Cake doughnuts are fine and dandy, but in my world, Vegan YEAST doughnuts are the doughnuts of my cravings. And those doughnuts are usually fried. In fact, I shared my recipe for fried yeast donuts just last month. But many viewers wanted to see if they could be baked.
Click here for the printable recipe.
Video tutorial for Vegan Baked Donuts
Aren’t Baked Yeast Doughnuts just Bread?
You might be asking yourself, “Isn’t a baked yeast doughnut just bread?” Keeping in mind that doughnuts are actually a type of bread, I do know what you mean. These baked yeast doughnuts aren’t just bread in doughnut form; they are soft, puffy, and light. The taste is lightly sweet with a touch of vanilla: the perfect canvas for a rich and creamy glaze. In this post, I share two: a traditional fudgy chocolate glaze and a less traditional sweet matcha green tea glaze. And as always, vegan.
How to Make Vegan Baked Doughnuts
The dough for these vegan baked donuts starts out the same as with my vegan fried donuts recipe.
The dry ingredients contain just one extra ingredient: baking powder. This adds a touch more leavening since baked donuts benefit from that extra boost.
When you add the flour, you want to add as little as possible to create a soft dough. If you add too much, the dough will get tougher and you really will just end up with bread in a donut shape. You will have some flour leftover; use it to prevent sticking when you’re rolling out the dough.
This recipe requires two rises: once for just the dough ball and once after you cut out your donut and “timbit” shapes.
Remember to place the dough in a warm, draft-free location while it’s rising. If it’s too cold, your dough will rise more slowly.
Bake the donuts at 350°F or 175°C for 10 minutes. Try not to over bake them or the texture won’t be as donut-y.
While they are warm, dip them in your prepared glaze. You did make your glaze while your donuts were rising, didn’t you? 😉
You’ll want to stir up your glaze before dipping so it goes on smooth. Then place the glazed donut on a wire rack so the excess can drip off.
Add any toppings like sprinkles, coconut shreds, or graham crumbles (I had some leftover from making vegan cheesecake) right away as the glaze will set up pretty fast.
And there you have baked vegan chocolate glaze donuts.
And baked vegan matcha donuts.
My boyfriend actually prefers these baked donuts to the fried version because you get donut-y goodness without the heavy feeling that comes with eating deep-fried things. For me, I like that I can eat more baked donuts in one sitting than I can manage with fried donuts. And not having to clean up deep-frying equipment is nice too. Please let me know if you tried this recipe or the fried version and tell me what you think!
More vegan doughnut recipes:
Printable recipe for Baked Vegan Donuts
Vegan Baked Yeast Donuts (with chocolate glaze and matcha glaze)
These Vegan Baked Donuts are light and fluffy just like regular donuts but much less work! Try glazing with rich chocolate or matcha green tea glaze. Makes 6-7 donuts and donut holes.Â
Ingredients
For donuts
- 1/2 cup warm water (110°F / 43ÂC) (120ml)
- 1 teaspoon of yeast (half an envelope)
- 1 tablespoon golden flax meal
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (220g)
- 2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten (pure gluten flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For Chocolate Glaze (enough for 1 full batch)
- 3 tablespoon soy milk (or plant milk of choice)
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup icing sugar
For Matcha Glaze (enough for 1 full batch)
- 3 tablespoon soy milk (or plant milk of choice)
- 1 tablespoons matcha powder
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup icing sugar
Instructions
- Activate yeast by mixing with warm water.
- Meanwhile, combine the all-purpose flour with the pure gluten flour and baking powder. Alternatively, you can substitute bread flour for the all-purpose flour and leave out the extra gluten. Do not use gluten-free flour for this recipe.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the foamy yeast mixture, sugar, flax meal, coconut oil and vanilla. Whisk well until fairly smooth.
- Add the flour, a quarter cup at a time. Incorporate the flour completely before adding more. Reduce the amount of flour that you add once the mixture starts to form a dough. Add only enough flour to form a soft dough. You should have some flour leftover. Knead until fairly smooth. Then place back into the bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest in a warm, draft-free location for one hour or until doubled in size.
- Scoop the dough out gently on to a floured surface. Gently roll the dough out to 3/8th inch thickness. Cut out the donuts using donut/cookie cutters or improvise as I did with a large mason jar ring lid for the outer edge and a small shot glass for the inner edge.
- Place cut donuts and donut holes on to a lightly floured parchment on a baking sheet. Cover with a warm, lightly damp towel or a sheet of plastic with the bottom side dusted with flour. Let the uncooked donuts rise for 45 minutes to one hour or until at least doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, mix the glaze ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Pick either the chocolate glaze or matcha glaze. If you decide to make both, halve the recipes or you'll have extra.
- When the dough has risen at least double in size (ideally a bit more), bake in a preheated oven set at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes. Do not over bake.
- Let the donuts cool for a few minutes. Stir the glaze first, then dip one side of each donut in, let the excess drip off, then place on a wire rack to cool and set. Sprinkle on any additional toppings right away before the glaze sets.
- These are best eaten on the same day. Store in a breathable container at room temperature.
Notes
Use refined coconut oil
Unless you want coconut-tasting donuts or glaze, use refined coconut oil.
Storage Tips
If you're not eating these donuts on the same day, let them cool to room temperature, then freeze. They can thaw at room temperature when you want to eat them.
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Leave a Comment
I am really excited to try these! Could I double the recipe or would that make the flour tricky?
Yes! Feel free to double the recipe. However, do be extra careful when you add the flour; try not to add too much. You will probably have some leftover; this is completely normal and fine.
I’m so gonna make these for my friends! Been challenging myself to make some food I’ve not try making so I invited my friends over just to taste test the food, hahaha! :3 I was wondering if you have a salted caramel version for the glaze? Are there any substitution for pure gluten free flour? :O
Have fun, dear! I don’t have a salted caramel glaze recipe on the blog but your comment made me wish I did. ha! There isn’t any gluten-free flour in this recipe. I think you’re thinking of vital wheat gluten AKA pure gluten flour. It’s pretty much the opposite of gluten-free! lol Just leave it out if you can’t find it. But if you can find it, use it. It makes the donuts even fluffier than without.
Hey is it alright to substitute coconut oil for vegan butter?
Yes, you can use vegan butter.
Hi, Mary! I absolutely looved this recipe! It was delicious! I was wondering if it’s possible to substitute the coconut oil for other vegetable oil such as sunflower oil 🙂 thanks!
Thanks for the kind words, dearie. You can use other vegetable oils but the texture of the finished donut is not as nice as with coconut oil. Vegan butter also works well. I hope that helps.
These are FANTASTIC! I’ve been craving donuts, but didn’t want tons of sugar, finding an easy recipe was a bonus! They’re perfect for my craving, thanks so much, I love your video too 🙂
Yay! <3
What are the calories, fats, proteins etc on these do you know?
Not off the top of my head. You could always calculate it by using a free service like Cronometer. 🙂
Are there any natural substitutes for the flax egg? (Apart from chia seeds)
Not that I have tested with this recipe. However subs that usually work in recipes like this include aquafaba (thick bean water) and egg replacer powders (like ener-g).
Hello Mary,
thanks for your awesome looking recipes and greetings from germany.
Anyway there is one point which you could do better for people from europe:
You have already ‘translated’ the recipes into the metric system, which is great.
But often there is for example the sugar in ml. No one in europe measures sugar in ml.Only liquids are measured in ml. But all can measure it in gram on a scale. So it would be great if the solids are in gram.
When i make some of your recipes in the future i could weigh out the cups in gram and post it here or to your email account if you like?
Thanks for the tip, dear. I am in the process of re-testing and converting all my recipes to grams but it will take some time.
Hi Mary! Thanks so much for this amazing baked yeast donut recipe which, by all means, is my new favourite dessert!
I’m wondering if it’s possible to use other bread recipe (like your vegan milk bread recipe) but instead of forming into a loaf just form it into donut shape and bake it the same way you did here. Will this make the donut softer and airier?
The milk bread recipe could be adapted to make nice donuts. I would add vital wheat gluten (or use bread flour) and try to use less flour so the dough is more soft. Good luck!
Hi,Mary!
Do you think it would work with whole wheat pastry flour too?
Yes, but be careful not to use too much flour since whole wheat flour tends to absorb more water than AP. Good luck!
Can you tell me what kind of vegan sugar you find to work best? I’ve had trouble with this and am finding myself using maple syrup more often than not.
I am using regular mass-marketed white sugar that happens to be vegan-friendly.
Hey Mary, these look amazing! Just curious do you use traditional or quick rise yeast? I have quick rise and don’t know if that’ll change the recipe.
Thanks!
Carrie
Hi Carrie,
Thanks for the kind words 🙂 Both types will work. If you use Traditional, be sure to let the yeast bloom in water before combining with dry ingredients. Quick rise yeast is milled finer and doesn’t need to be dissolved in water first.
Cheers,
Mary
Could you fry these if you wanted to?
You can find the recipe for the fried version here: https://www.marystestkitchen.com/how-to-make-vegan-donuts-yeast-doughnut-recipe
Hi Mary!
I found your recipe on Youtube and absolutely loved it, especially because you show the inside of the donut after making it, which convinced me to try them 🙂
I am not vegan and I’d like to use egg instead of flax meal. How many eggs would you recommend using?
I wouldn’t recommend using eggs.
I can’t find flax meal and I’ve tried grounding flax seeds but my food processor isn’t good enough. Why are eggs not good?
haha That’s a loaded question. Google “why not eggs” if you really want to know. This recipe was developed using vegan ingredients only. Eggs were never tested with this recipe. You can buy pre-ground flax seed meal if you’re unable to grind your own.
Thanks for the reply! I meant good for baking. I’ve read quite a bit about the egg industry and it’s terrible. I’m getting the eggs from a local farm closeby though. I will try this recipe as it is though, will figure out where to get flax meal. Thanks again! 🙂
Hi there, this recipe looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try! Would like to ask what is the function of vital wheat gluten? I couldn’t find it in my place so is it okay to omit it? Thank you ?
She said it is better to use it because it makes it softer, but you can omit it if you have no choice
I knew it wasn’t enough sugar while I was doing it, but I didn’t listen to my gut. They fluffed beautifully but they are absolutely flavorless.
Donuts themselves aren’t actually very sweet.. It’s all the good stuff you put on top that counts!