Lemon & Poppy Seed Swoonuts
Is there such a thing as too many swoonut recipes?
No, I don’t think so either.
And lucky for you because these lemon & poppy seed swoonuts are worth swooning over!
Like all swoonuts, these have that lovely melt-in-your mouth, cake-like texture, that doesn’t go stale by the end of the day. They have just the right balance of tangy citrus to sweet cake donut, and the poppy seeds add a subtle hint of nuttiness while also looking pretty!
Decorating these lemon & poppy seed swoonuts is optional. They’re delicious as they are, especially when still warm from the oven, or if you have some leftover lemon juice a little drizzle over the top brings out the zesty lemon flavour even more. If you like your donuts glazed, I’ve included a recipe for a simple coconut sugar and lemon juice glaze which gives them a beautiful caramel colour from the coconut sugar.
Of course, if you can’t eat your donuts without powdered sugar (like in these photos) then by all means go ahead, after all these are a treat and not meant to be eaten for breakfast.
It took a few batches of bland, dry and stuck to the pan swoonuts, to get this lemon and poppy seed flavour right. When you throw acidic lemon juice into the mix it throws everything off. So in the end to get the right combination of flavour and texture I ended up creating this recipe again from scratch.
Like all swoonuts these lemon & poppy seed are dairy, gluten and refined sugar free, and if you’d like a completely grain free version simply swap the rice flour for buckwheat, and for a low sugar version simply leave off the glaze.
If you make these lemon & poppy seed swoonuts I’d love to hear from you!
Leave me a message in the comments below and if you share any of your creations on social media be sure to tag me @swoon.food #swoonfood so I can come and admire them. Enjoy.
LEMON & POPPY SEED COCONUT YOGHURT Swoonuts
Makes: 12 donuts
Prep time: 20 minutes Bake time: 13 minutes
Dry Ingredients
75g ground almonds
75g coconut sugar
60g rice or buckwheat flour
35g coconut flour
2 tsp poppy seeds
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground or freshly grated
pinch pink Himalayan salt
Wet Ingredients
3 eggs
110g coconut yoghurt
40g rice syrup, raw honey or pure maple syrup
75ml lemon juice
75g coconut oil, melted
Lemon & Coconut Sugar Glaze
100g lemon juice
100g coconut sugar
Preheat the oven to 170ºC fan bake and lightly grease a non-stick donut pan with coconut oil. If you don’t have a donut pan you can bake these as muffins.
Place all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until well combined.
Place the eggs, coconut yoghurt and liquid sweetener of choice into a mixing bowl and use a hand whisk to stir until evenly combined. Add the lemon juice and whisk together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until evenly combined. Lastly add the coconut oil and stir well.
Drop spoonfuls of donut mixture into the pan and spread evenly to fill the holes about 3/4 full.
Place the donut tray into the centre of the oven and bake for 12 to 13 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 and when you insert a knife into the centre it comes out clean.
Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to rest a few minutes before removing from the pan. If they don’t come out easily use a blunt knife to loosen the edges and then gently tease the donut sides while holding the tray upside down.
If using the lemon & coconut sugar glaze, spoon it over the donuts while still warm so that it soaks through well.
Store the donuts in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze up to 1 month.
To make the lemon & coconut sugar glaze: combine the lemon juice and coconut sugar in a small bowl and stir well.
