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.
thanks for the speedy reply – yeah, i suppose it could have been a number of things – yours looked amazing though! we are up here in Alberta, Canada so the temp. and alt. could be the thing that made the difference forsure. Great recipes by the way – everything looks great and the stuff I’ve tried has been fabulous (a.k.a. the oatmeal 😉 ) Sooo great to have HEALTHY and Allergy friendly recipes to try – it sucks so much not being able to have every food group and these make it more interesting and more fun!
Fruits, vegetables, and lean meats are healthy. Just because these are less fattening than regular doughnuts does not make them “healthy.” Labeling something packed with sugar and flour as healthy is misleading.
If you read my entire recipe, you’ll see that I use ww flour, which has fiber and vitamins. Therefore, I stick by my claim.
Also, compared to what you’d get at DD, Krispy Kreme, etc, they are healthier.
These are gorgeous :B So much prettier than attempt numero uno. Funny what a bit more or less of an ingredient will do.
:)!!
heheh, almost every time i see a recipe on foodgawker and think YUMMMM I want to make that!! – the link i click on inevitably sends me here!! 🙂 love your blog – i seriously need a doughnut pan!
Allison 🙂
Awwww this made me smile so much! 🙂 🙂
Hi Katie!
I made these today as muffins and they didn’t quite turn out right. They ended up REALLY dense and doughy. I cooked them for about 25 minutes in total because I figured they might of just been undercooked, but no luck. Any ideas as to why this happened?
Hi Sarah!
I’ve never actually made this recipe into muffins, only mini muffins. Did you make regular-sized muffins? Maybe they’re too dense that way to puff up?
Oh my gosh! Donuts are my biggest weakness, I’d love to have a healthy version. But I don’t have egg replacer, flax or chia seeds. Anything else I can use instead? Or do you know how much egg it’s replacing?
Thanks!
ooops… just read a post that used baking powder… will have to try that.
I used chia meal for my version, but there are TONS of replacement ideas and tips for replacing eggs in these sites (I only found them a few days ago, so I only I’m still excited about all the possibilities!)
http://www.thesensitivepantry.com/tips-substitutes/2009/4/17/faux-eggs.html
http://www.foodsubs.com/Eggs.html
http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/egg-replacements.aspx
I have the same question about the eggs, but I couldn’t find the post that talks about baking powder…I don’t typically use egg replacers, flax, or chia eggs. Could I sub egg whites or egg beaters with the same results? I just bought a mini donut pan and already tested out one recipe I found which was awesome. I want to keep experimenting to find the best one and yours looks great!
I really have no idea about cooking with eggs. I became a vegan over 8 years ago, so the only things I ever made (without my mom’s help) using eggs were chocolate chip cookies or fried egg sandwiches. But you could always try subbing in one egg annd see how it works for you.
I think I’m going to try this tomorrow. Looks delicious! I’m curious- where do you find vegan sprinkles? Sorry if you’ve mentioned it before, but I haven’t caught it.
I actually found a generic grocery store brand that’s accidentally vegan! No carmine or anything! 🙂
But also, “Let’s do Organic” brand is vegan, and you can find it at the baking aisle in Whole Foods.
Thanks, I’ll have to keep my eye out!
I woke up this morning thinking about donuts, and this recipe was the only thing that got me out of bed an a very lazy Saturday morning! I can’t wait til they’re done baking!
Ooo I hope you like them!
These were seriously SERIOUSLY. Incredible. AND I made them with a gluten free flour blend instead of flour and I also made them with stevia baking blend instead of sugar and they were STILL completely mind blowing! (they weren’t completely sugar and gluten free, though, I couldn’t find gluten free OR sugar free sprinkles and I really wanted them to have sprinkles!!! 😛 obviously though I could leave them out next time). I topped with the chocolate fudge frosting but they didn’t even need frosting at all. I admittedly haven’t visited a Dunkin Donuts in like ten years but these tasted WAY better than I remember donuts tasting.
I also didn’t have a doughnut pan so I used one of those mini bundt cake pans, hahaha. 😛 So they came out looking a bit like cupcakes with holes in the middle but still amazing! I want to get a doughnut pan just to make these again