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I’ve always liked donuts. When I was a kid, donuts were a special treat on the way to the balloon fiesta in New Mexico. I always picked the chocolate filled donut or one with lots of sprinkles. During the time I worked at Dunkin, I usually grabbed the glazed blueberry. In general as an adult, I tend to go for some sort of glazed donut, although in recent years, I haven’t been able to enjoy them as much because not too many places sell gluten free donuts. So of course, like any other food I miss, I decided to come up with my own gluten free alternative!
One of the biggest factors in making gluten free donuts is getting a donut pan to bake them in the oven. I don’t know if these would hold up to a typical donut frying method, but baking works magnificently and they turn out every time. If you’ve been around for any length of time, you know my favorite brand of bakeware is USA Pans, and the donut pans, while a splurge, are definitely worth the price if you find yourself making donuts often.
Helpful Tools for Making Donuts:
- 2 donut pans (I like these from USA pan)
- A cooling rack and half sheet pan (these are the ones I have)
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula
- Whisk
- Parchment paper for easier cleanup when glazing
All of the donut recipes I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks are easy to halve, so if for some reason you don’t want an entire dozen donuts at a time (or you only have one donut pan), feel free to make a half batch. They’re yummy though, so I bet they won’t last long!
Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Donuts
Makes 12 donuts
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 3 Tbsp. melted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- For glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp. milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In medium bowl, mix all ingredients except glaze together. Scoop into greased donut pans.
Bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely in pans before turning out onto rack.
In small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and milk for a thick glaze. Dip each donut into the glaze, and place on the rack to set. Spread any extra glaze on the donuts as needed.
Chocolate cake donuts are a favorite with my children, although I’m more partial to the pumpkin flavor myself, and you really can’t go wrong with an original either. Basically, eat all the donuts. Enjoy!
More Donut Recipes:
- Gluten Free Glazed Cake Donuts
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Donuts
- Gluten Free Blueberry Donuts (coming soon!)
wat i can use instead of powered sugar i am a diabetic thak you santiago
You could make these without the glaze to lower the sugar somewhat, although there is still sugar in the donut itself. I’m not sure what you might want to substitute otherwise.
erythritol works as a great sugar substitute. It is a sugar alcohol but doens’t cause gastric distress. Use 1:1 in the recipe.
Erythritol is horrible for you. Maybe use monk fruit or xylitol?
These were great! I used 50/50 dark cocoa and milk cocoa and they are perfect!
Swerve has a powdered sugar that is an easy sub for regular powdered sugar.
There is alternative sweeteners that are powdered
I use swerve powdered sugar as it’s a sugar substitute so it might hi
They also have granulated sugar and brown sugar… are you substituting those? You can take a granulated sugar substitute and grind it into powdered sugar.
Can you sub cassava flour? My son is allergic to tree nuts and the bob’s flour has a warning for cross-contamination
I don’t have a ton of experience with cassava flour. If it acts similarly to a gluten free flour blend, then it would probably work. Let me know if you try it!
Cup 4 cup is a nut free gf flour
What about chickpea flour or sorghum they would work but would be dense and possya nutty y
Can I use almond milk to make them dairy free?
I haven’t tried that with this particular recipe, but I believe that would work.
Can these be fried in a deep fryer
I made these today and my husband said they were delicious!
I made these tonight and they were fantastic! I used King Arthur gf all purpose flour and vanilla almond milk. The donuts came out perfect. I also made a double batch of icing with the vanilla almond milk. I haven’t had a chocolate glazed donut in over 15 years.
Really good
Thank you for sharing!
Any update on the blueberry cake donut recipe? I am gluten free as well and those were always my absolute favorite donuts—but as you know it’s near impossible to find those gluten free! There was a place in Knoxville, TN that had them (I bought a couple dozen to bring home and freeze) and found out they closed down. I’ve tried making them myself and was highly disappointed to say the least! I saw that you were working on it but couldn’t find it.
Do you refrigerate these or do they stay room temp?
I keep them in a container with a lid on the counter for a few days. They’re best the day they’re baked but we usually have a few that make it an extra day or two.
Can I make these as muffins instead of donuts?
You could try. I’ve had success with using muffin mixes like Simple Mills as donuts, so in theory it should work the other way. Or you can try one of my other muffin recipes with oat flour.