Gluten Free Vegan Doughnuts with Cherry & Lime
Somehow I’ve become a morning person. I never thought this would happen.
Ever since I took that yoga teacher training in Austin last October I’ve been holding down a practice at least 4-6 days a week. I’ll wake up, make coffee, read a little bit of poetry and practice for 60 - 90 minutes. Then I’ll make breakfast with Logan and get my day started. Ideally, all of this happens before 9am. But, you know, I go in spurts. I’ll wake up at 6am for a couple of weeks, basking in the blue early morning light while I sleepily make my way to my mat. Then I switch over to 8am. Logan and will have coffee and porridge together, easing into the flow of the morning. Some days it’s just a simple stretch. Other days it’s the full primary series.
I’ve completely fallen in love with the solitude and peace of the early daylight hours. I’m pretty sure it’s reset my circadian rhythms, which makes me more calm, happy and resistant to stress. So, that’s cool. Also, I get some really excellent writing done after a morning yoga jam. There’s nothing like a physically intensive ritual to clear out the cobwebs of sleep and get my creative juices flowing. It really works wonders.
That being said, I made these doughnuts last Sunday. I slept in and cuddled with Logan. And then we both had 2 or 3 doughnuts each. I reserve Sundays for breaking my routines. No work, no scheduling. Just good vibes, long walks, and hangouts with friends.
Gluten Free Vegan Doughnuts
These powder pink gems are grain free, refined sugar free and totally plant based. They taste amazing. And they’re pretty damn fast for baked goods. If you have two doughnut pans, they take a little over 30 minutes.
And BONUS you can totally change them up to make them your own! I did cherry lime here. To mix it up, make them plain vanilla by omitting the cherries and lime zest. From there you can do just about anything. Here are some variations I think would be fun to try!
Cinnamon (add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
Blueberry Lemon (add 1/2 cup halved fresh blueberries + 1 tablespoon lemon zest)
Chocolate (add 3 tablespoons cacao powder)
Pistachio Cardamom (add 1/2 cup chopped pistachio nutmeats + 1 teaspoon ground cardamom)
Coconut (add 1/2 cup shredded coconut)
Carrot Cake (add 1/2 cup shredded carrot + 1 tablespoon lemon zest)
As for the frosting I just did a super quick whipped coconut cream sweetened with a touch of honey (you could also sweeten with maple syrup or stevia). To turn it pink, I shredded a little bit of fresh beet into the coconut cream until I got the color I wanted. You can’t taste the beet at all and the color is amazing.
Note: When making this recipe, you need to pour your flours into your dry cup measure as opposed to scooping and packing the flours. This way the flours remain light and fluffy.
- Doughnuts
- 2 cups almond meal
- 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot flour / starch
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1/4 cup room temp water
- 1/4 cup oil (grapeseed, sunflower or melted coconut oil)
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped of its seeds
- juice of one juicy lime (~1 tablespoon)
- zest of one whole lime (~1 teaspoon)
- 1/2 cup dark sweet cherries, chopped roughly
- Coconut Cream Frosting
- 1 cup coconut cream skimmed from the top of a chilled can of full fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup + more to taste
- 1-2 teaspoons finely shredded raw beet
- optional garnish: edible organic rose petals, more lime zest, sprinkles
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Oil two doughnut pans lightly. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: almond meal, garbanzo bean flour, arrowroot, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda and fine sea salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: applesauce, chia, water, oil, vanilla bean seeds, lime juice, lime zest and water.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir everything together until well combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to hydrate. Then fold in the chopped cherries gently.
- Add 3 tablespoons of batter to each doughnut indentation in your doughnut pans. Use the back of a spoon (or your finger) dipped in a bit of water to smooth out the batter. Continue until all of the batter is used up.
- Bake for 18 minutes on the center rack, rotating half way through.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of each doughnut. Then gently lift each doughnut out using the knife.
- For the pink coconut cream, whip together the coconut cream and honey until totally smooth using an electric beater. Fold shredded beet into the coconut cream little by little until you reach your desired color.
- Use a rubber spatula to evenly spread the coconut cream over each doughnut. Top with rose petals, sprinkles, lime zest as you like. Best eaten immediately once topped with coconut cream. If you're making them ahead, wait to frost the doughnuts until right before serving. The doughnuts themselves are best eaten within 24 hours.