Baked powdered donuts made in one bowl, oil-free, gluten-free and vegan, healthier thanks to no eggs and oat flour and ready in 15 minutes.
These fluffy baked powdered donuts are light and cakey, and dusted with soft sugar, oil-free and easy to make vegan or GF. In fact, these remind me of Entenmann's powdered donut they used to include in an assortment box. But this recipe is so much healthier, with no preservatives or the other not-so-healthy ingredients found in processed donuts.
You can make this recipe as muffins, but donuts are so much more fun. You'll need a donut pan.
Are Baked Donuts Healthier Than Fried Donuts?
Yes. Baked donuts are lower in fat and calories, and don't have the processed oils that are soaked into fried donuts. These donuts are also healthier because they are baked and in fact are oil free so they don't contain any of the fats that fried donuts hold.
These donuts don't have any oil or eggs - I used apple sauce and lemon juice in milk instead.
I have tried this recipe with three different flours - all purpose, gluten free flour, and oat flour - and all versions came out delicious. The oat flour made them a bit less light than the AP and GF flour but still yummy.
Ingredients
The ingredients to make these donuts are simple and pantry-friendly, even though these donuts are vegan and gluten-free. I bet you have them in your pantry right now.
Flour - I used all purpose first to get the recipe right. Then I tried GF baking flour (Bob's Red Mill's blue bag), and after that oat flour. All work perfectly.
Sugar - I used organic cane sugar but any cane sugar is fine.
Baking powder and baking soda - vital to provide the texture a cakey lift.
Milk, lemon juice - These liquids are vital to bring batter together.
Applesauce - This is the egg replacer in this recipe.
Powdered sugar - the essential topping for powdered donuts.
How to Make
These donuts are one of my easiest recipes! The ingredients are easy to gather, often considered stock pantry items. And the recipe comes together in one bowl. Here are the steps:
1. Prepare by gathering ingredients, preheating oven to 350 F, greasing and dusting a 6-ring donut pan, and by adding the lemon juice to the milk to curdle it. Curdling the milk creates a buttermilk that reacts with baking soda to create a cake-like texture. It helps replace the eggs in vegan recipes.
2. In a large bowl, mix up the dry ingredients, including flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, including the lemon milk, applesauce, and vanilla. Mix up the batter and add it to a frosting bag or a ziplock bag with corner snipped.
4. Pipe the batter to fill the donut wells just under the top.
PRO-tip: Don't fill them too high or the donut will rise around the hole and it will disappear. If you have left-over batter, make another 1-2 donuts in another pan, or if it's easier, add two paper liners to a muffin pan, and put the batter in each liner.
5. Bake the pan of donuts 12 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. If you bake 1-2 muffins, bake those around 8 minutes - less because it's so few.
6. Cool pan for 20 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Dip into confectioners sugar once cool. I added a touch of cinnamon to mine.
Q&A
Are Doughnuts and Cinnamon Rolls the Same?
No, doughnuts have a solid cake texture and are tossed in a coating. Cinnamon rolls have a bready texture, and have a coating rolled inside, and icing on top.
How Do You Make Donuts in a Muffin Pan?
Just spoon donut batter into papers lining a muffin pan and bake. Fill the batter about ⅔ high, just as you would when baking muffins. Bake around 10-12 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Baked Donuts Without Donut Pan
It's much easier to make baked donuts in a donut pan, and they are only a few dollars so it's a good investment. However, if you want donuts and don't have a pan handy, bake the batter in muffin pans, and either leave them as muffins or punch a center hole after baking to make them donuts. If you intend to punch a center hole, fill the muffin paper only ⅓ high to keep the height lower.
More Baked Donut Recipes
Mini Donuts
Chocolate Frosted Donuts
Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Apple Cider Donuts
Birthday Funfetti Donuts
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Baked Powdered Donuts
Ingredients
Powdered donuts
- 1 ½ cup oat flour Or 1 cup of all purpose flour or GF baking 1 to 1 flour
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- 2 tablespoon unsweetened apple sauce
- ½ cup dairy-free milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice Add to milk and let it sit for 5 minutes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
powdered coating
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon optional
Equipment
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Add the lemon juice to the milk, stir and let sit for 5 minutes to curdle.
- Grease a 6-well donut pan or line a cupcake pan with paper liners
Make Donuts
- In a large bowl, mix up flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
- Add to that the lemon milk, applesauce, and vanilla.
- Pipe or use a spoon to fill the wells to just under the top. Don't fill them too high or the donut will rise around the hole.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
- Cool pan for 20 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Make Powdered Coating
- Whisk together powdered sugar and cinnamon.
- Dip each side of a donut, using a spoon to get all bare spots.
Store
- Store covered lightly for one day on the counter; any longer and they turn soggy. You can refrigerate them covered for a week, or freeze for a month. If you freeze, just set them on the counter to defrost for 20 minutes.
- Whether refrigerated or frozen, if the sugar seems to become moist, make a fresh batch of sugar and dip the donuts again.
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