YOU GUYS, guess what low carb bread I’ve made 3 times in the past week??
This. Low carb. Cinnamon swirl. Bread.
Because the other day, I had a random craving for a childhood fave: Pepperidge Farm’s cinnamon swirl bread. My Dad used to toast a slice and cover it in butter for me to enjoy before I ran off to school. Nothing fancy. Just a toasted piece of sweet, cinnamony, fluffy bread. I loved it. I craved it. And HERE IT IS…
Think of this recipe as almond flour bread and cinnamon rolls love child.
It teeters along the thin line between breakfast and dessert with its slight sweetness, its fluffiness, and its cinnamoniness. Which eliminates any guilt (for me) in enjoying it after every meal. (Hense the 3 loaves in a week!)
One thing I want to point out that makes this recipe even more amazing: It has a similar taste, texture, and mouthfeel to traditional bread — If you’ve been eating low carb for a while now, you know why that’s SO exciting.
Unlike chaffles with their slight eggy taste or oopsie bread with its unique texture, this bread will make you think it’s the real, gluteny, carby, sugary deal.And it REALLY wants you to slather it with cream cheese or smother it in butter. So, let’s bake!
What I Love About This Low Carb Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe
This is an “adult” version of my childhood favorite. PLUS! You don’t have to fuss with yeast, or wait for it to rise. There are no fancy techniques for making low carb desserts like this one. Here’s what else to expect:
- EASY
- Low carb and sugar-free
- Breakfast, snack or dessert
- Slice + freeze!
Recipe Notes
Important Ingredient Notes
Almond Flour – Almond flour is the low carb flour used in this recipe, as it’s most similar to wheat flour in taste, texture, and mouthfeel. Be sure to use fine-grained almond flour for the best texture results — I prefer Bob’s Red Mill or Trader Joe’s brand.
Whey Protein Isolate – Makes this bread extra fluffy, as almond flour is significantly denser than traditional flour. I learned this trick from my soul bread recipe. My favorite brand is ISO Pure.
Sweetener – My keto sweeteners of choice are Swerve and Lakanto — both of which can be used as a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar. If you use plain erythritol, you may want to increase the amount (erythritol is 70% as sweet as sugar).
Storing Tips
Store your low carb cinnamon swirl bread in the fridge after baking.
Can You Freeze This?
YES! Bake, cool, and slice your bread. Then freeze the slices, and toast them from frozen for low carb breakfast in a jiffy.
Recipe Variations
As long as you stick to this base low carb cinnamon swirl bread recipe, you can modify the nuts, sweetener and spices as you see fit! Here are some variations you may want to try:
- Add a struesel topping by roughly chopping low carb nuts such as pecans or walnuts and tossing them in cinnamon and erythritol. Sprinkle the struesel on top of your loaf before baking. Check out my low carb pumpkin muffins for my favorite ratio of ingredients.
- Add some fruit. Sprinkle berries into the cinnamon layer, such as raspberries, sliced strawberries or blueberries ala low carb blueberry muffins.
- Or extract… higher carb fruits like bananas are best added to recipes in extract form. Check out my low carb banana muffins, and consider adding in your favorite flavors!
More Breakfast Bread Recipes
Do you LOVE and CRAVE bread for breakfast as much as we do?! Great! We have some recipes to save the day!
Low Carb Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Bread:
- 3 1/4 Cups Almond Flour
- 7 Tablespoons Whey Protein Isolate ISO Pure recommended!
- 3/4 Cup Swerve or Lakanto (see sweetener notes below)
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Cup Almond Milk warm
- 2 Tablespoons Mild Tasting Oil (see notes below)
- 3 Eggs
Cinnamon Layer:
- 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons Swerve or Lakanto (see sweetener notes below)
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lay a piece of parchment paper down on your counter, and spray with cooking spray. Set a bowl of water above the sprayed parchment paper. Grab an 8" bread pan (your parchment paper will eventually need to fit inside this bread pan).
- Combine. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: almond flour (3 1/4 cups), whey protein (7 tablespoons), Swerve/Lakanto (3/4 cup), baking powder (1 tablespoon), and salt (1 teaspoon ). Add almond milk (1/4 cup), oil (2 tablespoons) and the eggs (3), and stir to combine. Toss the cinnamon layer ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Shape. Use very damp hands (this is what our bowl of water is for) to press the dough into an 8-11" square. Sprinkle the cinnamon layer over the top of the dough.
- Roll. Grab the edge of the dough closest to you, and roll it up as tightly as possible. Again, damp hands will help here! Peel back the parchment as you roll the dough over itself. Shimmy the rolled dough to the center of the parchment, then fit inside the bread pan. Remove excess parchment to prevent burning.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, you'll know the bread is done once the top is golden. Allow the bread to cool in the pan before trying to remove and slice.
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Lindsey's Tips
- Almond Flour. Using fine-grained almond flour will yield the most "flour-like" results. My favorite brands are Bob's Red Mill, Trader Joe's, or Costco brands.
- Lakanto, Swerve, or Erythritol. I stick to Lakanto and Swerve which are a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar. If using a different brand of Erythritol, keep in mind it's 70% as sweet as sugar, so you may need to add more to taste.
- Mild Tasting Oil. You want an oil with a high smoke point and mild flavor -- think avocado, vegetable, safflower, sunflower, peanut. Skip EVOO, coconut, or sesame oil.
- Nutritional information is based on 1 slice, if you cut this bread into 16 slices:
Nutrition
Original Recipe
Less of a swirl, more of a sweet cinnamon loaf with a nice crunch on top! As requested, here’s the original recipe posted to this page:
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 Cups Almond Flour
- 4 Tablespoons NOW Powdered Psyllium Husk
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
- 1/2 Cup Swerve or Lakanto (see sweetener notes below)
- 1/2 Cup Water (hot)
- 4 Eggs
- 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil (melted)
- 1/4 Cup Walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F and line an 8" bread pan with parchment paper.
- Mix almond flour, psyllium husk, baking powder, salt, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and erythritol together in a large bowl. Add eggs, coconut oil, and hot water. Stir to combine.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared bread pan. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon over the top. Pour the rest of the batter into the pan. Using a knife, swirl the batter around to create a pattern with the cinnamon. Sprinkle chopped walnuts on top of the bread, and gently press them in to adhere.
- Place in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. You’ll know the bread is done once the edges become golden brown.
Almond bread looking yummy. Nice recipe
Made it with pecans on top and it was fantastic!
Did 4 small loaf pans 350• for 30 min. Sprinkled cinnamonErythitol mixture over top. Delicious
Hello Gretchen! ? So glad you enjoyed it as much as I do ?
For the cinnamon, is it ground cinnamon or cinnamon powder?
Hi there!! I use ground cinnamon 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Can I use flaxseed meal instead of the psyllium husk ?
Hi Simone! No, flaxseed is great, but it doesn’t absorb as much liquid as psyllium husk or create the same “fluff” 🙂
Hi! I am just starting on the low carb lifestyle. I love bread so I tried this recipe. It was good but it didn’t rise at all. Is that normal? It was very dense so would not pour into the pan. Any advice on my next round would be very much appreciated! Thank you so much.
Hi Carol! I’m sorry to hear your bread didn’t rise! There are a few reasons why this can happen, let me know so I can continue to troubleshoot with you! 1, it’s important to use a fine grain almond flour, as coarser grains (and almond meals) can weigh down the bread. 2, Check the expiration date on the baking powder, this is our main leavening agent. 3, did you use a ground psyllium husk? I’ve had the best luck with NOW psyllium husk.
Lastly, I’m sorry to say that low carb breads won’t rise as much as traditional wheat bread. They’re an awesome substitute, but may not be as “fluffy” as you’re used to. Hope this helps, let me know 🙂
Did you use whole or ground psyllium husk?
Hello Dan! I’ve used the whole one, I’ve had the best luck with NOW psyllium husk. Hope this helps, let me know 🙂
Hi
With the carbs being 7 and the fiber 4…
this bread per slice has 3 net carbs?
Exactly! I hope you’ll give this a try. Thanks Tracy! ?
Can I substitute with Splenda and what would be the equivalent??
Hi Bielka! I haven’t tested Splenda in this recipe (it’s not one of the sweeteners I use due to my blood sugar), but I don’t think it would be a problem. Looks like Splenda is recommended to be used 1:1 with traditional sugar? You can check out my keto sweeteners guide here, you should be fine with a 1:1 swap. Let us know how it turns out!
Does the hot water go in with the egg and oil?
Hi Angie! Yes it does! So sorry, and thanks for catching that. Hope you enjoy!
Can you use applesauce instead of the oil?
Hi Reg! I haven’t tried that, and typically avoid apple sauce because of the carbs. But I know in many traditional recipes, apple sauce is used as an oil sub. Let us know how it turns out!
This recipe went great! How long is its shelf life? And what’s the best way to store it?
Hi Koleen! SO happy you enjoyed it! I store this bread in the fridge for 4 days, then slice and freeze the rest.
This is the best low carb bread i’ve tried so far! YUM!?
Yahoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed Jim!
Hi Lindsey, it looks like you have changed the recipe. I had been using and sharing your previous recipe that included psyllium husk but no whey protein and I’m not sure what else there was, that’s why I’m reaching out via a comment. The photos now posted for this recipe look much different as well. Thank you in advance for your help!
Hi Lindsey! I’m SO sorry for the delay, I have been trying to track down the original recipe, and found a user who printed it out and sent it to me, phew! Anyway, I’ve added it below the recipe card above. So happy to hear you enjoy the recipe!
Hi Lindsey!
I’ve made your old version of this recipe so many times (with psyllium but no protein isolate), and I love it, I went to make another batch today but noticed the recipe change. Would you mind reposting the old version too please?
Thanks!
Hi Mike! I’m SO sorry for the delay, I have been trying to track down the original recipe, and found a user who printed it out and sent it to me, phew! Anyway, I’ve added it below the recipe card above. So happy to hear you enjoy the recipe!
That’s fantastic! Thanks so much for posting it for me. Happy new year!
Hope you enjoy Michael! ?
Hi Lindsey
I made the cinnamon bread
It was totally cold but it still would not slice very well it was crumbly, Any ideas on what to do next time?
Was the bowl of water to keep your hands moist?
Thanks
Stella
Hi Stella! Yes, the bowl of water is to keep your hands moist so you can roll the bread without it sticking to your hands – the dough should be sticky. Sounds like the bread could have overcooked a bit? Another possibility is the protein powder — which brand did you use?
Thanks!
Hi Lindssey,
Thanks for your answer
I used opportuniteas Whey Protein Isolate .
Thanks
Stella
Hi Stella! My guess is either the bread was slightly overcooked, or, the protein powder used absorbed more liquid, creating a dryer product. I’ve heard of some whey protein isolates doing this during the baking process. I’ve only tested the recipe above with ISO Pure whey protein isolate. Hope that helps!
I have Quest unflavored baking protein powder that is a whey/casein mix. Would that work for this bread or is important that it be a whey isolate?
Hi Kelly! You can absolutely try it, but your bread won’t be as fluffy. Whey is what adds fluff, casein doesn’t have the same baking characteristics. Hope that helps!
Have you tried or can you recommend a nut-free alternative to almond flour?
Hi Jhim! I can’t recommend a good substitute for almond flour in this recipe, but you can check out my Soul Bread recipe, which is totally nut free! Enjoy!
This looks so delicious and tasty! I can’t wait to give this a try!
Yahoo! Hope you enjoy it Beth!?
This looks amazing – love the instructions – i have STRUGGLED making bread – definitely trying this one!
Thank you Heather! Hope you enjoy as much as I do!?
This cinnamon bread sounds delicious and I love the healthy aspect of all of the ingredients too! Think I am going to have to make this as I am so hungry for a slice!
Yay! Let me know how it goes, Enjoy Adrianne!?
I love any kind of cinnamon dessert and this looks delicious. A great low carb option too.
Me too Dannii! Hope you give this a try!?
Exactly what I need to indulge myself post Christmas ?! A bit of a guilt free pleasure! And with the schools back perfect easy breakfast and afterschool snacks for the kids!
Right Sunrita? I’m so glad you enjoyed!?