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Home / Recipe Type / Desserts

Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts

November 15, 2021 Modified February 10, 2025 By Nicole Charles 4 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links.

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These grain free Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts are inspired by Italian Bomboloni Donuts. They’re AIP, paleo and dairy free, rolled in maple sugar and stuffed with a decadent salted caramel filling. Did I mention they’re delicious?

parchment lined bread pan filled with six mini donuts stuffed with salted caramel filling

This post was created in partnership with Lovebird Foods as part of the Lovebird make/bake off challenge to fight childhood cancer. The winner of this challenge will receive a $1,000 donation to the childhood cancer charity of their choice. Thanks to Lovebird Foods for providing the cereal used in this recipe and for inviting me to be part of this mission to raise awareness about childhood cancer through the challenge.

For the challenge, we were asked to create a “Holiday” themed paleo or AIP compliant recipe. I came up with these Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts because nothing says holiday to me like warm Fall spices and decadence!

Here are the main ingredients in these Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts

  • salted caramel – made with full fat coconut cream and coconut sugar, this homemade salted caramel sauce really makes these donuts *pop*
  • coconut sugar or maple sugar – this is to add to the donuts and create a powdered sugar to dust the donuts in once they’re ready. Both work, coconut sugar just has a darker color so if you go that route your “powdered sugar” will be darker than in these photos!
  • coconut flour and cassava flour – together these flours create the optimal texture for these donuts. I don’t recommend substitutions to this combo!
  • cinnamon – this is key to the distinctive cinnamon flavor in these donuts
  • palm shortening – this creates that soft, fluffy, cake-like texture in these donuts.
  • full fat coconut milk – to ensure the recipe remains AIP compliant I recommend additive free coconut milk.
  • Lovebird Cereal Honey – you can potentially substitute with the Lovebird Cinnamon Cereal here as well, but the unsweetened version won’t be sweet enough for the donuts as there isn’t much added coconut sugar in this recipe.
two mini donuts stacked on top each other dusted in maple powdered sugar and filled with a salted caramel filling on a white plate. there is one mini donut in the background on the left of the plate

How to make these AIP/paleo Donuts

  1. Add Lovebird Honey Cereal to a food processor or high powered blender and pulse until a fine powder is created.
  2. To the food processor add sea salt, coconut flour, cassava flour, cinnamon, maple or coconut sugar, palm shortening, vanilla extract, baking soda, apple cider vinegar and full fat coconut milk.
  3. Pulse until all ingredients have combined into a soft, smooth, pliable dough.
  4. Roll the dough into 6-7 round donut balls of even size.
  5. Preheat air fryer to 375F. Place donuts into air fryer basket and fry for 3 1/2 mins per side. (See FAQs for oven method).
  6. Toss the donuts with “powdered sugar” and allow to cool before filling.
  7. To fill donuts, insert a butter knife into the side of each donut and wiggle it to make a small incision through the donut.
  8. Fill a piping bag with the salted caramel and pipe it into the donuts.
white plate of mini donuts on a light beige background
hand holding a mini donut with a black knife that is being inserted into the donut above a white plate of mini donuts
stainless steel pan with salted caramel sauce and a stainless steel spoon next to a light pink cloth napkin and the edge of a white plate
hand pressing down against a mini donut that is being filled with caramel sauce with a white piping bag
hand holding mini donut revealing the salted caramel filling
white plate with mini donuts dusted in powdered sugar and filled with salted caramel filling.There is a stainless steel spoon to the left of the donuts and the plate is resting on a light pink cloth napkin which rests on a light beige background

FAQs for Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts

How do I store these?

These are 100% best fresh. Like with many AIP baked goods, the texture changes and things get a lot more dense once they sit out. That said, if you must store them, I would recommend storing the donuts and caramel separately. Store the donuts in a sealed container at room temperature for about 2 days. Before serving, reheat the donuts to recreate the soft texture and then fill them with the salted caramel filling. The caramel will last about a week, stored in the fridge.

Can these be made without an air fryer?

I tested this recipe using an oven as well. The result is a denser donut that is much darker in color and flatter in shape but in absence of an air fryer, it will do. To make them in the oven, preheat to 400F and bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 5-6 minutes. Flip halfway through and bake another 5-6 minutes.

Can I use a different filling?

These would be great with a number of different fillings – from a “chocolate” or carob for an AIP compliant version, to coconut whipped cream. Check out this post for a number of different fillings/frostings that would work really well with these donuts.

mini donut dusted in maple powdered sugar with a bite taken out of the donut to reveal the salted caramel filling on a light beige backdrop

Looking for more paleo and AIP Donut recipes? You might enjoy:

  • Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts
  • Mini Pastel-Glazed Donuts
  • Lemon Blueberry Donuts
  • Baked Chocolate Donuts with Raspberries

If you try these Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts I would appreciate it if you would give the recipe a star rating and short review. Also, be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious.

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parchment lined bread pan filled with six mini donuts stuffed with salted caramel filling

Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts (AIP, paleo, dairy free)


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  • Author: Nicole Charles
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6–7 donuts 1x
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Description

These grain free Cinnamon Salted Caramel Donuts are inspired by Italian Bomboloni Donuts. They’re AIP, paleo and dairy free, rolled in maple sugar and stuffed with a decadent salted caramel filling. Did I mention they’re delicious?


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 cups Lovebird Honey cereal
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 cup cassava flour
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 TBSP maple sugar or coconut sugar (plus more for making powdered sugar to dust donuts)
  • 1/4 cup palm shortening
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup full fat, additive free coconut milk
  • salted caramel sauce

Instructions

  1. Begin by placing your Lovebird Honey Cereal into a food processor or high powered blender and pulse until a fine powder is created.
  2. To the food processor add sea salt, coconut flour, cassava flour, cinnamon, maple or coconut sugar, palm shortening, vanilla extract, baking soda, apple cider vinegar and full fat coconut milk.
  3. Pulse until all ingredients have combined into a soft, smooth, pliable dough.
  4. Roll the dough into 6-7 round donut balls of even size.
  5. Preheat the air fryer to 375F. Place donuts into air fryer basket and fry for 3.5 mins per side.
  6. Toss the donuts with “powdered sugar” and allow to cool before filling.*
  7. To fill donuts, insert a butter knife into the side of each donut and wiggle it to make a small incision through the donut.
  8. Fill a piping bag with the salted caramel and pipe it into the donuts.

Notes

*To make powdered sugar, place at least 1 cup maple or coconut sugar into a high powered blender or Vitamix and pulse until it becomes a powdered form. 

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Category: Desserts

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Share a photo and tag @healmedelicious — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Categories: AIP, All Recipes, Dairy Free, Desserts, Donuts, Gluten Free, Paleo

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amber

    April 16, 2025 at 6:01 pm

    I am not happy that Lovebird cereals changed their recipe to include buckwheat flour… any ideas to make this without the cereal? I have a box and am going to try it but will probably not buy the cereal again. this recipe sounds so good though!!

    Reply
    • Nicole Charles

      May 2, 2025 at 8:37 am

      Hi! This recipe was specifically created using this cereal.You can search “donuts” on the site though for many other AIP, paleo and/or gluten free donut recipes

      Reply
  2. cindy

    March 3, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    Hi,
    I do not have an AirFryer. Is it possible to bake these donuts?
    —
    Cindy

    Reply
    • Nicole Charles

      February 27, 2025 at 3:20 pm

      Hi Cindy – i’ve tried but the texture just isn’t the same. I recommend one of my baked donut recipes instead 🙂

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Nicole, the recipe developer, food enthusiast and photographer behind Heal Me Delicious. Read More

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