vegan buttermilk glazed doughnuts
/This was the first weekend in months that we weren’t packing, unpacking, cleaning, organizing, house projecting, running errands, or the like. While there is still quite a bit of unpacking + organizing to do, we’re waiting until the renovations are over to fully settle in.
With my cousin AJ coming to town this weekend it was the perfect time to take a break from it all.
AJ has such a great energy about him. He’s always laughing, inquisitive about all things Colorado, and just plain excited to be on vacation. He’s one of the most easy going teens I’ve ever hung out with and as he said the first day he arrived, “I just let my vacation take me.” I need to take a lesson from this kid.
He doesn’t need a million things to do but at the same time is up for doing a million things. He’s taking it all in, trying new things [bean burgers!], and constantly making us laugh.
He’s got a good vibe about him. One you want to be around all the time.
Kind of like doughnuts. Good anytime of the day. An instant pick me up. Always comforting.
And now they’re not only gluten-free but vegan as well!
While I was writing, recipe creating, and photographing for the book I experimented non-stop for days trying to come up with the best gluten-free, vegan doughnut. The answer was not as simple as replacing an egg with a flax-egg. Actually, I’m not a big fan of flax-eggs in general when it comes to gluten-free baking. They always leave things overly gummy.
While this recipe includes a few extra flours than my original buttermilk recipe [in the book!] I tried to keep things as simple as possible. These doughnuts are a bit heavier + doughier than my traditional doughnuts. They’re different in a good way. In an addicting—I want to eat them all—kind of way.
And the sprinkles? Necessity.
Vegan Buttermilk Glazed Doughnuts
gluten-free, vegan // yields 6-8 standard doughnuts *using a Wilton doughnut pan
For the vegan buttermilk:
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, or white vinegar
For the doughnuts:
- 1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/2 cup sweet rice flour
- 1/3 cup pure cane sugar, or sucanat/coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons almond meal
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax meal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons sunflower/safflower oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whisk the buttermilk ingredients together and let sit for 5-10 minutes. It should look curdled.
- Preheat your oven to 350* F and grease your doughnut pan[s].
- In a large bowl mix together the oat flour, sweet rice flour, cane sugar, almond meal, coconut flour, flax, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl whisk together the applesauce, oil, and vanilla, then whisk in the buttermilk mixture.
- Pour the wet into the dry and whisk/stir until just combined [no longer see dry flour] and let sit undisturbed for 5-10 minutes. The mixture will be very thick.
- Scoop into a large plastic bag, cut about 1/2-inch tip off one corner, and and squeeze the batter into the molds leaving about 1/8-inch from the top. Try to squeeze enough out that you only have to go around once. Refer to photo 2. You can also scoop the batter into the molds and gently smooth with a spoon.
- Gently smooth out the top if needed [not firmly] and place in the oven for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Slide a thin spatula around the edges of the doughnuts
- to help loosen them out, then place on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before topping. Doughnuts will firm up as they sit but have a slightly doughy texture.
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- India Tree Nature’s Colors Sprinkles
- Stir glaze ingredients together in a bowl and add more milk for a thinner consistency. If you like a thick glaze use less milk.
- Invert the doughnut into the glaze, let the excess drip off, then place on a wire rack, top with sprinkles, and let sit until the glaze has set.
The book includes a few vegan recipes [sweet + savory] in the main chapters and at the end you’ll find a vegan chapter featuring 8 of the more popular flavors that I veganzied. From there you should be able to adapt most of the other recipes once you learn the basic vegan substitutions.
And, slightly excited that the book release date is finally approaching! October 1st can’t come soon enough!
Happy baking.
Ashley
psst! Check out my recent interviews over at Quarry Spoon [my publisher’s blog] and the Door to Door Organics blog.
