These vegan vanilla spelt donuts offer a delicious dose of cheery fun to morning dining! Requiring just 30 minutes of time, these baked donuts come together in a flash. Super soft, fluffy, and spring-y vanilla donuts are dipped in glaze and playfully decorated with rainbow sprinkles.
What's your favorite kind of donut?
As a kid, I loved vanilla long johns—those puffy oblong yeast donuts dressed with a smooth coat of vanilla glaze.
Interestingly, as an adult, I'm much more a fan of cake donuts than the yeast-risen types. Perhaps it's because they're sweeter, and if I'm going to have a donut for breakfast, then you better believe I'm going all in.
After all, aren't donuts just a socially acceptable way to consume cake for breakfast?
Sloane has already developed an affinity for anything dressed in rainbow sprinkles. And so, when it comes to donuts, she gravitates towards vanilla cake donuts with icing and sprinkles.
Most of the time she eats around the donut, opting instead to consume every last colorful sprinkle and slather of icing.
Now that we're living in the suburbs, it's not as easy to find vegan treats in coffee shops, so I figured it was about time I tried my hand at a recipe for homemade donuts.
In the spirit of Sloane, these vegan vanilla donuts are outfitted with a thick coating of glaze and plenty of (naturally colored) sprinkles, too.
Can I brag here for a hot second?
When I gave Sloane her first of these homemade donuts, I fully expected her to take her usual donut-consumption approach and eat around the actual donut, leaving its sprinkle-less crumbs behind in a pile of discarded donut rubble.
To my surprise and delight, she devoured the entire donut, not just the frosting and sprinkles. Probably because these cake donuts are irresistibly fluffy, vanilla-y, and soft.
As a matter of fact, they're so tasty I even surprised myself. And you know I have high standards for my recipes, so do with that information what you will.
If I were you, I'd take it as a loving nudge to make these donuts as soon as possible.
Not only are they delicious, they're also incredibly easy to make, requiring just 30 minutes and a handful of easy to find ingredients.
And hey, if you're not a fan of "healthier" flours like spelt, then go on and use all-purpose here. No shame in the flour-swapping game!
Honestly, the only remotely "fussy" part of this recipe is the donut pan itself. I didn't have one until just a few years ago. If you don't have a donut pan yet, you can get one (or two) on Amazon. I have this set of two six-donut pans (←affiliate link).
To make these donuts, you'll start by whisking together spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then, add a bit of plant-based milk, sugar, grapeseed oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar.
Give the mixture a good stir, ensuring all the flour is incorporated. Then, pipe or spoon the batter evenly into your prepared donut pan/s.
I find it's quicker to use a pastry bag to pipe the mixture into the pan, but there's no need to go out and get one if you don't have one. Simply spooning and smoothing the mixture into the pan works great, too.
Bake the donuts for about 15 minutes, or until golden.
While the donuts cool, prepare the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar and plant-based milk until your desired glaze consistency is reached.
FYI: This is a super simple glaze that can be easily adapted to any glazing preferences you might have.
For instance, if you prefer a thinner glaze, simply add more milk. If you prefer a thicker glaze (like seen in these photos), add less milk (or more powdered sugar if you realize you added too much liquid to begin with).
Once the donuts are cool, dunk them into the glaze one at a time. Then, generously top with sprinkles.
These donuts are best enjoyed within the first day but will keep for up to three days.
You can also freeze them and thaw for future donut enjoyment.
I hope you love these vegan vanilla spelt donuts as much as I do (and as much as Sloane does—girl has literally eaten 7 of the 12 donuts from this photoshoot).
If you make this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #blissfulbasil on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Vanilla Spelt Donuts
Ingredients
Vegan Vanilla Spelt Donuts
- 2 cups spelt flour*
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup plant-based milk
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- ⅓ cup expeller-pressed grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Glaze + Topping
- 2 cups powdered sugar, more if needed to thicken
- 4 tablespoons plant-based milk, more or less as needed
- Vegan sprinkles
Instructions
For the Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease two small (or one large) donut trays.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk, sugar, oil, vanilla, and vinegar and stir until incorporated. Do not over-mix.
- Spoon or pipe the batter evenly into the prepared donut trays, gently smoothing as you go.
- Bake for 13 to 17 minutes, or until golden, a toothpick inserted into one of the donuts comes out clean, and the sides of the donuts begin to pull away from the pan. (My oven bakes these in 15 minutes flat.)
- Let cool for 5 minutes in pans. Meanwhile, place a sheet of parchment paper under a wire cooling rack. Carefully remove the donuts from the pans and transfer to the cooling rack.
- Cool completely.
- When the donuts are nearly cool, prepare the glaze.
- In a medium shallow mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached. Important: Start by adding 2 tablespoons of the milk and work your way up from there one tablespoon at a time until a very thick but pourable glaze consistency is reached. The total amount of milk needed will depend on a variety of factors including the specific type of plant-based milk you use as well as the humidity level in the air.
- One at a time, dip the top of each donut into the glaze. Note: If you find that your glaze is too thin, whisk in more powdered sugar until desired thickness is reached. If you find that it's too thick, whisk in more milk until the desired thinness is reached.
- Transfer to the cooling rack and generously top with sprinkles. Repeat.
- Allow the glaze to set completely before moving.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
Sarah | Well and Full says
I must admit, I also have an affinity for anything covered in rainbow sprinkles ;) These donuts look fabulous!
Ashley says
Me too, Sarah!! Total love of mine and takes me back to being a kid. :)
Celeste Jackson says
I'm not a big donut fan partially because they feel heavy in my tummy for most of the day. But I had to try these because they look delicious and I wanted to know if these would be different than traditional donuts. To my surprise, they are much lighter. You just made me a donut lover! Thanks for another great recipe.
Ashley says
So glad you're enjoying the recipe, mom! Love you. :)
Laurie says
Just wondering.... Can these be baked as cupcakes?
Ashley says
Hi, Laurie! Great question. I have a hunch they could, just not sure about baking time. They'll likely take a bit longer since they'd be less spread out, so you'll want to check a few times throughout baking. Would love to know how it goes if you give it a try!
Marivi says
Laurie, did it work? As a cupcake? I don't have a donut pan :-/
claudia says
Do you think it would be okay to only use 1/2 the amount of brown sugar? So only 1/4 cup and add in some stevia? If I do so would I have to add something else like more milk or flour? thank you!
Ashley says
Hi, Claudia! Unfortunately, it's very hard to say without testing myself. If you have something like Stevia's 1:1 replacement for sugar (that has inulin fiber added for bulk), that would be your best bet to do half sugar and half stevia.