The best thing about these vegan donuts is how easy they are to make! Everyone will love these cinnamon sugar coated donuts that are baked, not fried.
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Would you like to have fresh, warm donuts in just 20 minutes? That’s all it takes to make these EASY Cinnamon Sugar Coated Vegan Donuts! Perfect to enjoy along with a nice cup of tea or coffee.
The only special tool you will need is a donut pan. I highly recommend getting one (or two) so you can make your very own baked vegan donuts at home! It’s such a fun thing to bake with kids, and pretty hard to mess up. If you don’t have a donut pan and want to make these like NOW, you can make them in a muffin pan instead! But they are so much better in a donut pan.
How do you make baked vegan donuts?
It’s so easy. First, whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then, pour in the soy milk, applesauce, melted vegan butter and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Spoon into a greased donut pan. Bake for about 9-10 minutes, until lightly golden brown on the sides.
Let the donuts cool in the pan for a few minutes, then carefully pop them out and transfer to a wire rack with a large sheet of parchment paper underneath it (to catch the mess).
Dunk them into melted vegan butter, on each side, then into cinnamon sugar. Coat with the cinnamon sugar all over, then place back on the wire rack.
Substitutions & Tips
- Oil Free: For oil free donuts, you could skip the melted vegan butter in both the batter and the coating. The cinnamon sugar still sticks but the donuts will taste much lighter.
- Gluten Free: I haven’t tested it, but a decent gluten free flour blend should work well here. Don’t try subbing all almond flour, that will not work.
- Other flours: Whole wheat pastry flour will work, or white whole wheat, perhaps even oat flour or spelt flour though I haven’t tested those.
- Don’t have applesauce? Simply substitute an extra tablespoon of melted vegan butter instead.
- Non-dairy milk: It is fine to use any non-dairy milk here in place of soy milk, such as almond, coconut or oat milk.
I think you will LOVE these donuts! They are
- Baked, not fried, so much lighter than regular donuts
- Perfectly sweet with a delicious cinnamon sugar coating
- Quick & easy to make
- So fun for kids to help bake!
- Made with easy to find ingredients
Want more vegan donut or muffin recipes?
- Vegan Chocolate Glazed Donuts
- Vegan Chocolate Donuts
- 1 Bowl Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Easy Vegan Banana Muffins
Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons soy milk
- 1 tablespoon applesauce
- 1 tablespoon melted vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a donut pan with non-stick spray.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Pour the soy milk, applesauce, melted vegan butter (1 tablespoon) and vanilla into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix well with a large wooden spoon to combine. The batter will be similar to cake batter; not too thick but not very runny either.
- Spoon the batter into the donut pan, OR fill a large ziplock bag with the batter, cut a hole in the corner and pipe into the pan, filling about 3/4 of the way full. Be careful not to overfill, as the donuts will rise and you might lose the "hole" of your donut.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. If your donut pan is larger than mine, they could take a few extra minutes to bake. Let cool for two or three minutes in the pan, then carefully transfer to a wire rack with a large piece of parchment paper beneath it (to help with the mess).
For the Topping
- Stir together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a medium bowl, and melt the vegan butter in a separate bowl.
- Dip the donuts into the melted butter, both sides or just one side if you prefer. Then dunk the donut into the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
- Serve immediately, or within one day for best results. Leftover donuts will keep for two days at most, covered and at room temperature.
Video
Notes
- May substitute whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour for the all purpose flour. I haven't tested them with gluten-free flour, but it would likely work.
- May use any kind of non-dairy milk in place of the soy milk.
- These donuts should freeze well, though I haven't tested it. Simply freeze, then thaw overnight and perhaps warm in the microwave.
- If you don't have a donut pan, consider making these as little muffins instead! Bake at the same temperature for 18-20 minutes, then coat in the melted vegan butter and cinnamon sugar.
- For oil free donuts, simply omit the melted vegan butter in the batter and the coating. The cinnamon sugar will still stick, but the donuts will taste lighter and less rich.
Nutrition
*This recipe was originally published in December of 2018, and has been reposted with new photos and some additional tips and substitutions. The recipe in unchanged.
I love this recipe, I bake them in small paper cupcakes, and they come out like little balls.. YUMMY!!
Thanks, ?
Hi Deb. That sounds fun! I’m so glad you love the donuts! Thank you!
This recipe is a winner! Left the vegan butter out to make it oil free and no one missed it. Next time I may experiment with healthier sugar alternatives. Mine also took twice as long but my donut pan is likely bigger. Perfect texture and flavor!
Hi Jaime. I’m glad you loved the donuts! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Nora, Thank you for this fabulous recipe! I’m usually not a fan of donuts, but luckily the taste of butter covered the flavor right up. This is my new go-to recipe!
Made exactly by recipe and turned out great! Only thing we’ll change next time is to only do one side. Kids wanted both sides dipped so we did. Was way too much butter/sugar though.
Can you make the batter in advance?
I’ve never tried it, but it probably would work, overnight or so. I wouldn’t wait too long though.
These are so good and so easy to make. Thank you for a wonderful keeper of a recipe!
I made these vegan donuts and they turned out very nice. My kids loved them.
I used the cupcake pan since I do not have a donut pan, but it worked well.
I also use your recipe to make the vegan chocolate cake which turns out nice too.
Both recipes are very easy to follow and make.
Thank you.
One more thing to add, I used half cup all purpose flour and half cup almond flour in the recipe.
You’re welcome!
These were absolutely delicious! Quick to make, light and fluffy, what more could you ask for!
I’ve been making these a lot, they are so easy and delicious. Today, I did some things differently but one was intentional. I decided to top the donuts with some coconut bacon flakes I had left over. I tried with maple syrup first but of course they did not stick well (but it was tasty). They stayed better using butter as if I was topping with the cinnamon sugar mix. Next time I might try a confectioner sugar icing. The other: I’m not sure if I mixed it improperly or mis-measured the milk, maybe overheated the butter but the donuts were kind of gooey this time.
That sounds quite amazing! If they were gooey, just make sure they bake all the way, it sounds like they were undercooked. And of course, measure everything correctly. Thank you!
These are so easy and fabulous! My go to recipe:)
These were absolutely delicious and super easy to make! I used mini muffin trays and made timbits. I baked them in the oven on the same temp but for about 12 minutes and they were done. We will definitely make these again!
My kids and I love these donuts with and without the topping. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
Wonderful just what I have been hoping for, thank you so much
Do you know if the sugar could be substituted? For maybe date sugar or Maple syrup?
I’m happy you enjoyed the donuts. Date sugar would be your best choice here, or any granulated type sugar. Thank you!
Beautiful! Totally fool proof and above all child-approved! Thank you for sharing this recipe 🙂
You’re welcome!
Absolutely delicious, the best thing I’ve baked in the past few months (when I started baking!)
After cooling them for a few minutes, I brushed the wire pan of my air fryer with very little oil, placed the donuts on it, brushed them lightly with oil, and air fried them at 350 F for two minutes on each side.
The results were magical! Crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside.
I skipped the extra oil at the end and just dunked them in sugar and cinnamon.
Easy and very delicious! Perfect pair with a morning cup of coffee.
Extremely delicious recipe! So easy to make! My roommates destroyed the plate of donuts in minutes. The recipe seems like it would be really easy to modify to make other flavors. I already have ideas for variations! First up, I think I’ll replace the milk alternative with almond nog to make a vegan egg nog donut! Hope it works out!
So glad you enjoyed them!
My son has wheat and dairy allergy. I’ve made these in a mini cupcakes tin using quinoa flour (rinse whole quinoa, bake, cool, grind into flour). It was a hit!! My 15m old absolutely gobbled them up!! Thank you so much for such an easy recipe!!
That sounds so fun! Thanks for sharing.
Another delicious simple vegan recipe!
These were really good. I think I prefer them not dipped in the vegan butter but I don’t normally eat oil. So it seemed a little too rich that way. The flavor and texture is fantastic. Will def make again!
And…..these are delicious!!!!
In the oven right now!!! Smells are wonderful!!!
I have been trying to jump on the idea that my wife doesn’t want us to lean twoards a vegan lifestyle. We started with meatless Monday’s and so on. So I decided to inspire myself and give these a try. I made my own vegan butter as we didn’t have any at hand and followed the directions given. For some reason though my donuts did not rise. Is there something different I can try? I did use unsweetened almond milk. I had just opened it and it was at room temp. Could that have been why?
That she DOES want us to lean towards that lifestyle. lol sorry.
That’s great! So there is only 1 tablespoon of vegan butter called for, so that wouldn’t make a difference in the donuts rising. It makes me wonder if you have a bad batch of baking powder, or could you have forgotten to add it in? Because that’s what will make them rise. The almond milk would not have affected it either.
I made these this morning and they were WONDERFUL. Moist and delicious, everyone loved them. I did use unsweetened almond milk instead of soy milk and coconut oil instead of the apple sauce. Will be making these again, thank you!!
You’re welcome!