Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

 

Have you ever bitten into a luscious looking chocolate donut dripping with chocolate icing and sprinkles… only to be sorely disappointed by the dry texture and lack of actual chocolate flavour?!

Well these chocolate swoonuts are not like that.

In fact, they’re the complete opposite!

To start with, they’re a slightly more decadent variation of my original spiced vanilla cake donut aka swoonuts recipe. Like the originals, this chocolate version has a lovely soft, melt in your mouth texture with a subtle hint of spice.

To create the chocolate flavour I added raw cacao powder and tweaked a few of the other ingredient quantities to ensure they stayed nice and moist.  I didn’t want to add too much extra sugar to balance out the bitter raw cacao powder, so these swoonuts are more of a milk chocolate flavoured donut – perfect for those who don’t like a heavy dark chocolate flavour.

Best of all, these chocolate swoonuts are completely dairy, gluten and refined sugar free.

 

Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

 

To decorate these chocolate swoonuts I’ve included a recipe for a raw chocolate glaze and any leftovers can be simply turned into raw chocolate by setting it in the fridge. However, after demolishing this entire batch in record time, we agreed these chocolate swoonuts are most epic when eaten straight from the oven or lightly dusted with powdered sugar. But it’s of course how you eat them is entirely up to you!!

If you want to take these swoonuts one step further and make them completely grain free, choose buckwheat flour instead of rice flour, and for a lower sugar (aka fructose) option, choose rice syrup as the liquid sweetener and swap coconut sugar for dried desiccated coconut. Enjoy!

 

If you make these chocolate swoonuts I’d love to hear what you think!
Leave a message in the comments below, and if you share any of your creations on social media be sure to tag me
@swoon.food or #swoonfood so I can come and admire them.

 

Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

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Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

Makes: 12 donuts
Prep time: 20 minutes Bake time: 10 minutes

Dry Ingredients 
50g rice or buckwheat flour
50g raw cacao powder
50g coconut flour
50g ground almonds
75g coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla powder (optional)
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
100g coconut yoghurt
200ml coconut or nut milk of choice
3 Tbsp rice syrup, raw honey or pure maple syrup
4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

Raw Chocolate Glaze (Optional)
1/4 cup raw cacao butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup, rice syrup or raw honey
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
pinch pink Himalayan salt

Topping Suggestions
Raw cacao nibs
Freeze dried raspberries/cherries/mandarin/strawberry/blueberries etc
Desiccated coconut
Coconut flakes
Powdered coconut sugar

Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan bake. Lightly grease a non-stick donut pan with coconut oil. If you don’t have a donut pan you can also bake these as muffins.

Gently melt the coconut oil if solid.

Place all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until evenly combined.

Place all the wet ingredients, except the coconut oil, into another bowl and whisk until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until evenly combined, then add the coconut oil and mix to combine.

Drop spoonfuls of donut mixture into the pan and spread evenly to fill the holes 3/4 full.

Place the donut tray in the centre of the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The secret to a good baked donut is not over-baking them. You want them to be just baked through so they stay lovely and soft on the inside.

The donuts are ready when they bounce back when lightly pressed.

Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to rest a few minutes before tipping them out onto a wire rack. They should come out easily. If not, try gently teasing the donut sides while holding the tray upside down.

Allow the donuts to cool completely before either coating with powdered sugar or dipping in the chocolate glaze and sprinkling with toppings.

Store the donuts in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze up to 1 month.

To make the raw chocolate glaze: place the cacao butter and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of steaming water with the heat turned off. When melted, remove the bowl from the heat. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.

To dip the donuts in glaze: set a wire rack over a sheet of baking paper to catch the drips. Place the glaze in a small bowl and dip the smooth side of the donuts, then place on the wire rack. If using extra toppings sprinkle them over at this point. For an extra thick coat you can also double dip the donuts. Excess glaze caught on the baking paper can either be reused or turned into raw chocolate. Simply combine the leftover glaze then pour onto a lined tray and place in the freeze to set.

 

Chocolate Swoonuts (Chocolate Cake Donuts)

Swoonuts aka Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts

Swoonuts aka Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts

Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts - Swoonuts

 

Hands up who loves a good donut?!

My definition of good is a donut with a lovely melt-in-your mouth, cake-like texture, that doesn’t go stale by the end of the day.  The actual donut must also have a delicious flavour that glaze and toppings merely enhance, and last but not least, a generous coating of glaze and sprinkling of topping.

Oh and if they could be healthy too, that would be great.

 

Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts - Swoonuts

 

I finally bought a donut pan this week which was surprisingly inexpensive ($25 from Millie’s Kitchen Store if you’re in NZ or US$6 on Amazon), and had loads of fun trying to recreate my idea of the perfect cake donut. The catch being, it needs to be dairy, grain and refined sugar free.

Four batches in I began to wonder if this mission was even possible. Perhaps donuts are best left to their refined sugar and flour origins…

I persevered, spurred on by the memory of how good a donut can taste, and the knowledge that unless I figure this recipe out I won’t be sinking my teeth into any donuts anytime soon!

Six batches later and the resulting donut tastes *almost* the same as the ones from my memory. Perhaps even a little better because I know they’re also dairy, gluten and refined sugar free.

I decided to call these donuts swoonuts because 1. They have a lovely soft (swoonable) texture, with just a hint of vanilla and spice that’s so subtle you’re left wondering what that familiar flavour is; and 2. Because they’re completely dairy, gluten and refined sugar free which is the definition of Swoon Food!

 

 

 

 

 

Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts - Swoonuts

 

If you want to take these swoonuts one step further and make them completely grain free, choose buckwheat flour instead of rice flour, and for an even lower sugar option, choose rice syrup as the liquid sweetener and swap coconut sugar for dried desiccated coconut.

Decorating swoonuts is, of course, the best part. Be warned though, if you have any friends or family about they’ll want in on the action too, so be sure you bake enough swoonuts to go around! Enjoy!

 

If you make these swoonuts I’d love to hear what you think!
Leave a message in the comments below, and if you share any of your creations on social media be sure to tag me
@swoon.food or #swoonfood so I can come and admire them.

 

Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts - Swoonuts

 

Swoonuts aka Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts

Makes: 12 donuts
Prep time: 20 minutes Bake time: 10 minutes

Dry Ingredients 
100g rice or buckwheat flour
50g coconut flour
50g ground almonds
50g coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
100g coconut yoghurt
150ml coconut or nut milk of choice
3 Tbsp rice syrup, raw honey or pure maple syrup
3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup, rice syrup or raw honey
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
pinch pink Himalayan salt
1 Tbsp raw cacao powder

Maple glaze
4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
pinch pink Himalayan salt

Topping Suggestions
Raw cacao nibs
Freeze dried raspberries/cherries/mandarin/strawberry/blueberries etc
Desiccated coconut
Coconut flakes
Beetroot powder
Turmeric powder
Cinnamon
Matcha powder

Preheat the oven to 180ºC fan bake. Lightly grease a non-stick donut pan with coconut oil. If you don’t have a donut pan you can also bake these as muffins.

Place all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until evenly combined.

Place all the wet ingredients into another bowl and whisk until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until evenly combined.

Drop spoonfuls of donut mixture into the pan and spread evenly to fill the holes 3/4 full.

Place the donut tray in the centre of the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The secret to a good baked donut is not over-baking them – you want them to be just baked through so they stay lovely and soft on the inside.

The donuts are ready when they bounce back when lightly pressed.

Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to rest a few minutes before tipping them out onto a wire rack. They should come out easily, if not, try gently teasing the donut sides while holding the tray upside down.

Allow the donuts to cool completely before dipping in a glaze of your choice, and sprinkling with toppings.

Store the donuts in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze up to 1 month.

To make the chocolate glaze: place the cashews, coconut milk, sweetener and salt into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the melted coconut oil and blend until well combined. Split the mixture in half and stir the raw cacao powder into one.

To make the maple glaze: melt the coconut oil and combine with the maple syrup and salt either in a high speed blender or a small bowl with a mini whisk. To get a good coating dip the donuts twice and place in the fridge to chill between coats.

 

Spiced Vanilla Cake Donuts - Swoonuts

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