Vegan Double Chocolate Baked Donuts
Vegan double chocolate donuts? Oh yes! I’m telling you, these will be the answer to your prayers. These donuts are baked, not fried, and they’re beyond quick and easy to make.
The method is super simple and pretty standard for any of you bakers out there. Simply mix the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls, stir them together, then pour the batter into your donut pan (we love this silicone donut mold) and pop them in the oven to bake! While the donuts are baking you can quickly whisk together your glaze and set it in the fridge while the donuts bake.
It’s easy peasy, and if the thought of making donuts is intimidating to you, this recipe is here to change your mind. The ingredients are all likely ones that you already have in your pantry including flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, vegan butter, sugar, and non-dairy milk.
The recipe for these vegan chocolate donuts includes a delicious glaze which adds just a bit more sweetness to these already decadent donuts.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love These Vegan Chocolate Donuts
Indulging in these delectable vegan chocolate donuts is an experience you won’t want to miss. Here’s why you’re bound to fall head over heels for these sweet treats:
- Irresistible Chocolate Bliss: These donuts offer an intense and luscious chocolate flavor that’s sure to satisfy your sweet tooth and chocolate cravings. The combination of cocoa powder and vegan chocolate chips creates a rich and decadent treat.
- Vegan-Friendly Delight: Perfect for vegans and non-vegans alike, these donuts demonstrate that plant-based baking can be just as delicious and satisfying as traditional recipes. They’re dairy-free and egg-free, without compromising on taste or texture.
- Baked to Perfection: These donuts are baked, not fried, which means you can enjoy the wonderful texture of a classic donut without the extra oil. Baking them also simplifies the cooking process, making them a breeze to prepare.
- Perfect for Any Occasion: Whether it’s a weekend brunch, a birthday celebration, or a simple afternoon snack, these donuts are versatile and can be enjoyed on any occasion. Their elegant appearance also makes them an ideal choice for special events.
- Quick and Easy Preparation: With straightforward steps and readily available ingredients, you can whip up a batch of these donuts in no time. The detailed recipe ensures success, even for those new to vegan baking.
Key Ingredients
All-Purpose Flour: Make sure to measure your flour correctly, either by using a kitchen scale for precision or by fluffing the flour before measuring it to avoid using too much, which could make the donuts dense.
Cocoa Powder: Use unsweetened cocoa powder for a rich, chocolatey flavor. You can adjust the amount to control the intensity of chocolate in your donuts.
Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These leavening agents are essential for helping your donuts rise. Ensure they are fresh for the best results.
Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk: Opt for your preferred non-dairy milk, such as almond, soy, or oat. Ensure it’s unsweetened to control the sweetness of the donuts.
Sugar: Depending on your preference, choose between granulated sugar or cane sugar. Both work well for sweetening the donuts.
Vegan Butter: Use a high-quality vegan butter or margarine for a rich and buttery flavor in the donuts. Make sure it’s softened to room temperature for easy mixing.
Vanilla Extract: Select pure vanilla extract to enhance the overall flavor. Avoid imitation vanilla for the best taste.
Vegan Chocolate Chips or Chunks: Choose your favorite vegan chocolate chips or chunks. Dark chocolate will provide a more intense flavor, while semi-sweet or milk chocolate alternatives are also delicious.
Coconut Oil: Use refined coconut oil to avoid a strong coconut flavor in your donuts. It’s perfect for adding to the chocolate glaze for a glossy finish.
How To Make These Vegan Baked Donuts
You’ll love that these donuts are baked and not fried because the method is so much easier and also healthier. You can still achieve a delicious, cakey, and dense donut by baking them instead! It also saves a few steps and it’s less messy, plus you don’t have to worry about measuring oil temperatures and being safe using a fryer or hot pot full of oil. It’s also a side benefit that these particular donuts don’t leave a super heavy feeling in your belly like when you eat a traditional fried donut. Let’s get started!
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Mix the dry ingredients to ensure they are well combined and set this mixture aside. In a separate bowl, combine the non-dairy milk, sugar, vegan butter, and vanilla extract until the mixture is thoroughly blended.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk them together until you achieve a slightly thick batter.
- Gently grease your donut pan with vegan butter, and then use a spoon to evenly distribute the batter into each cavity.
- Place the filled donut pan in the center rack of your preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.
- While the donuts are baking, in a small microwave-safe bowl (large enough for dipping), melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each to avoid burning.
- After baking, allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer the partially cooled donuts to a wire rack to continue cooling.
- Dip each donut into the melted chocolate, allow excess chocolate to drip off, and then place the chocolate-dipped donuts on a cooling rack.
- Finally, chill them in the fridge for approximately 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Invest In A Donut Pan Or Silicone Mold
For this vegan baked donuts recipe, you’ll need a standard 6-cavity donut pan or silicone mold. You can find these at your local kitchen store, online, or maybe even your local thrift store, and they’re pretty inexpensive.
Since this recipe makes just 6 donuts, if you need to make more you can easily double the recipe and either use two pans or bake one batch and then bake the other batch after.
These donuts would be amazing for a birthday party or another event. They’re just as satisfying as cake and they’re even easier to serve and make. Perfect for those moments when you’re in a bind and don’t have a lot of time to bake before an event.
Topping Ideas
You can feel free to decorate these vegan chocolate donuts with some fun toppings if you’d like! After dipping the donuts the second time in the glaze, immediately sprinkle any desired toppings and place the donuts in the fridge so the glaze and toppings set nicely.
The topping possibilities are endless. You could use a variety of any of the following including vegan sprinkles, mini vegan chocolate chips, shredded coconut, graham cracker crumbs, cookie crumbs, mini marshmallows, candies, crushed nuts, fresh fruit, and more!
Just be careful of a few ingredients that may not be vegan in toppings like candies and sprinkles. And remember, some food colorings aren’t vegan. Furthermore, some other ingredients like gelatin, shellac, and other additives found in candies are also derived from animal products.
In this day and age, we’re so lucky to have so many brands that are not only committed to making vegan products, but also put the effort into labeling the products as fully vegan. There are also many accidentally vegan products, so just do a little bit of research if you’re unsure.
Substitutions And Add-Ins
There are a few ingredient substitutions that you’re welcome to make. If you don’t want to use vegan butter you can definitely use virgin or refined coconut oil. Virgin coconut oil carries with it a heavy coconut flavor, and refined coconut oil has no coconut flavor at all! You can also use cane sugar in place of regular sugar if desired. Replace all of these ingredients 1 for 1 if you are doing so.
The original recipe suggests the use regular baking cocoa, but you can absolutely use raw cacao powder if that’s what you have in your pantry. While I haven’t experimented with the recipe, you could add some other ingredients that compliment chocolate like fresh strawberries, banana, or peanut butter to the batter. With baking there is always room for creativity!
The Power Of Cocoa
Not that these donuts are a health food, but did you know that cocoa is actually an extremely healthy ingredient? Cocoa is amazing because it’s rich in a variety of b vitamins, and also minerals including manganese, magnesium, iron, and zinc. It’s also very high on the ORAC scale, which measures foods for their antioxidant levels.
Moreover, cocoa increases serotonin, which is one of your main happy hormones, since it’s rich in tryptophan. This scientifically explains why chocolate is just so soul-soothing and mood-enhancing.
The nutrients are even more rich in raw cacao powder since this is the most raw form of cocoa powder. As mentioned above you can use either option. I highly advocate to buy fair trade cocoa if you can which supports fair wages, fair treatment of farmers, and also supports small local farms in underdeveloped countries.
With that, cheers, and enjoy!
Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of unsweetened non-dairy milk, room temperature
- ⅓ – ½ cup sugar or cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted or room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips or chunks
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. Mix to combine and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, sugar, butter, and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. The batter will be slightly thick, which is what you want.
- Gently grease the donut pan with vegan butter. Use a spoon to scoop the batter into the pan, distributing it evenly between each cavity.
- Bake the donuts in the center rack of your oven for 10 minutes.
- While the donuts are baking, add the chocolate chips and and coconut oil into a small bowl (just big enough to dip the donuts into), and melt in the microwave (in 30 second increments, stirring between each to prevent burning).
- Remove the donuts from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
- Transfer the donuts to a wire rack and allow them to cool further.
- Dip the donuts in the melted chocolate, place on a cooling rack and allow excess chocolate to drip off, and then then place them in the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Vegan chocolate donuts recipe by Kathy Chrzaszcz for World of Vegan. Recipe and photographs copyright of World of Vegan™, all rights reserved.
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Wonderful chocolate doughnut recipe. I made mine in silicone moulds and I was really pleased with them.
The donuts came great! We are definitely making this recipe again. We used brown sugar cane and almond milk.
These came out beautifully! Can’t wait to play with different decorative toppings.
Nice recipe for vegan donuts. I have been making them in silicone moulds and they were just great. Will take a look at some others of your recipes. Keep on the good work!
Thanks, Matej! So glad you like them, I’m so excited you’re eager to try more recipes!! There ready and waiting for you 🙂 Cheers, -Michelle
Chocolate donuts are the BEST! I can’t believe how rich, moist and chocolate-y these are – no one would believe they’re vegan. The glaze is perfect and I have to be careful not to make them too often…mostly because I’ll eat them all! Such a great recipe!
I got a donut pan for Christmas a few years ago and now I LOVE making baked vegan donuts! So fun decorating them too 🙂 I use a brand called Fancy Sprinkles that make the most gorgeous vegan sprinkles!
I love donuts, and especially love the texture of these. And who doesn’t love chocolate? The glaze adds just the right amount of sweetness.
These Donuts are a dream! I love the fact that they are baked and I don’t have to get messy with oil in my kitchen 🙂 Delicious!