Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Donuts

These vegan gluten free donuts are made in one bowl, so easy to make and topped with a simple chocolate frosting. These chocolate vegan donuts are sweetened with just pure maple syrup for a healthy treat!

I am fully obsessed with these vegan gluten free donuts. Perfectly sweet, but only sweetened with maple syrup and ready to eat in about 30 minutes!

These vegan chocolate donuts have a cake like texture and are finished off with a simple, two ingredient chocolate glaze.

While a lot of donut shops will have vegan donuts and gluten free donuts, it’s rare to find both vegan gluten free donuts in a bakery.

These are baked, not fried, have no added oil, refined sugar or any strange ingredients! You most likely have all ingredients on hand already.

And since none of Dunkin’ Donuts are vegan, a homemade option is the best route! If you love this recipe, try my cinnamon sugar donuts or vegan brownies next!

Key ingredients

Flour. For this recipe, we’ll be using a mix of blanched almond flour, oat flour and tapioca starch. I love using this three part mix for my recipes that are both vegan and gluten free.

The almond flour is key because we aren’t using any oil, so it adds some fat for a moist texture. The oat flour adds some structure, and the tapioca works as a binder since there are no eggs!

Maple Syrup. All you need to sweeten these chocolate donuts is maple syrup! I do not recommend subbing for a granulated sugar such as coconut sugar because that will change the final texture.

Apple sauce. In addition to the tapioca, the apple sauce will work to bind all ingredients together. It acts as an egg replacer here.

Cocoa powder. Key for a chocolate flavor! Any cocoa powder works here, but I do not recommend the Trader Joe’s cocoa powder as I find the flavor is very bland.

Milk. I like using soy milk in vegan/gluten free baked goods because the added protein adds a bit of rise and a fluffy texture. Any kind of non-dairy milk will work!

Leavening agents. We need a mix of baking powder and baking soda to help these donuts rise.

How to make vegan donuts

Prep pans. Grease 2, six cavity donut pans and set aside. This recipe makes 8 donuts, so you only need to grease 2 on the second pan.

Whisk wet. In a mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients.

Whisk dry. Add in the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Bake. Transfer to your prepared donut pans, filling each almost to the top. Bake for 14-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool. Let cool in the pan, then flip onto a wire rack. They should fall right out, but tap the bottom of the pan if anything gets stuck.

Make frosting. To make the frosting, add the chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of milk to a bowl and melt in 20 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted.

Frost and decorate. When the donuts have cooled, dip each in the icing, add sprinkles on top and place on a wire rack.

Substitutions

Apple sauce. If you don’t have applesauce, you can use pureed banana. I don’t recommend mashed banana because you want it completely smooth!

Keep in mind this will change the flavor, but chocolate banana donuts sounds delicious!

Flour. You can try subbing the almond flour for extra oat flour (1:1 ratio) but the donuts may be a bit more dry.

The oat flour cannot be subbed with another kind of flour, but you can try subbing the tapioca for arrowroot.

Other frosting. I opted to do a simple chocolate glaze, but you can also coat these in powdered sugar instead.

You can also make these into chocolate glazed donuts! Simply whisk 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar with 1/4 cup of milk and 1 teaspoons of vanilla. Dip each donut in the glaze once cool!

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to use a donut pan?

If you want to make donuts, yes! These vegan gluten free donuts should definitely be made in a donut pan for that traditional look.

However, if you don’t have one, you can bake these in a muffin pan instead. The bake time will be about the same, maybe a few minutes longer.

How should I store donuts?

Believe it or not, these vegan gluten free donuts will bake up very moist and stay very moist, especially with the icing/frosting.

I recommend store them just on a plate with foil to prevent them from getting soggy. You can keep them in the fridge or at room temperature for 3-5 days.

I do not recommend freezing these as the texture will not hold up well when they defrost.

What egg-replacer is best for vegan baking?

It totally depends on the recipe! For these donuts, we’ll need apple sauce and tapioca starch.

Both of these will work to bind all ingredients together, add moisture and prevent them from falling apart.

More chocolate recipes!

• Chocolate Cupcakes
• Vegan Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Banana Muffins
• Chocolate Milkshake

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