These baked protein donuts are a healthy way to satisfy your sweet tooth. They’re gluten free, refined sugar free, dairy free and pack 10 grams of protein per serving. Bake them with chocolate chips or make them funfetti with sprinkles!
You guys have been loving the high protein desserts lately! My protein cookie dough and protein mug cake are among my personal favorites, but felt it was time to switch things up with these protein donuts.
They’re made with simple ingredients like oat flour, protein powder and maple syrup. With about 10 grams of protein per serving, this is a simple dessert you can feel good about eating!
I opted for a chocolate chip version, but you can also try funfetti, blueberry or even lemon blueberry. This is a totally customizable recipe!
These donuts are naturally gluten free, dairy free optional and completely refined sugar free. If you love this recipe, try my baked banana bread donuts next!
Ingredients needed to make donuts
Oat flour. These donuts are made up with a base of oat flour, which has a bit more protein than other types of flour.
Plus, it creates a really nice and fluffy texture that’s perfect for baked donuts.
Protein Powder. I used a vanilla pea protein, but you can use whey if you prefer.
Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt helps add moisture to the donuts as well as some extra protein! I used regular plain greek yogurt, but you can use dairy free.
Egg. One egg helps bind all ingredients together.
Coconut oil/butter. I used butter for a richer flavor, but refined coconut oil is great too! I do not recommend virgin since it has a stronger coconut flavor.
Maple Syrup. These protein donuts are sweetened with just pure maple syrup!
How to make protein donuts
Prep. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 6 cavity donut pan and set aside.
Whisk wet ingredients. Whisk together all wet ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Combine dry ingredients. Whisk in the dry ingredients, the batter will be fairly thick. Be sure to spoon and level the flour, don’t scoop right from the bag.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop into your prepared pan.
Bake. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the tops are just golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Once cool, combine the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small bowl.
Glaze. Microwave in 20 second intervals stirring between each, until fully melted.
Once the donuts have cooled, dip in the chocolate and let set for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Flavor variations
Chocolate. While it won’t create a super rich chocolate flavor, you can use chocolate protein powder in place of vanilla. Still use the chocolate chips and glaze to richen things up!
Funfetti. In place of chocolate chips, you can use about 3 tablespoons of sprinkles, then use a vanilla glaze on top!
Blueberry. Instead of chocolate chips, use 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries. Also delicious with a teaspoon of lemon extract throw in the batter!
How to store
Once prepared, these protein donuts will keep for about 3 days. I suggest storing them on a plate with foil or in a sealed container.
The chocolate will harden as they sit and the donuts will naturally dry out overtime.
However, the egg, yogurt and maple syrup will keep them moist for a few days! I like to microwave for 5-10 seconds to get that fresh from the oven feel.
Can I make them vegan?
While I have not tested these without the egg, since there is only one, I imagine an egg substitute would work well.
I would suggest either apple sauce (4 tablespoons), a flax egg (1 tablespoon of ground flax plus 3 tablespoons of water), or a store bought egg replacer.
The texture may be different, but the flavor will still be delicious!
Do I need to use a donut pan?
If you want these to be donuts, you do need to use a donut pan! However, if you don’t have one, you can make these in a muffin tin instead.
Follow all of the same instructions as usual, but fill a greased muffin tin halfway with the batter, then bake for about 10 minutes, You should end up with about 8-12 little muffin donuts!
High protein recipes you’ll love!
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Chocolate Chip Protein Donuts
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- 1 egg
- 5 tablespoons greek yogurt dairy free or regular
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut oil or butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry
- ¾ cup oat flour
- ¼ cup vanilla protein powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon tapioca starch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chocolate chips
Glaze
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grease a 6 cavity donut pan and set aside.
- Whisk together all wet ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the dry ingredients, the batter will be fairly thick. Be sure to spoon and level the flour, don't scoop right from the bag.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop into your prepared pan. You'll need about 1/4 cup of batter per donut.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes or until the tops are just golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once cool, combine the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small bowl.
- Microwave in 20 second intervals stirring between each, until fully melted.
- Once the donuts have cooled, dip in the chocolate and let set for about 10 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Nancy says
These are ridiculously good. It’s so hard to find a gf dessert or sweet that actually taste how it should. Had to make another batch. Made mini muffins. My 3 boys demolished them! I was like noooo, something good Mommy can eat. (luckily, they don’t have celiac disease)Thank you for the yummy recipe 😋!
Claire Cary says
Yum! Love the idea of making these as mini muffin. So happy ya’ll enjoyed them!
Jazz says
OMG I ACTUALLY NEVER WRITE REVIEWS BUT THIS RECIPE IS SO DELICIOUS. I woke up this morning and opened Instagram and saw the post for this recipe. I thought, why not? They’re healthy AND have protein (I’m a big gym person)? So made them right before heading out and just let them cool down on the counter. When I came home, I stayed in the car and My mother went inside and called me, telling me how delicious they were (she is a big sweets person so of course she would just eat them). So I asked her to bring me one and OMG THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE A PROTEIN AFTER TASTE, THEY JUST TASTE LIKE A CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFIN! I did use cupcake tins instead of donut molds because I didn’t have any, and still filled each tin with 1/4 of the batter like the recipe says. I don’t know why it won’t let me rate a 5, but these are a 10/5 for sure. SO DELICIOUS!
Claire Cary says
Thanks so much Jazz! So happy you loved these!