These easy vegan baked donuts are so delicious! The simple lemon glaze adds the perfect tangy combo to these sweet and fluffy donuts. And rainbow sprinkles makes them look so festive. Plus they're ready in just about 30 minutes, from start to finish!
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 plant based treats!
I personally love eating one (or three) of these sweet vegan baked donut with a cup of coffee or a mug of homemade chai or a matcha almond milk latte. And if you love making donuts at home, be sure to also try baked mochi donuts!
These vegan baked donuts only take about 12 to 14 minutes to bake in the oven. That's probably faster than going to the store to buy them! Plus there's no yeast, eggs, dairy or obscure ingredients in this recipe.
And while donuts have creeped their way into the breakfast category, these healthy morsels are great any time of the day or night!
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Non dairy yogurt
- Non dairy milk
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon juice and lemon zest
- Rainbow sprinkles
Watch How to Make this Recipe
Read How to Make this Recipe
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until it's all combined.
5. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes at 350°F. Let them cool completely.
7. Whisk in the lemon juice and lemon zest.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the non-dairy yogurt, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the batter into a greased donut pan, until each donut hole is about ¾ full.
6. Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl.
8. Dip the donuts in the glaze, then in the sprinkles.
Carissa's Kitchen Tip
Substitutions and Variations
- Cinnamon Sugar: For an alternative to the glaze and sprinkles, create a cinnamon sugar coating by dipping the baked donuts into melted vegan butter or coconut oil, then in cinnamon sugar.
- Chocolate: If you aren't a fan of lemon glaze, make a chocolate glaze for your donuts instead with vegan melted chocolate.
- Milk: You can use any type of dairy free milk - I usually use homemade oat milk or homemade almond milk but soy milk and cashew milk also work great.
- Yogurt: For the dairy free yogurt, I usually use one that's plain or vanilla flavor, or Greek non-dairy yogurt for a little tangy flavor.
- Gluten Free: If you plan to make these donuts gluten-free, use a gluten free flour blend in place of the all purpose flour like Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking 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 tin 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!
- 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 with cooking spray or vegan butter and baking the donuts until all the donut batter is used up.
Storing and Freezing
Storing: These donuts taste best fresh, and will probably be eaten right away! But if you happen to have leftover vegan baked donuts, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Pro Tip: Note that 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 just before you're ready to serve them.
Freezing: Store unglazed donuts in a single layer in an airtight container or freezer bag. Allow them to defrost at room temperature, then add the glaze and sprinkles.
More Vegan Dessert Recipes
If you enjoyed this baked vegan donuts recipe, try these other delicious vegan dessert recipes!
Easy Vegan Baked Donuts
Ingredients
Vegan Baked Donuts
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup non-dairy yogurt
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Glaze and Sprinkles
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 cup rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
Make the 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. Set aside.
- 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 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. Continue greasing your donut pan and baking the donuts until all the donut batter is used up.
Decorate the Donuts
- While the donuts are cooling, prepare the glaze. Sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice, and the zest of half a lemon.
- Pour the rainbow sprinkles in a wide, shallow bowl.
- Dunk the top of one donut into the bowl of icing, then press the top of the donut into the rainbow sprinkles. Return the decorated donut back to the wire rack to allow any excess glaze to drip off. Continue decorating the remaining donuts.
Video
Notes
- 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.
- 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.
- Store leftover donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freeze unglazed donuts in a single layer in an airtight container or freezer bag. Allow them to defrost at room temperature, then add the glaze and sprinkles.
Lilah
I am not vegan but I have a friend who is, so I made her a batch of these for a girls weekend trip and she said these were fantastic!
Maria
What fun and festive donuts!! My kids loved them for a morning treat and even enjoyed helping me make them. I love that the glaze had lemon for a pop of flavor!!
Carissa Erzen
Yay!! I love to hear you made these with your kids <3
Frances
My grandkids were asking for baked donuts and I didn't know what they were. Found your recipe & baked them, and boy oh boy, did they love them! Especially with the sprinkles of course 🙂
Carissa Erzen
I'm so glad you all enjoyed them!!
Betty
I just made this last week, and they turned out great! I love how light they are, because I've made some other baked donuts that are too dense and wet. Thanks for the great recipe!
Carissa Erzen
Fantastic! I'm so glad to hear that!
Violet's Vegan Comics
These look incredible!!! I love the different ways you've decorated them, they look beautiful! And delicious too.
strawberryandcream
Thank you, Violet!! I figured sometimes you want more chocolate and could go for the chocolate covered one. But when you're wanting to taste more of the donut itself, the quarter-covered donut would be the one to reach for ☺ï¸
Deeksha Pathak
Such a beautiful and delicious treat for Valentine day!!
strawberryandcream
Thank you!! 🎉💕
Rebekkah Lenora
Cute! I have a blush-themed Pinterest board, and I'll definitely have to link the photo of the pre-cooked donut batter.
strawberryandcream
Ooh that's so cute!! I've been thinking about making like color-themed boards on Pinterest Bc they are so cute!
Markus + Micah
Wow, so magical. Just looking at these made me smile. What more eating them? Also, I adore your hair!
strawberryandcream
Awww thank you thank you!! ðŸ˜â¤ï¸ have you ever dyed with beets before? 😃
Azilde Elizabeth
So cute! I love donuts but its definitely a treat! These look amazing 🤩
strawberryandcream
Hehe thank you! I hope you get to try them!! 💕
Azilde Elizabeth
Thanks I hope to make it!
infinitelyadaydreamer
Oh my goodness, these looks scrumptious! Love a healthy twist too. Guilt free indulgence! 🥰
strawberryandcream
😀😀 THANK YOU! I'm trying to figure out more ways to eat yummy sweets but without the guilt 😚😉â¤ï¸
Rachel Duerden
They look delicious 😋
strawberryandcream
Thank you!! ðŸ˜ðŸ˜‹
Yum-number1
Somebody said healthy donuts?? This will be gone in 2 hours when I make this! Nom nom nommmmm thank you for the post!
strawberryandcream
HAHAHA 😠Is that a challenge for a donut-eating race?? ðŸ˜