Healthy Low Carb and Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels
Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels… made healthy? And gluten free? And LOW CARB?!? Hell yes!
These Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels have the perfect soft, fluffy, and bready texture… they’re seriously delightful.
This is the closest gluten free bread can get to the classic breads made with wheat flour. One bite and you’ll have a hard time believing it’s gluten free.
These pretzels are made with high-protein organic soy flour instead of the typical refined white flour, and they’re sweetened with sugar-free erythritol and organic stevia instead of white sugar. But you’d never know it!
I adapted this recipe from my Salted Soft Pretzels recipe. In order to make those deliciously savory pretzels into sweet, sugary, cinnamony goodness, I added vanilla extract, stevia extract, and granulated erythritol to the dough. And, instead of brushing the unbaked pretzels with an egg wash and a sprinkle of coarse salt, I coated the baked pretzels in a mixture of coconut oil and natural butter flavor, then tossed them in a mixture of granulated erythritol and ground cinnamon.
Like Churro Pretzels, if you will.
See that decadent cinnamon-sugar coating?
It tastes like purely sugary, unhealthy SIN. It’s what I call good eats.
Oh man, I’m on cloud nine right now. Delicious, indulgent, and healthy. Yes, you CAN have it all!
Healthy Low Carb and Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
Pretzel Dough:
- 30g (3 tbs) Psyllium Husk Powder
- 11g (1 tbs) Active Dry Yeast
- 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 124g (½ cup) Unsweetened Applesauce
- 5 Large Egg Whites
- 1 tbs Natural Butter Flavor
- 1 tbs Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Liquid Stevia Extract
- 168g (1½ cups) Organic Soy Flour
- 140g (1¼ cups) Coconut Flour
- 48g (¼ cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 2 tsp Double-Acting Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
Cinnamon-Sugar Coating:
- 3 tbs Coconut Oil (melted)
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
- 144g (¾ cup) Granulated Erythritol
- 3 tbs Ground Cinnamon
Instructions
For the Pretzel Dough:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the psyllium and yeast.
- In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a beater attachment, add the almond milk, applesauce, egg whites, butter flavor, vanilla extract, and stevia extract. Turn on medium speed. While mixing, sprinkle in the psyllium/yeast mixture. Mix until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix until smooth again. Mixture should look like thick gravy.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the soy flour, coconut flour, erythritol, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the stand mixer and mix on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on last time on medium speed. Dough should be very thick, dense, and slightly sticky.
- Shape the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm area for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal portions. Carefully roll the dough into long logs (if the log breaks, just stick it back and it’ll be fine… these are gluten free, so that’s kinda expected right?) and shape into pretzels. Carefully transfer the pretzels onto the prepared pans. Bake for ~23 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly.
For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil and butter flavor. In a shallow dish, whisk together the erythritol and cinnamon.
- Brush the pretzels with the coconut oil mixture then toss in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Compared to an Auntie Anne’s Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel, one of my Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels have:
- 210 less calories
- 60g less carbs
- 25g less sugar
- 13g more fiber
- 7g more protein
- ZERO cholesterol, plus MORE vitamins and minerals
I can’t believe Auntie Anne’s pretzels have 470 calories EACH! Oops… I used to eat 2 to 3 at a time. Oh gosh, that’s about 87g of sugar in ONE SITTING. Aaaaand that’s not even including the frosting I used to dip them in…
*smacks self in head*
These Healthy Low Carb and Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Soft Pretzels are the best alternative to unhealthy bakery-bought pretzels.
They’re so soft and fluffy, you’d never know they’re missing the butter. Trust me. There was a time where I used to eat pretzels for almost every meal of the day.
The second I run out of these pretzels (ehem, in about 5 minutes, ehem), I’m gonna make another batch. ASAP.
My motto?
Bake. Eat. Sleep. REPEAT!
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With love and good eats,
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
Hi! I really want to try this recipe and wanted to substitute psyllium husk powder for grounded flax seeds and the soy flour for brown rice flour becausI’m allergic. Do you think this would work as well?
Thank you~
Bree-
I’m afraid the soy flour can’t be replaced in this recipe. It’s a very unique flour… it absorbs A LOT of liquid, binds the mixture kind of like glutinous flour, and it provides a really soft texture after baking.
The psyllium husk powder is difficult to replace too. It absorbs much more liquid than flax and chia put together.
Sorry for the bad news 🙁
I hope you can try another recipe of mine though 🙂
-Jess
These look fabulous! I used to be addicted to Wetzels Pretzels. I will have to give these a try.
Shannon-
Oh I totally understand your addiction!
(AKA I gained like, 12 pounds from em haha)
I hope you like the recipe 🙂
-Jess
Mine were way too fragile to make into pretzel shapes! I had to make them into sticks 🙁 any idea what went wrong?
Becca-
I’m sorry about that! Not sure why that happened… just wondering, did you make any substitutions and did you use a kitchen scale? I use a scale to make all my recipes because it ensures exact measurements.
The dough doesn’t contain gluten, so it is slightly more delicate than wheat dough, but they shouldn’t fall apart too easily.
If you did use a scale, it could be the psyllium. That’s the main binder in this dough. If you make the pretzels again, I would recommend increasing the psyllium by 1 teaspoon 🙂
I hope this helps Becca!
-Jess
Mine too!
Nicole-
Oh no! I don’t know why that happened! Did you make any substitutions to the recipe and did you use a kitchen scale?
This recipe doesn’t contain gluten-containing flour, so it should be a little bit more delicate than your typical wheat dough, but they shouldn’t fall apart.
If you make the pretzels again, I would recommend increasing the psyllium by 1 teaspoon 🙂
I hope this helps Nicole!
-Jess
I replaced the psyllium with ground golden flaxseed, used two single-serve applesauces (close to 1 cup) and adjusted the liquid (sweetened Kirkland vanilla soy milk, since that’s what I had) down to compensate. I used 2/3 cup coconut flour to suck up more liquid. Instead of butter flavor, I used 1 Tbsp melted organic butter. I also saved all 4 egg yolks and definitely used more than 1 yolk in brushing the pretzels.
I ended up with 16 pretzels instead of 8, yeah! I made half sweet (sprinkling cinnamon with granulated sugar) and half salty (sprinkling salt). Rolling out the pretzels with my hands was easy; the dough was sticky but not fragile. Each sheet of eight baked for a bit more than 20 min. They were a massive, filling hit!
I know these changes add calories, but I’m baking for an active child with celiac disease, so moderate sugar and fat aren’t a worry for us, and the egg yolk’s choline is a plus. I’d also rather she take in some omega-3s from the flax; psyllium’s a bit hard on the gut for her.
Kathleen-
Wow! I’m so glad all those substitutions worked out for you! And 16 pretzels instead of 8? HECK YES, that’s awesome 😀
I wish you and your daughter the very best!! Thanks for letting me know how the recipe turned out 🙂
-Jess
Hi! I was wondering reading the recipe… I think some information is wrong, because it says 187g is 3/4 cup, which is right, and the subsequent ingredients say 224g is 2 cups and 70g is 1/2 cup. So I would like to know if the cup measure is right or if the gram measure is right. Which one should I use?
I also have a question about the stevia… by the picture I believe for the dough the stevia is liquid, not a powder. However for the coating the mix you used doesn’t exist in my country. And I believe not even truvia I can find here. I can find stevia powder which has a terrible taste. Any suggestions of what could I do?
Silvia S.-
1/2 cup of applesauce weighs 123-125g, so 3/4 cup will weigh 184-188g.
1/4 cup of soy flour weighs 28g, so 2 cups will weigh 224g.
2 tbs of coconut flour weighs 14g, so 1/2 cup + 2 tbs will weigh 70g.
All flours and liquid ingredients weigh different amounts, so to make sure you’re measuring correctly, always bake using a kitchen scale. Flours are very temperamental and everyone measures things differently, some will lightly fluff up the flour while some may pack it into a measuring cup, which will result in different final products 🙂
The stevia in the pretzel dough is liquid, while the stevia in the coating is granulated. Have you tried looking for the stevia online (Amazon, iHerb, Netrition, etc.)? I agree, stevia powder tastes terrible! I never use the powdered stuff in my recipes.
Hopefully his helps Silvia! 🙂
-Jess
Can these be made vegan? Thanks so much!
Kate Farrell-
Hmmm, I’m not sure if the egg whites can be replaced here… but, I guess you can try increasing the baking powder to 2 teaspoons and the almond milk to 1+1/4 cups.
For the egg yolk on the coating, just replace that with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil I hope this works for you! 😀
-Jess
Thanks, Jessica! I’ll have to try that out 🙂
Looks like a nice recipe I will have to try it, my only concern is that psyllium husk powder should not be consumed greater that 3 tsp a day and should not be taken with some medications. I only say as with the amounts you are using if people eat more than one….. I do fully undersatnd why you are using it I make several dishes with it, its great ! I had been using it for awhile and fed it to someone who should not have eaten it because I was not aware :o(
Hey Jessica!
You just made pretzels even better 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Quick question on soy flour & eggs: is there a reason you only put the whites in the recipe? I hate wasting the yolks so if they don’t make a difference, what should I do to compensate if I leave them in? Could I use cassava flour instead? Or any other gluten free option?
Thanks!
Soy flour yields a very dense baked good, so when I tested the recipe with whole eggs it seemed almost unbaked… so I tried with egg whites and it helped lift it up a little bit and make the cinnamon rolls less dense. Soy flour is a hard ingredient to replace so I wouldn’t recommend swapping it with anything. If you want to use egg yolks, simply make a crème brûlée with it!! I made a healthy crème brûlée for my cookbook (https://dessertswithbenefits.com/creme-brulee/). Or you can cook them and add it to your dinner 🙂