These vegan golden milk doughnuts get their brilliant glow from turmeric, and their toasty flavor from chai-spices! Topped with rich cashew frosting, they're the perfect sweet way to celebrate fall.
Even though I don't do a whole lot of Halloween-themed recipes on this blog, it's one of my favorite holidays. When I was in my teens I worked an after-school job cranking out soft serve cones, and every employee dressed up every day of October, preferably in a different costume for each shift. Back then I sported the goth look on normal days, and around Halloween I'd be inclined to wear something totally out of character, like a pink tutu or ballgown. It was all in good fun. One time I even dressed up as a fellow employee, and she as me. This meant me showing up for work with golden curls in a pair of jeans, and her in a long black wig and too much eyeliner. Only the regular customers really knew what was going on with that one.
These days, while I still appreciate the holiday, my own personal festivities are a bit more limited to more subdued stuff than pink tutus. Like sweets! There will always be a place for Halloween sweets in my life, even if they're not the type that come out of soft serve machines or in plastic wrappers. In fact, I generally find it's a good idea to keep some homemade sweets around. I'm more inclined to reach for them than any packaged candy that makes it's way into my home, and I can control what goes into them.
Is it weird to throw turmeric into doughnuts? It depends on how you look at it. On the one hand, turmeric is about as healthy as it gets, and the ingredient I have to thank for a pain free hand. On the other hand, doughnuts. But here's the thing: as far as doughnuts go, these are pretty darn reasonable. They're not too sweet, and they're baked! They also pack a nice dose of toasty chai spices, so they're perfectly suited for fall celebrations.
If you're new to doughnut baking, it's really pretty much the same thing as muffin baking. Just grab yourself a doughnut pan and get to it. The batter is similar to muffin batter. I went with spelt as my choice of flour, because it's my favorite, with it's slightly nutty flavor.
Chai Golden Milk Doughnuts
Ingredients
For the Chai Golden Milk Doughnuts
- 2 cups spelt flour
- ½ cup coconut sugar, brown sugar works too
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric*
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ½ cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Cashew Frosting
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 to 8 hours and drained
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup Silk Unsweetened Soymilk
Instructions
Make the Golden Milk Doughnuts
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Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly oil a 12 cavity doughnut pan.
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In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together milk, oil and vanilla. Pour wet mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
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Spoon batter into doughnut cavities. Bake until doughnuts spring back when lightly touched, about 12 minutes.
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Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Make the Cashew Frosting
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Place all ingredients into food processor bowl and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add a few more splashes of milk to thin if needed.
Finish and Serve
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Spoon frosting into a bowl. Dip the top of each doughnut into frosting, or spread it with a knife. Optionally, sprinkle the tops with cinnamon. Serve.
Recipe Notes
You'll probably have some extra frosting. It goes great on all kinds of sweets, or you can place it into a sealed container and freeze it for later. *If you're nervous about the turmeric flavor, start with half the amount, taste the batter and add from there. Using the full amount, I could just barely detect the flavor in the doughnuts.
Will try making these. These spices, including the turmeric, go in one of my favorite milk teas! How many minutes for the baking time?
Sorry about that! It's 12 minutes. I've corrected that in the recipe. Thanks for catching it! Enjoy! :)
Hi there! Thank you for this recipe, and I'm looking forward to trying it out for an upcoming potluck. Could you give a recommendation for an alternate cooking pan style? I have a normal sized muffin pan; do you think this would work? Anything to keep in mind when using a muffin pan for this recipe?
Thank you!
I think so! I haven't tried it as muffins, but the batter is very similar to muffin batter. Usually muffins take a bit longer, but to be on the safe side I'd start checking around 12 minutes. They're done when the tops spring back when lightly touched - I'd say about 20 minutes if I had to guess. I'd love to hear how it works if you try this as muffins. :)
Hi!
Can I replace the spelt flour? maybe GF flour?
Thank you! :)
I usually have luck replacing spelt with all purpose flour. If you're looking for a gluten-free variation, maybe try an all-purpose one-to-one gluten-free blend. I'd love to hear how it works if you try. :)
Hello! These sound utterly gorgeous, but I'm having trouble finding a doughnut baking tray. Would this recipe work with a cupcake/muffin baking tray? :)
Hi Kate! The batter is pretty similar to a muffin batter, so I think it would work. I've also made doughnut holes using similar recipes by dropping scoops of the batter on a greased baking sheet. The only think to be careful of either way is the baking time - I think muffins might take a tad longer, and doughnut holes might cook up a bit quicker.