Glazed Vegan Donuts

By Alexandra Caspero on June 27, 2022
My kids favorite sweet treat recipe.
Makes 8 donuts (2.5" diameter)

Glazed Vegan Donuts! This recipe is so fun and customizable. Make vanilla or chocolate baked donuts then top with a simple sugar glaze or chocolate glaze.

My kids love donuts. I can’t remember when they were first introduced to them, but ever since it’s become one of their most requested sweet treats when out shopping or at the market. Well, that and croissants but that’s a story for another day.

Therefore, I knew that I wanted to have a killer homemade donut recipe — and here it is. Vegan donuts that can be made as either vanilla or chocolate cake donuts, then covered in a homemade glaze. Whether you call them donuts or doughnuts, you are going to love these baked cake vegan donuts!

Vegan Donut with Milk

Ingredients for Vegan Donuts

You just need a handful of ingredients to make these baked donuts. They are also incredibly customizable, to be either vanilla or chocolate flavored.

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened milk, like oat milk, soy milk or almond milk
  • 1 tablespoon applesauce
  • 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Colorful Donuts with Vegan Glaze Frosting

Cardamom is citrusy, floral and warm- it’s like cinnamon but better. I love it with the vanilla in this donut recipe, but if you don’t have ground cardamom then I recommend ground cinnamon instead.

If you want to make chocolate vegan donuts, then add in 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 1/4 cup more non-dairy milk.

This recipe makes 8 regular donuts, but you can make this recipe into mini donuts using a mini donut pan and halving the cooking time.

Chocolate Vegan Donuts

Instructions for how to make baked donuts

  1. Whisk together the dry ingredients

    In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cardamom or cinnamon

  2. Mix the wet ingredients

    Stir together milk, applesauce, melted butter and vanilla extract together in a small bowl, then pour into the dry ingredients. The batter will be thick like a pancake batter.

  3. Pipe into a donut pan.

    Place into a piping bag or ziploc bag, then cut off the corner if using a ziploc bag. Pipe into a lightly greased donut pan, filling about 3/4 of the way full. Alternatively, you can spoon into the prepared donut pan.

  4. Bake donuts

    Place the donuts in a 350 degree oven and bake for 9-10 minutes, until the donuts spring back lightly to the touch.

Now it’s time to glaze the donuts. You can do this using either a vanilla glaze or a chocolate glaze depending on your preference of flavors. If you go with the vanilla glaze, then you can add a few drops of food coloring to tint thee glaze to any color you’d like. This is the plant-based food coloring that I use, along with natural color sprinkles.

Because I’ve opted not to deep-fry these donuts, I find that they need to have some type of glaze on top to complete sweetness that’s associated with donuts and for optimal texture. Don’t skip it!

Donuts with Glaze and Child's Hand

Make the Glaze

Whisk together the powdered sugar, non-dairy milk of choice, vanilla and dairy-free melted butter together until smooth and creamy.

For a chocolate glaze: Make the frosting, along with 1/2 cup of melted chocolate chips and a tablespoon of more non-dairy milk to help thin.

To make a lemon glaze: Swap in fresh lemon juice for the non-dairy milk in the glaze recipe

For a coconut glaze: Swap in coconut milk for the non-dairy milk, then sprinkle on toasted coconut on top of the donuts after frosted

Glazed Vegan Donuts

Once the donuts are cool, dip into the glaze then place on a cooling rack and sprinkle with toppings while the frosting is still wet. I typically dip, let sit for a minute, then dip again.

This vegan donut recipe is such a fun dessert to make, especially if you have kids! Have them help you pipe the donut batter into the pan and dipping the finished donuts into the frosting.

Baked Vegan Donuts with Sprinkles

More Vegan Dessert Recipes

Chocolate Glazed Vegan Donuts

If you try these vegan glazed donuts, let me know! Make sure to come back to leave a rating and a comment. Seeing you make my recipes makes my day and your feedback helps other readers.

Print
Vegan Donuts

Glazed Vegan Donuts

  • Author: Alex Caspero
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 donuts (2.5 inch diameter) 1x
  • Category: dessert, breakfast
  • Method: oven
  • Cuisine: vegan
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

Glazed Vegan Donuts! This recipe is so fun and customizable. Make vanilla or chocolate baked donuts then top with a simple sugar glaze or chocolate glaze.


  • Author: Alex Caspero
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 donuts (2.5 inch diameter) 1x
  • Category: dessert, breakfast
  • Method: oven
  • Cuisine: vegan
  • Diet: Vegan
  • Author: Alex Caspero
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 donuts (2.5 inch diameter) 1x
  • Category: dessert, breakfast
  • Method: oven
  • Cuisine: vegan
  • Diet: Vegan
Scale

Ingredients

For the donuts: 

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened milk (I used oatmilk)
  • 1 tablespoon applesauce
  • 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glazed Frosting

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon melted non-dairy butter
  • Sprinkles, as desired for topping

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a donut baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. 
  2. In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cardamon/cinnamon. 
  3. Add in the milk, applesauce, melted butter and vanilla. Mix with a spoon until combined; the batter will thick like a pancake batter.
  4. Transfer batter to a piping bag or ziploc. If using a ziploc bag, cut bottom of bag and pipe into prepared donut pans, filling about 3/4 of the way full. Less is best so not to cover the hole when baking.
  5. Bake for 9-10 minutes. When done, donuts should spring a bit to the touch. If using larger donut pans, cook time could be longer and if using a mini donut pan then the cook time will be closer to 5-6 minutes. 
  6. Allow the donuts to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool before glazing. 
  7. To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, non dairy milk, vanilla, and melted vegan butter. If the glaze is too thick, add a splash of milk and whisk until thinned as desired. Dip the donuts, return to the wire rack, then dip again and top with desired toppings, like sprinkles! 

Notes

*For a chocolate donut, add 1/4 cup cocoa powder and an additional 1/4 cup non-dairy milk. 

** For a chocolate frosting, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips then add to the frosting along with 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk to thin. To make colors, add in a drop of food coloring of choice. 

 

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Meet Alex Caspero

Alex Caspero is a Registered Dietitian, New York Times Bestselling Plant-Based Chef and mom of two. She aims to cut through the nutrition noise by providing real-life, nourishing tips for body and mind. Learn more about Alex.

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    1. Sheri
      August 6, 2022 AT 5:02 am

      Thank you so much for the easy donut recipe!! I made a batch of vanilla and chocolate mini donuts for my birthday. Wow they are yummy and soft. My daughters and grandkids loved them too. I will definitely be making them again. I am gluten-free and vegan and haven’t found a bakery that can make a donut like this…

      1. Alex
        August 6, 2022 AT 10:20 am

        So glad to hear!

    2. Kelsey
      July 12, 2022 AT 2:47 pm

      These are so easy and so yummy! I have made them twice for larger groups that needed treats. Thanks for the stress free, plant based recipe! (both chocolate and vanilla donuts made)