A little trick I’ve learned when it comes to keto baking is that protein powders can provide some structure that nut flours can’t provide on their own. The problem with that, is many people don’t tolerate protein powders well. Whey tends to be pretty insulinogenic, meaning your insulin response might be a lot higher than expected for a product so low in carbs. Egg white protein, to me, makes baked goods taste weird. And you tend to need a pretty substantial amount of either to get the desired result, which means your protein is going to be harder to control.
So, my own preference- and my fool-proof secret ingredient when I bake- is to add a wee bit of collagen peptides to my batter. Not only does it provide a little extra structure without a ton of extra protein, it also adds some lightness to the texture, and helps to keep in moisture. That last bit is crucial whenever you’re dealing with almond flour, which isn’t very good at absorbing on its own.
Now, I know collagen peptides can be pricy, especially the plain kind that are clean without other added ingredients. However, they do have a pretty long shelf-life and a little goes a very long way, so if you grab a small tub and are only using a scoop here and there in your keto baking, it will last you quite a long time. Kind of like xanthan gum or konjac powder. Feel free to omit it, if you really must, but don’t be surprised if the muffins are more dense and less moist when they’re done baking.

Savory Cheddar Muffins
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Prep Time: 5 mins
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Cook Time: 15 mins
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Total Time: 20 mins
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Yield: 10
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Category: Bread, Baking
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Cuisine: American
Description
Make these extra special- and extra pretty- by brushing the tops with melted butter mixed with a little garlic salt and dried parsley flakes. This is one of the few recipes on the site without a lot of weight measurements. It works best in volume ratios, so I used cups almost exclusively.
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup almond flour, fine
- 1 scoop (approx. 10 g) collagen peptides
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Wet ingredients:
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 stick (2 oz/ 57 g) salted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (2 fl oz/ 59 ml) heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a muffin tin. I highly recommend using silicone liners for all keto muffins.
- Sift all the dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl.
- Add eggs and heavy cream, and give the mixture a quick stir.
- Pour in melted butter and stir until completely incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Add cheese and stir until combined.
- Fill ten muffin cups with the batter. Fill any unused cups of the tin about 1/4 of the way with water to prevent scorching.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool slightly before eating.
Notes
Per 1 muffin: 204 cal, 7.7 g protein, 17.7 g fat, 4.6 g carbs, 2.2 g fiber, 2.4 g NET carbs
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
Keywords: Muffins, biscuits, cheese, cheesy muffins, cornbread dressing, holiday
Do you have a favorite brand of Collagen Peptide
I tend to use the Vital Proteins plain collagen powder, because it is available in the supplement section of my local Target. But if you can find a cheaper one, feel free to use it instead. Just check the ingredients and make sure there are no additives or flavorings. The only ingredients in a good quality, plain collagen peptide powder is collagen peptides. It might also say bovine collagen peptides or bovine hide collagen peptides. That’s OK. It just means it’s collagen that comes from cows.
I’m allergic to nuts so can’t have almond flour. All the baked goods use it 😥. Can I replace the almond flour with anything else? Like seed meal?
The end product likely won’t be identical, because of the differences between nuts and seeds, but you can cartainly try replacing almond flour with very finely ground sunflower seed flour. Not meal, that’s important, but sunflower seed flour. There is some available on Amazon, and I believe Nuts.com carries it as well.
The thing to be aware of is that the chlorophyll in sunflower seeds reacts with baking soda to produce a greenish tint to most baked goods, so anything you make with baking powder or baking soda that also contains a sunflower seed product will likely turn color. As long as the coloring difference doesn’t bother you, it should be fine.
Mandy, I have a coconut allergy can I add additional almond flour in place of the coconut?
The caveat is that I’ve not personally made these with only almond flour, so if you do it, it’s going to be a little bit of an experiment. You are certainly free to leave the coconut flour out. Coconut flour is super absorbent, though, so you will need more almond flour than what’s listed for the coconut flour here. My general rule of thumb when I’m converting recipes is to use about 1-2 tbsp coconut flour for every 1/4 c any other type of flour, so I would start there in subbing in extra almond flour and continue adding until you get to a good quick bread texture.
Anything I can sub for the collagen?
These are so fluffy and delicious! Can they be stored at room temp.? We usually eat them before needing to store them but am making extra.
★★★★★