Easy Vegan Baked Donuts (Healthy!)

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These easy vegan baked donuts are so adorable and easy to make! Since they aren't fried, they are a lot healthier than donuts you'll find in the store. And the simple lemon glaze adds the perfect tangy combo to these sweet and fluffy donuts!

About the Recipe

Since these yummy donuts are baked in the oven instead of fried in oil, they are a lot healthier! Plus homemade vegan donuts made with simple ingredients are much cheaper than store-bought vegan donuts.

The texture is soft and fluffy, like a traditional cake donut. And trust me, even if you aren't vegan, you won't be able to resist reaching for another one of these tasty treats!

These donuts only take about 12 minutes to bake in the oven. That's probably faster than going to the store to get them! Plus there's no yeast, eggs, dairy or obscure ingredients in this recipe.

A sweet vegan baked donut tastes great with a cup of coffee or a mug of homemade chai. And while donuts have creeped their way into the breakfast category, these healthy morsels are great any time of the day (or night!)

How to Make this Recipe

Make the Vegan Baked Donuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a donut pan with a bit of coconut oil or vegetable oil.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, mix together the non-dairy yogurt, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until it's all combined.

Carefully pour the batter into the donut pan, until each donut hole is about ¾ full.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the donuts.

Carefully remove the donuts out of the pan and set them to cool on a wire cooling rack. If you're working with just one donut pan, continue greasing your donut pan and baking the donuts until all the donut batter is used up.

Make the Lemon Glaze

Pour the sprinkles into a wide, shallow bowl and set aside.

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl.

Whisk in the lemon juice and lemon zest.

Dunk the top half of each donut into the bowl of glaze, then dunk it into the bowl of sprinkles. Return the decorated donut back to the wire cooling rack to allow any excess glaze to drip off.

Enjoy!!

Substitutions

• For an alternative to the glaze and sprinkles, create a cinnamon sugar coating by dipping the baked donuts into melted coconut oil then cinnamon sugar.
• If you aren't a fan of lemon glaze, make a chocolate glaze for your donuts instead.
• You can use any type of non-dairy milk - I usually use oat milk.
• For the dairy-free yogurt, use any non-flavored or plain vanilla yogurt. I like using Greek non-dairy yogurt for a little tangy flavor.
• If you plan to make these gluten free, use a gluten free flour blend in place of the all purpose flour.

Tips for the Novice Home Baker

• Only fill the donut pan about ¾ full. Otherwise the donuts will rise and bake over the hole, so you'll end up with hole-less donuts.
• The batter can be tricky to cleanly pour into the small donut pan. Use a piping bag, a Ziplock bag with the corner cut off, or bowl with a small spout to pour your batter into the donut pan without making a mess.
• If you don't have a donut pan, you can bake the batter in a muffin tray and fill each muffin cup about half full. Or squish aluminum foil into cylinders and place it in the center of muffin tin cups then pour the batter around the foil to create donuts in a muffin tin!

More Vegan Dessert Recipes

If you enjoyed this baked vegan donut recipe, try these other vegan dessert recipes on the blog!

• Vegan Cookie Dough Macarons
• Vegan Black Bean Brownies
• No Bake Vegan Pumpkin Pie
• Vegan Apple Crisp
• Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Vegan Frozen Yogurt
• Vegan Knafeh

Storing and Freezing

Storing: If you happen to have uneaten leftover vegan baked donuts, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. They get a little soft and soggy if they're stored after being glazed. And the color from the sprinkles can tend to blead if they sit out for more than a day.
Therefore I recommend to store leftover un-glazed donuts and then add the glaze and sprinkles before you're ready to serve them.

Freezing: To freeze your donuts, store them in a single layer (not stacked) in an airtight container or freezer bag. Allow them to defrost at room temperature, then add the glaze and sprinkles.