I’m excited to share this recipe today, because it’s completely my own—and that wasn’t originally going to be the case. You see, I’d planned to make doughnuts following a recipe I’d cut out of Vegetarian Times a few months ago. However, when I tried their recipe, the results were, ummm, less than stellar. (Understatement!) Sorry VT, but your recipe was a complete failure!
If you’re curious, here’s a photo of my ugly doughnuts.
After that, not willing to give my trust to anyone else, I jotted down my own recipe, keeping in mind the reasons I suspected VT‘s didn’t work (too much fat and too much liquid being my main guesses). I’m happy to say my recipe came out perfectly!
So soft and cake-like… yet they are much healthier than traditional doughnuts!
Cake-Batter Doughnuts
Loosely based off a recipe from Vegetarian Times
- 1 level cup flour (see note below, for what type)
- 2/3 cup milk of choice
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp evaporated cane juice or sugar (or Sucanat)
- 1/2 tsp apple-cider vinegar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp ener-g egg replacer OR 1 tbsp flaxmeal
- 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp pre-melted butter-type spread (such as Earth Balance)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Optional: sprinkles! Or cinnamon, raisins, peanuts, chocolate chips… be creative!
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flax or ener-g with all wet ingredients except vinegar. In a separate bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients. Then add the vinegar to the wet, and immediately pour wet onto dry. Mix (but don’t overmix), pour into doughnut pans, and cook for 12 minutes.
Flour Notes: I used white-whole-wheat. You can use all-purpose or Bob’s gluten-free or spelt flour. Whole wheat pastry can be used, but the doughnuts will be a tad more dense.
View Cake Batter Donuts Nutrition Facts
If you don’t have a doughnut pan, the above link also lists ideas for how you can still make these! And it includes some un-edited photos. I thought I’d include them so you can see what the doughnuts look like in a non-photoshoot format.
Tomorrow: Frosting Recipes!
If you can’t wait til then, try my Vanilla-Fudge Frosting.
Or sprinkle on cinnamon-sugar or powdered sugar while the doughnuts are still warm.
I love your site! My mother-in-law has so far given a thumbs down to EVERY SINGLE gluten free item I have had her try, so I am bound and determined to find something she’ll like!!!! I want to try this recipe next, but I don’t have egg replacer. How much egg should I use instead?
Sorry, I don’t know. The last time I cooked with a real egg was about 10 years ago!
katie! i just found your website this week, and i’m thrilled with some of your recipes! my daughter has several severe and life-threatening food allergies, so we’ve completely changed the way we eat since we discovered her allergies almost eight years ago. once the kind of gal who loved pop tarts and pre-packaged powdered donuts, i now read every label, scrutinize what i’m feeding my kids, and prepare 90% of our foods from scratch (i admit, i take the easy road at times, since i’ve found potato chips that are relatively safe for her).
she’s allergic to (and so i avoid in all of my cooking/baking): wheat, soy, corn, eggs, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, food dyes, lemon, kiwi……but she eats way healthier than most kids her age, so we’ve told her how blessed she is because of her health! 🙂
anyway, i say all of this because i wanted to let you know that i modified this recipe this morning so it would be safe for her. we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast! i don’t use pre-made gluten-free flour blends…i make my own, following recipes i’ve found. here’s what i did:
1 level cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend (Cybele Pascal’s recipe, available here: http://www.cybelepascal.com/ingredient-smarts/)
½ tsp guar gum (necessary for most gluten-free baking)
1/3 cup + 1 T sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup warm rice milk (i reduced this because of the liquid in the “flax egg”)
1 T ground flax meal + 3 T water (let sit for a few minutes)
3 T pre-melted coconut spread
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp apple-cider vinegar
i used a mini muffin pan, dipped them in your Coconut Banana Butter, and sprinkled on naturally-dyed sugar sprinkles. my kids loved them (and so did i)! thanks for the quick, easy breakfast treat!
🙂 kim
Thank you so much for sharing, Kim! Your recipe sounds really good… especially the part with the coconut spread ;).
Made these with spelt flour – came out fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
Will your recipes work with real eggs instead of egg replacer? (I haven’t been able to find egg replacer yet in my local stores)
Sorry, I haven’t worked with a real egg in over ten years so I don’t know lol.
Lol. Well that a very good reason not to know!
Katie thèse are YUMMY!!
I need to make more.
I made them in à mini muffin pan and i used chia seed instead of egg replacer .
I got creative and made chocolate chocolate coconut doughnut holes.
I thought you would like that.
I plan to put these in a bake sale and not tell that they are vegan.
I’ll tell you how that goes.
whats ener-g egg
flax egg works great in this recipe!! no one tastes it or knows it’s in there 😀
Just made these with Spelt flour, egg white and chocolate chips. They were delicious!! My husband even loved them with your homemade nutella spread on the top. This is definitely a winner!!!
I just made these… They are actually in the oven now. I had a little of the batter left over after I filled my mini muffin pan and I thought the batter looked like a nice pancake batter. So I made a pancake with it and it was seriously the best pancake I’ve had since becoming a vegan. It was the closest I’ve come to having a pancake that tastes, feels and looks like a pancake that was made with eggs or milk. I think the next time I whip up this batter it will be for pancakes! So yummy!!
These look amazing… I would have to try a different flour mixture, might try Bob’s to see how that turns out as well as replace the, I sometime use flax or a banana. These look absolutely delicious though and much prettier than your fail. I agree with the above comment, this would probably turn out great as a pancake recipe!!
I want to make vegan coconut donuts! so many amazing looking recipes on pinterest but none vegan 🙁 any ideas on modifying this?
I can put it on my ever-growing list of recipes to try and make :).
Oh man these are amazing!!! I wanted to tell you that I used Better Batter Gluten Free flour that already has the Xanthan added and they are unbelievable!!! I used a muffin tin because i have no doughnut pan and they are sooooo moist inside. I am going to have to make 2 dozen of these bad boys. OMG you are the BEST! Thanks again for another awesome recipe Katie!!
I just made these with flax seed as the egg replacer. They are light and fluffy and very good. I’m not vegan or vegetarian but I like healthy foods, especially for my two young children. I made a practice batch for us before I make them for my vegan friend wo just had surgery. So far I ave really liked te recipes I have tried of yours. Thanks. 🙂
So I can’t stop thinking about these doughnuts! I made one batch which disappeared so quickly! I already want to make another and I don’t think I can wait to make them for breakfast tomorrow! Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.
these look so good katie! can i sub the flax seed with an egg? or egg whites? im not vegan so it would be fine and i dont have any flax seed