For me, the hardest thing about eating lower carb is the lack of delicious bread. I grew up eating my mom’s fresh-baked bread right out of the oven, so hot the slices were messy and uneven and butter melted into it immediately. Nutty-tasting sesame seeds on the crust and pillowy softness inside. I ate a lot of it, every day, at almost every meal. I used up my carb allowance early, but at least I spent it on that fabulous bread.

Now wheat bread is off the menu, at least in theory (lots of slip-ups), and I miss it. I’ve made breadlike substances with almond flour or coconut flour or garbanzo flour, but none of them bake like wheat. The loaves tend to be heavy instead of fluffy, and the flavor isn’t close to the same. Wheat-free bread is still good, it’s just not great.

So instead, here’s a recipe that embraces the character of wheat-free flour instead of fighting it. These soft and tender little doughnuts have a cake like texture and are small for a reason: drizzle the glaze on them while they’re still warm, and it soaks in just a little to keep the crumb moist. They’re lower carb but not super low carb because of the maple syrup, but that’s because tastewise monkfruit sugar and stevia are better in the background.

Loraine Fick is a writer and low-carb food experimenter with a love for animals and cake. Her greatest challenge is a short attention span, and her greatest strength, at least foodwise, is a desire to share recipes that are good and good for you. Follow Loraine’s blog at Spoonfully – Adventures in Low-Carb Cooking & Baking.