Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts - Dairy Free

Start an Awesome Donut Tradition — and with Less Sugar and Oil

I remember coming in from trick-or-treating, noses cold, costumes hidden under our winter parkas, dumping our bags of candy on the living room floor. While I started bartering with my brother – my Butterfingers for his Baby Ruth – Mom would be finishing up some kind of treat in the kitchen, maybe mulled cider, toasted pumpkin seeds leftover from our jack-o-lantern carvings, or still-warm, deep-fried donuts dunked in cinnamon sugar. Sometimes she made the donuts from scratch. Later she learned to use refrigerator biscuits (the pop-open kind), cut out the centers, and fry them. The cute little donut holes somehow tasted extra good.

I tried out the refrigerator biscuit recipe a few of times when our girls were little but wasn’t totally into deep frying. I moved on to new traditions like making turkey chili and Oreo crust ice cream pie.

When I saw these baked-donut pans last year, I got nostalgic for homemade Halloween donuts. Baking them seemed healthier and would more easily let me experiment with dairy free variations. Even a year later, my daughter, Elyse, remembers the “applesauce donuts” were so good.

Taste Test Kitchen

I did find my new donut pans a lot of fun to use and much easier than cutting out and frying donuts. (Pro tip: if you have a pancake batter bottle, use it to pour the batter in the donut pans.) (Thanks, Rebel, for having given me the pancake batter bottle.)

The applesauce in these dairy free donuts made them a big hit. When you bake with applesauce, it’s a great substitute for up to half of the oil in a recipe. Since applesauce is naturally sweet, you also can cut back on the sugar.

Try changing them up and make pumpkin-flavored donuts by substituting canned pumpkin puree for the applesauce.

Whichever variation you choose, they’ll disappear fast. So quick and easy for breakfast or brunch. Or start your own Halloween tradition.

~ Lee

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Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts – Dairy Free

by Burnt Toast Food Blog October-12-2018

Applesauce makes these dairy free, baked donuts tender and sweet with less fat and sugar. Great for breakfast, brunch, or as a Halloween treat. And you can make them gluten free.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups applesauce
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
Coating:
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

Heat oven to 350°. 1. Using vegan margarine or shortening, thoroughly grease wells of 2 donut pans. 2. Mix together the oil, eggs, sugar, applesauce, spices, salt, and baking powder. Beat until smooth. 3. Stir in the flour until smooth. Don’t over mix. 4. Fill the wells of the donut pans 3/4 full. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part of a donut comes out clean. 5. While the donuts are baking, mix the cinnamon sugar in a bag. 6. Cool the donuts in the pans for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges and transfer the donuts to a rack. 7. Let cool enough so that the donuts are set and won’t break apart when handled. Place a few at a time in the cinnamon sugar and shake gently to coat. 8. Cool on a rack completely until ready to serve. Notes: - Replace the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger with 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin spice. - For pumpkin donuts, replace the applesauce with canned pureed pumpkin and increase sugar to 1 1/4 cups. - To make ahead, cover loosely and store at room temperature for up to 3 days (if airtight, donuts will get soggy). Wait to coat with sugar until ready to serve. - Substitute your favorite gluten free flour blend 1-for-1 with the flour in this recipe. No other substitutions needed. Increase the baking time up to an additional 20 minutes. (Check at 18 minutes.)

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 18 mins Total time: 38 mins Yield: 12 donuts

We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. How did this recipe work for you?