Vegan Baked Chocolate Donuts
These homemade vegan baked chocolate donuts with chocolate glaze come together in just 30 minutes. Light, fluffy, and coated in rich chocolate glaze, they're irresistible for little ones and big ones alike.
Servings: 12 donuts
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Donuts
- 1 ⅔ cups spelt flour (white or whole)*
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 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 plus 2 tablespoons expeller-pressed grapeseed oil**
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Chocolate Glaze + Topping
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, more if needed to thicken
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tablespoons filtered water or plant-based milk, more or less as needed
- Vegan sprinkles and/or mini chocolate chips
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, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk, sugar, oil, vanilla, and vinegar and stir until incorporated. Do not over-mix. The gluten in spelt is delicate—over-mixing will result in dry donuts. The batter should be very thick and fluffy.
- Spoon or pipe the batter evenly into the prepared donut trays, gently smoothing as you go.
- Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until the sides of the donut begin to pull away from the pan AND a toothpick inserted into the donuts comes out clean. Ensure both of these indicators of doneness are reached as a toothpick will pull out clean a minute or two before the donuts begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- 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—run a butter knife around the edge of each donut to help release it from the pan.
- Cool completely.
For the Glaze + Topping
- Prepare the glaze when the donuts are nearly cool.
- In a medium shallow mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and water until desired consistency is reached. Important: Start by adding 2 tablespoons of the water 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 water needed will depend on a variety of factors, including the humidity level in the air. You want the glaze to be a little bit thicker than you're comfortable with so that it's nice and gluey and holds the sprinkles and/or chocolate in place without running off the donuts.
- One at a time and very carefully, dip the top of each donut into the glaze. If your glaze is as thick and gluey as it should be, you'll feel quite a bit of resistance when pulling the donut out of the glaze. Do so slowly and carefully to avoid tearing or crumbling. 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 water until the desired thinness is reached.
- Return to the cooling rack and generously top with sprinkles and/or mini chocolate chips. Repeat.
- Allow the glaze to set completely before moving.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
*If you don't have (or like) spelt flour, you should be able to substitute all-purpose flour instead. If you try it, please let me know how it goes.
**Feel free to substitute another mild-flavored oil in a pinch (just be sure it's liquid at room temperature—not sure how something like coconut oil would fare in this recipe).