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.

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!

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.

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.

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