Time to make the doughnuts. These homemade healthy Krispy Kreme donuts can be vegan, sugar free, and you can customize the basic recipe to make different flavors!
Sticky, sugary-sweet Krispy Kreme homemade donuts.
So do these homemade donuts (doughnuts or donuts?) taste exactly like real Krispy Kremes?
No, and they’re not supposed to. I always thought Krispy Kremes were too saccharine, with all that glaze covering every inch of the greasy pastries, weighing you down and zapping your energy.
Today’s recipe yields doughnuts that are super light and fluffy, not dense or gummy, which is a problem with many baked doughnut recipes.
These doughnuts will leave you feeling full, yet energized!
Above, frosted with my simple Healthy Glaze Icing.
Good for breakfast, or dessert, or even as a healthy post-workout snack.
Did you know there’s a charity race called the Krispy Kreme Challenge, where participants run 2.5 miles, shove down an entire box of Krispy Kreme donuts, and then run another 2.5 miles back to the starting line?
I can’t even imagine the horrible stomachaches that must ensue.
Who comes up with these things??
Healthy Krispy Kreme Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 2/3 cup milk of choice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil (many readers say applesauce or mashed banana work for fat-free)
- 1 cup spelt or all-purpose flour (A reader had success with gluten-free ap flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup regular sugar or coconut sugar, or xylitol for sugar free
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Combine first four ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk well. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a doughnut pan if you have one. (If you don’t have a doughnut pan, you can cook in a mini muffin tin for doughnut holes.) In a large measuring bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and stir very well. Now pour wet into dry and immediately pour into the pan. Bake 15 minutes, then allow to cool before removing. Top these healthy doughnuts with jam, or chocolate frosting, or glaze. (My simple glaze recipe is linked under the second photo in this post.)View Nutrition Facts
Link Of The Day:
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Someone recently pointed out that my blog—while filled with chocolate, peanut butter, and coconut—is very much lacking in international flair. Tarts, flans, sticky rice, churros… all of these things (and more) are missing from the recipe archives, and I’d like to remedy this. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated: What are some good desserts to try from around the world?
Would you mind adjusting things for a chocolate donut recipe too?? 🙂 we love these!!
Good news! I saw Katie said in the past that there’s a chocolate version going in her upcoming cookbook out in December.
I can’t wait to make these for my daughter who is turning two tomorrow and LOVES doughnuts. Could you please tell me how many doughnuts this recipe makes? I just bought a regular sized doughnut pan and am now wondering if I should have bought two….
Thanks!
6.
I used Mama’s Almond Blend AP Gluten Free Mix + 1/8 tsp zanthan gum, coconut palm sugar and rice milk and they are AMAZING!!! I also made them in my little doughnut maker (shaped baking on a little waffle-iron type thing). Suuuuuch a great GF option. My family is inhaling them for the second time.
I am so going to make these! As for international desserts I think that churros would be great. I used to love them, but I haven’t had one in a long time!
Quick question: is whole wheat pastry okay for this recipe? I’m trying to gear away from refined sugars and white flours!
You will have to experiment! But the flour Katie calls for–spelt flour–is a whole grain flour.
I made these gluten free by using 1/4 cup coconut flour, 1/4 cup brown rice flour, 1/8 cup almond meal, 1/4 c + 1/8 cup white rice flour and 1/4 tsp xanthan gum. (Those are just the GF flours I had on hand.) I also added about 2 T more milk because coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture when it’s baked. Super good and moist!
PLEASE MAKE CHURROS
I went out and bought Wilton’s doughnut pan just so I could make these.
I’d never made doughnuts before but I thought these would be good for breakfasts. I didn’t know what to expect since there’s no butter or eggs in them.
But I baked em up, glazed them and took one bite and said “OMG…THAT’s GOOD!” This is the best doughnut I’ve ever had AND it’s less than 200 calories even with the glaze.
I used brown sugar, 1% dairy milk, canola oil, white all-purpose flour, and white vinegar. I baked em for 12 minutes and they were soft, fluffy, moist and delicious.
I will DEFINITELY be making these again.
Katie,
i think the one thing you are missing, when comparing to “Krispy Kreme” is that there are two distinct doughnut varieties – Yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts. The Krispy Kreme brand sells yeast doughnuts whilst your recipe is for a cake style doughnut.
You may want to reevaluate the naming of this recipe… perhaps copycat Entenmann’s, Sara Lee, Drakes, Etc…
Your “doughnuts” look delish! To make the flavor more old-school-authentic, I’d recommend adding about 1/4 teaspoon of mace (the spice, not the spray!). It’s a traditional doughnut ingredient. And I think I’ll try milk kefir as a replacement for the milk plus vinegar.
Glad to have found your website so we can have goodies without guilt!
Hi Katie!
A suggestion to your call for international recipes:
Coconut Sticky Rice. I think every Thai restaurant has a version of this, I have had it several places; but the place in my town has the best I’ve ever had! Somehow, it is tinted a pale beautiful, celadon green; I have asked, I don’t know how they do it. All I have been able to glean is that it is coconut milk with the sweet sticky rice. Then there is the sliced mango,
and it is topped with black sesame seeds. They may use green jasmine tea in cooking the
rice, I’m not sure. It seems so simple, but it is just unbelievably flavorful and light. Like all
Thai cooking, there is obviously a subtle balance of flavors. It is really really really good!
Thanks again for a delicious, easy recipe! My daughter was recently diagnosed with Celiac. I just made these with GF flour and she LOVED them!
I made these this morning for my family. I can’t find spelt flour at my store so I used half whole wheat and half all purpose flour. I made them in my mini muffin pan- so cute. Had to double for my family of five. Really enjoyed them. I’m slowly making my way through ur healthy recipes as my family is on a mission to eat better. Made these with a smoothie this morning for a very enjoyable breakfast. Thanks for the recipe!
By the way I have made your chocolate chip cookie dough dip three times this week. It keeps disappearing. 🙂
Just tried these in a sunbeam donut maker for the first time. Got the machine from a thrift store for $5 and it works great.
My version of the recipe is nearly identical, I just used whole wheat flour instead of ap flour. The donut maker is muuuch faster than 15 minutes (We had two sets completely cooked by the 15 minute timer we set, the machine lights up green about the time they’re done.. we left them in an extra approx. 30 seconds after it would turn green) and while some recipes might puff up too much, filling all the way to the top of the bottom half of the donut maker creates a full, fluffy donut. Sprinkled with cinnamon/vanilla sugar/powdered sugar mixture. Everyone loved them, and cool stuff like this is helping me stick to my resolution of cooking from scratch for my meals. Thanks for the recipe, it worked beautifully and the kids couldn’t tell they were healthier versions of those chaulky donettes they eat in the bags from the store.
I just made these!!!! I even halved the recipe and used coconut palm sugar. They are even better than most of the full fat non healthy baked doughnuts I have made in the past!!!! I love these!!! I also just dusted the tops with sugar (like sugar coated cake donuts)!!! Sooooo good!
Hi Katie, was just wondering what to use if you wanted to make these as chocolate doughnuts – cocoa powder? If so, how much and would I have to sub some flour or something out so they weren’t too dry? Thanks! 🙂
Hi there! There is actually a chocolate donut recipe in her cookbook:
https://lett-trim.today/faq-page/chocolate-covered-katie-cookbook/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E