Soft, fluffy, and super moist, these vegan baked cinnamon donuts are a delight to make and eat! Made with a few basic pantry ingredients, these cinnamon donuts are a cinch to make. They are so scrumptious, you won't even know they are vegan!
My donut pans have been sitting in the cupboard for months now. And for the past few weeks, I can feel them staring me down with ‘bake-with-us’ vibes.
Why the hiatus you ask?
Because with donuts, I can never stop with one. And really, who wants to deal with the guilt that comes after a binge? I certainly don’t!
That’s why I found a way around the guilt–baked donuts. These fluffy, soft, and oven-fresh versions are a great deal healthier than their fried counterparts.
So, I finally gave in and got to making vegan baked cinnamon donuts!
How To Make Vegan Baked Cinnamon Donuts?
Traditional donuts, as delicious as they may be, involve yeast. You have to wait for the dough to rise, shape, rise, and fry. It takes oodles of time and heaps of effort before you can indulge.
Baked donuts, on the other hand, are the perfect instant gratification tidbit. With no more than 15 minutes of prep and 12 minutes of baking, you have donuts ready to be devoured. And the only special tool you’ll need for this is a donut pan!
The batter comes together in a jiffy by whisking the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon powder) into the wet ones (milk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and oil).
Make sure the batter is smooth and lump-free. The consistency will be thick, much like a cake batter.
Baking the vegan cinnamon donuts
Once the batter is done, spoon it in the greased cavities of a donut pan till it is three-quarters full. This allows the donuts to rise well.
After a couple of trials, I figured out that it’s far easier and neater to use a Ziplock baggie to dispense the batter in the donut cavities. So, instead of spooning, I fill a baggie with the batter, snip off a corner, and pipe the batter in.
Slide the donut pan into the oven and keep an eye out as you don’t want to overbake. Mine was done in just under 12 minutes. To check if they are nice and soft, skewer them with a toothpick or knife right in the center.
Quick notes:
I used coconut sugar to bake the donuts because I love the slightly caramelized taste it imparts. Hence the warm, dark-ish tone to the donuts. If you use regular sugar, they’ll be the usual light brown in shade.
For the milk, I prefer homemade almond milk. You can pour in any plant-based, soy, or even regular milk. When you add vinegar to the milk, let it sit for 2 to 3 minutes till it curdles. Then add in coconut oil, which is what makes the donuts wonderfully light and springy.
While I’ve used regular all-purpose flour here, you can make the vegan baked cinnamon donuts gluten-free. Just switch it with buckwheat flour. I’ve made donuts with buckwheat before, so rest assured that the result will be delicious.
If you don't have a donut pan, you can use a muffin tray to bake up these lovely little treats.
Serving the Vegan Baked Cinnamon Donuts
While you wait for the donuts to bake your kitchen is filled with that wonderful cozy bakery smell that never, ever fails to invite, make the glaze.
I mixed almond milk, icing sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon powder and then drizzled it over the donuts after they had cooled down. To top it off and give the donuts an extra touch, I sprinkled some more cinnamon over the glaze!
Or you can go the extra mile, and drown them in chocolate glaze.
If you don’t want a glaze, make a crunchy topping by coarsely grinding sugar and mixing it with cinnamon. Dump the donuts on this powder and you have those dreamy, powdery donuts you see on Instagram all the time.
Cinnamon is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with and in the donuts, it works gorgeously. Super fluffy, really soft, and blissfully satisfying, making vegan baked cinnamon donuts is faster than ordering a takeaway from Dunkin Donuts or Krispy Kreme.
Even better, they’re tons healthier and are not cloyingly sweet. Isn't it just nicer to enjoy the pleasure of a donut without worrying about the crazy amount of sugar in it?
Half the joy of cooking is sharing it with others. That’s why I’m always eager to hear from you. So go right ahead & drop a comment or reach out on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, or Facebook. I hope you love these vegan baked donuts as much as we do!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Baked Cinnamon Donuts
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups All purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- 1/2 cup Coconut Sugar You can use regular white sugar too
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp Almond milk You can use any milk
- 1/2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar You can use white vinegar too
- 2 Tbsp Coconut oil You can use vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
Cinnamon Glaze
- 1/4 cup Icing sugar
- 1-2 tsp Almond milk You can use any milk
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 180 C. Grease cavities of a donut pan well.
- Combine the almond milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Whisk all the liquid ingredients - almond milk mixture, coconut oil and vanilla extract in another bowl.
- Pour over the dry ingredients and mix until combined. You may want to add another tbsp or so of milk to get a thick pouring consistency.
- Spoon or pipe the batter into the prepared pan, filling 3/4 of the way.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine were done in just about 12 minutes.
- Let the donuts rest for 5 minutes in the pan before turning them out on a cooling rack.
- For the topping, combine the icing sugar, almond milk and cinnamon powder till thick and smooth. Drizzle over the cooled doughnuts. Enjoy!
Marvellina @What To Cook Today says
I need to get a donut pan and I have buckwheat flour I want to use. In regards to green tinge, are you using lightroom for editing? If you are, on the right hand side under "HSL/Color/B&W" tab, click on saturation and then there are red, orange, green, etc choices where you can toggle to the left or right (toggle to the left will help to get rid of that green tinge).
natashaminocha says
Hi Marv!! Thank you for stopping by love! You'll do wonders with these donuts, I know 🙂
I'm not using Lightroom for editing, I do my basic edits on my IPhotos, on IMac. Yes I know...I NEED to get lightroom..will do this asap. Thanks so much love!xx