Is it possible to make soft, gluten-free Keto Hot Cross Buns with yeast, but no grains? The answer is an astounding YES!

PREP TIME15minutes mins

COOK TIME25minutes mins

RISING TIME2hours hrs

TOTAL TIME2hours hrs 40minutes mins

SERVINGS10 buns

CALORIES273 kcal

EQUIPMENT

  • 9″x13″ baking pan or square 10″x10″ pan

INGREDIENTS  

Yeast Blooming/Activating

  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • 2¼ tsp dry yeast 1 small package
  • 2 tsp sugar coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey, or inulin

Dough

  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk (use egg white for egg wash)
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt full fat
  • ¼ cup butter melted
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup granular erythritol
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups almond flour blanched
  • 6 tbsp coconut flour
  • 2 tbsp oat fiber
  • 2 tbsp psyllium husk powder
  • 2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • ½ cup homemade candied orange/lemon peel chopped, or grated zest from 1 orange and 1 lemon

Egg Wash

  • 1 egg white reserved from above
  • 1 tbsp water

Icing

  • ⅔ cup Swerve Sweetener confectioners or powdered erythritol
  • pinch salt
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 tbsp heavy cream amount can vary, enough to make thick, pipeable icing

INSTRUCTIONS 

Yeast Blooming/Activating

  • Heat heavy cream until warm (NOT hot), about 105-115 °F. Whisk in sugar (or inulin) and yeast, cover, and let sit for 6-8 minutes until bubbly and foamy.

Dough

  • Line 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
  • While yeast is blooming, whisk together eggs and 1 egg yolk in a large bowl. Add yogurt, melted butter, erythritol, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
  • Whisk in activated yeast/heavy cream mixture. Add almond flour, coconut flour, oat fiber, psyllium husk, xanthan gum, spices, and salt (if using lemon/orange zest, add at this time, too). Let sit for 5 minutes for moisture to absorb. If dough feels too wet to shape into rolls, add more coconut flour (one tbsp at a time and give 2 minutes to absorb moisture each time).
  • Add chopped homemade “candied” peel. Stir until well combined.
  • Divide the dough into 10 equal parts (about 1/3 cup per bun). With greased hands (I used olive oil) shape the dough into balls and arranged on lined baking pan.
  • Cover baking sheet with lid, dish towel, or bowl, and let rolls rise for 1-2 hours. Pick a warm spot (like oven*). Buns should look puffed up and be touching one another.

Egg Wash and Baking

  • Preheat oven to 350 °F.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together egg white and water. Brush egg wash over the buns.
  • Bake for 25 minutes until buns look golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool down completely.

Icing

  • Whisk together icing ingredients in a small bowl. Add enough heavy cream for the icing to feel soft but not runny. Scoop icing into an icing bag (with either a round piping tip or just cut a small hole into your icing bag/ziplock bag).
  • Once buns are completely cooled down, pipe a cross on each bun.

NOTES

Pick a warm, dark, draft-free place for rising. I like to use the oven. If you have a bread-proofing switch on your oven, you can use that. Another way to turn your oven into a proof box, is to place a large empty dish or pan in the bottom of the oven and fill it with hot, boiling water. Let the dough rise for 1.5-2 hours!

The calculation for nutrition facts was done WITHOUT raisins. If you want to add raisins, it will add carbs to your buns. 3 tablespoons of raisins (which is how much I use for my buns) adds about 2g of carbs to each bun.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1bunCalories: 273kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 11gFat: 22gFiber: 8gSugar: 2g