Gluten Free Donuts

I’ve noticed that the first thing people start missing when they start on a gluten free diet is donuts! I totally get it. I mean, donuts. We’ve tried some store bought in our house and while they kinda have the same flavor, the texture just isn’t there. I started playing with this recipe a while ago and I’ve finally tweaked it enough that I’m super pleased with the outcome at this point and I was so happy to be able to share it on Fox 13 The Place yesterday.

If you missed the segment, click here to watch!

This recipe is super easy and uses a batter instead of a dough. Good things about batter donuts are that you don’t need to use yeast and let them rise and you don’t have to fry them in oil, which practically makes them healthy, right? The drawback is that you’ll need a donut pan or one of those cute donut makers. The pans are pretty easy to find and relatively inexpensive. Check out your local Walmart or Target, or if you’re an Amazon junkie (like me) THIS ONE looks great. You can also make regular sized donuts with this batter, it just depends on the size of pan you have. We did it with both and had good results with both sizes, just add another minute to the cook time with the larger donuts.

This is the basic recipe, but it lends itself to a lot of flexibility. For instance, it calls for a cup of milk, but you can try it with any kind of milk you’d like… almond, coconut, buttermilk. I tried it with buttermilk as well and I LOVED it. It gave them a very airy texture and they almost tasted like a dessert waffle more than a donut. The only problem was that they were so soft, it was hard to decorate with heavy glaze and sprinkles, but if you’re just going with a light glaze and an amazing treat, give it a try!

I use my own gf flour blend for everything, but it should be easy to use at whatever blend you keep on hand. You can also try swapping out about a quarter cup of your gluten free flour blend for something with more substance like flax seed meal or brown rice flour. I made a version with half white sugar and half brown sugar to give it a little more depth of flavor and it was tasty too. Play around with it and let me know how it works for you!

Now for a good tip with the recipe… yesterday on the show, I made a full batch of this batter, but only made 12 mini donuts. The rest of the batter sat in the trunk of my car for several hours. At dinner, we decided to bake up the rest of the batter (as a reference, its literally, like 20 degrees here, so the outdoors provided plenty of refrigeration). When we baked them up, they were SO MUCH BETTER. I’ve noticed this a lot with gluten free batters. In fact, a lot of the time, I’ll make my cake batter and let it sit for up to an hour before I bake it. I find that it holds together much better and the cupcakes dome higher. Not sure exactly what’s at play there, but it seems to have worked with the donut batter as well. The aged batter made them softer and fluffier, more like a Krispy Kreme glazed donut!

Ok, so here’s the recipe. Have fun with it and get creative with how you decorate them or decorate WITH them I hope it works as well for you as it has for me!

Gluten Free Batter Donuts

1 1/2 cups your gluten free flour blend*
1/4 tsp xanthin gum
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk (at room temperature)
2 eggs, whites separated
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

– Mix all dry ingredient in a bowl

-Separate egg whites from yolks and beat the white with a mixer or whisk for a few minutes until they are foamy and white (this adds some extra fluff)

-Melt your butter and allow it to cool closer to room temperature (so the heat of it doesn’t cook your egg yolks)

-Mix your melted butter, egg yolks, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl

-Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well with a whisk

-Fold in egg whites gently at the very end and transfer to a large ziplock bag

-If possible, put batter in the fridge and allow to rest and chill for half an hour or more.

-Grease your donut pans with cooking spray. Cut the corner off your ziplock bag to pipe the batter into the pan

-Fill each cavity about 2/3 full

-Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes for mini donuts, maybe 8 for full size

DONUT GLAZE

1-2 cups of powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons of milk

-Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and rest a cooling rack on top. Pop your donuts out of your pan and onto the cooling rack to glaze.

-Just be careful not to add too much milk at first. A little goes a long way. You can make it as thick or thin as you’d like. Have fun and get creative with your colors at toppings!

*MY GLUTEN FREE FLOUR BLEND