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 THESE!!!! I subbed my own GF Mix and added half tsp of xantham gum. Then I made mini cupcakes and they turned out wonderful! Thank you thank you thank you!!
Best part I can feed these to my kids who have dairy, gluten, nut, soy, and other intolerances and they miss out on so many goodies, its nice to have something easy to whip up for them!
And the 3 year old LOVES em :)!!
I made these with whole wheat pastry flour and added some Z sweet to boost the sweetness and my kids LOVE them (as do I, and several people at a party I brought them to). Made them as regular and mini muffins. Will DEFINITELY be making these again and again!!!!
Oooh just read the pancake idea….oh boy! We’re in for it now!!!
Oh my stars! So good. I just made them with 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 brown rice flour, and fructose. Delicious, light and fluffy!
I made these at the Vegan Hacker SF event on Wednesday. They were a big hit! Better than other baked donuts I’ve tried. I can’t wait to make them again just for me. The taste was great and the shape was perfect. Donut pans are definitely worth it. I got mine at Sur La Table.
Hi, I just made a batch of your yummy doughnuts. It was hard to keep everyone off of them. I alter the receipe for my son who is sugar free, milk free, gluten free. We used 5 packs of stevia. I didn’t have the flaxmeal so I needed to omit it. My two older children liked the sugar free better and my husband loved the texture. THANK YOU!
Made these as mini muffins and was floored! Made them GF but used an egg instead of the egg-replacer suggestions. These were fantastic, like everyone says. I mixed rainbow sprinkles in with the batter, and sprinkled extra sprinkles on top. Just delicious! It was really hard to keep from devouring the entire batch.
These turned out delicious! I didn’t have a doughnut pan so I scooped them on the pan with an ice cream scoop. I added some maple syrup extract and pumpkin pie spice. Then I made a chocolate sauce to drizzle on top…sugar-free of course! You are such a little devil 😉 Definitely bookmarked this site 🙂
I am addicted to your website. I made your black bean brownies over the holiday break and my son, who will not eat anything but “beige” in color (nuggets, mac and cheese, hot dogs, fries, etc.) , absolutely loved it! He will then go on a hunger strike if I make anything remotely healthy. I love how simple and healthy all of your recipes are and how they provide substitutes. Thank you very much!!
Could you use real eggs in these? I’m not vegan and don’t have those other egg-like products on hand.
Hi Katie, maybe this was already asked and I missed it but, can I use almond flour instead? They look soo delicious…thank you!!
Do not sub almond flour. It is not the same as regular flour, and without a binder you will end up with a crumbly mess.
ok, thanks! I just want a lower carb option and I am gluten free…
Someone said they used half almond flour + half brown rice flour, and it turned out okay. So maybe you could try that? I might try that too, because I’m gluten free, also!
oh my goodness. I made these into cupcakes today using all white whole wheat flour and one whole egg instead of the egg replacement, and they came out AMAZING, moist and fluffy just like regular cupcakes. Thank you so much for this! <3 I was so nervous they wouldn't come out right cause so many people say white whole wheat flour never makes good cupcakes, but I sifted the dry mixture to get some air in, they turned out perfect! You're the best!
Just looking at various recipes today, and note that it appears in this one (doughnuts) that one Tbs. flax, equals or can be substituted for one egg. Is this a general rule of thumb? I have other recipes calling for various numbers of eggs….so I just want to check and see if I can use flax meal – for the substitute versus the other boxed egg “replacers” on the shelf……with the ratio of 1Tbs flax = 1 egg ? 6/13/13
It IS a general rule of thumb… they say 1 tbsp plus 3 tbsp water. I often go with 4 tbsp extra liquid, though. It just depends on the recipe!
Made these today and they turned out yummy! 😛 I used a mini donut pan, cake pop pan, and a mini muffin tin and they all turned out great. My favorite topping to put on them is cinnamon and sugar…mmm! Thanks for sharing all your yummy recipes…look forward to trying more of them. Love your blog! 🙂
i do have a doughnut pan, but i decided to put these in my waffle maker this morning. i used a little less sugar, and (after burning the first one horribly) it was deliccious!!
I’ve made these with flax, egg replacer, and chia seeds, and all were wonderful! 😀