Healthy Vegan Apple Cider Donuts

Is there anything that screams Fall more than apple cider donuts?! If you’ve never tried making homemade baked donuts before, these apple cider donuts are a must-make for this Fall season!

Not only are these apple cider donuts incredibly soft and fluffy, but it contains no dairy or eggs, is baked instead of fried, and is adorned with crunchy and sweet cinnamon sugar topping that is absolutely mouth-watering. Fall isn’t complete without apple picking and a batch of these vegan donuts!

MAIN INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE VEGAN APPLE CIDER DONUTS

• Apple Cider – Apple cider, whether store-bought or homemade, is going to create the delicious apple flavor we’re looking for in this recipe.

• Rolled Oats – I love baking up my gluten-free treats with oats! Not only is it inexpensive, but they’re super easy to acquire. 

• Flax Eggs – A flax egg is a vegan egg substitute and helps bind all the ingredients together!

• Baking Soda & Powder – Baking soda and powder give the batter that quick inflation in the oven that creates the cake-like fluffy donuts we’re looking for.

• Cinnamon – This ingredient will be used for making not only the donut, but of course, the cinnamon sugar!

• Nutmeg – Known for its spicy, nutty flavor, nutmeg perfectly complements the sweet & warm cinnamon in this recipe.

• Vegan Butter – I typically use the Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks in my vegan/dairy-free baked goods. Though any vegan butter will work here, just be sure to melt it completely before adding it to this recipe. 

• Coconut Sugar – I use coconut sugar when making the cinnamon sugar, but you can opt for organic cane sugar if you prefer.

ADJUST THIS APPLE CIDER DONUTS RECIPE TO YOUR DIET

• Add Dairy: Although I use dairy-free butter, you could substitute it for melted coconut oil or regular butter if you’d like! You can also use regular eggs instead of flax.

• Add Gluten: You can try using 1 cup of all purpose flour instead of oat flour.

TIPS FOR MAKING BAKED VEGAN APPLE CIDER DONUTS

• Bring the wet ingredients to room temperature before you combine them with the flour and other dry ingredients.

• Don’t be alarmed if you see bubbles starting to form after mixing the wet and dry ingredients. It’s just the baking soda and powder reacting the way they’re supposed to. 

Baked Vegan Apple Cider Donuts (Gluten-Free)

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by Samantha Course: DessertsDifficulty: Medium

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

30

minutes

Is there anything that screams Fall more than apple cider donuts?! If you’ve never tried making homemade baked donuts before, these apple cider donuts are a must-make for this Fall season!

Ingredients

• For the donuts:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 flax eggs, see Notes

• 1 cup apple cider

• 1/2 cup creamy almond or peanut butter

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, optional but makes for fluffier donuts

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• For the cinnamon sugar:

• 1 cup coconut sugar

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 6 tablespoons dairy-free butter, melted

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit and grease a donut pan.
• Add the rolled oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a blender. Blend until oats are ground into a flour.
• Add in the flax eggs, apple cider, almond butter, coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Blend until a smooth batter forms.
• Carefully fill your donut molds with the batter, I used a cookie scoop to keep things neat.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes and pop out of the molds onto a cooling racks, allow to cool completely before proceeding to the next step.
• Combine the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl – set up an assembly line with the donuts, bowl of melted butter, bowl of cinnamon sugar, and a cooling rack.
• Gently dip each donut in the butter before transferring and coating in the cinnamon sugar, place on a cooling rack while you finish up the rest. Once all are coated, store in a sealed container on either the counter for two days or the fridge for up to one week .

Recipe Video

Notes

• Flax Eggs: To make one flax egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax meal with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit on the counter for five minutes to thicken.
• Storage: store in a closed container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for 1 month.

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OTHER VEGAN AND GLUTEN-FREE DESSERTS

• Apple Crisp Without Oats
• Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Peanut Brittle
• Blueberry Muffins
• Caramel Apple Cake