syrup
Once bread has finished baking, remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes until you can safely turn the Bundt pan over onto a serving plate. Remove the Bundt Pan and immediately drizzle with brown butter caramel syrup. Top with crushed pecans.
Ingredients
- Pecans
What can be substituted for whey protein? My favorite keto doctor tells us whey is not good.
The protein I use is zero carbs. They are okay to use an any diet unless you have kidney problems. Unfortunately there isn’t really a substitute for protein powder in this recipe. Sometimes coconut flour can be used it its place but the bread may turn out denser. Another option would be egg white powder, but I haven’t tried that.
Was there supposed to be sweetener in the actual bread? I just made a half batch to test because we WILL be enjoying this for Christmas but the bread itself is salty. I’ll add some sweetener to my next batch but just wanted to ask if it was a typo and if so, how much sweetener you’d recommend. Thanks! The rest of the recipe is fabulous!
The bread doesn’t need sweetener as the cinnamon “sugar” coating and syrup are sweet enough. If you thought it was salty, you can decrease the salt. One teaspoon would be fine. Glad you liked the recipe!
Love this recipe in every way except too much salt ? read other comments so I already cut salt in half to only 1 teaspoon…next time only be using 1/2 tsp…this is still a great recipe dough is sweet and fluffy…I could see this fixing my craving for a donut and cinnamon roll all in one…I might even try cream cheese frosting on it sometime and a gooey cinnamon sauce…thanks so much!
Can I make the dough a day ahead and just bake it off the next morning?
Yes, you can
I made this today for brunch with my girlfriends and we all LOVED it! My carmel sauce did not turn out as dark as yours, but since I used my golden monkfruit sweetener, that may have made the difference. I did cook it for the full 10 minutes thinking it would darken up, but no dice. Anyway, it tasted just amazing. Thank you!
Could I make it the day before and just reheat for a bit?
Do you have an alternative topping for this? Like maybe a cream cheese glaze using Swerve confectioner’s sugar substitute? I’m not willing to consume any molasses at all on keto, since it’s a sugar. It might be just a tiny bit, but it’s still a real sugar and it’ll make me want more real sugar. Also, can the bread be sweetened with a little sweetener? Or would that make it less fluffy?
You could try a cream cheese frosting like I use on my cinnamon rolls. There isn’t any molasses in this recipe so I’m not sure where you are getting that. I agree that you shouldn’t have molasses on the keto diet. You can add sweetener to the bread but it might be overly sweet because each ball is coated in sweetener and then the glaze as sweetener.
First time making monkey bread but will certainly not be the last. This was delicious!!! Had to move it away so I would not continue eating it.