These scrumptious vegan lemon doughnuts are baked (not fried!), so they're super easy to whip up at a moment's notice! Flavored with zesty lemon, sweet shredded coconut, and drizzled in a tangy lemon glaze, they're perfect for dessert or a sweet indulgent breakfast!
These vegan lemon doughnuts are a delicious and super easy way to satisfy your doughnut cravings. These babies are baked, making them super easy to whip up. No deep frying required!
There are plenty of ways to do baked doughnuts, but I love the combination of zippy lemon and flaky coconut in these. Every bite is like a mouthful of sunshine.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Water.
- Ground flaxseed. This is our egg replacer for our vegan doughnuts. Learn more about that in this guide to vegan egg substitutes in baked goods.
- Whole wheat pastry flour. This is one of my favorite flours for baking, but you can use all-purpose flour instead if you prefer.
- Baking soda.
- Salt.
- Lemon zest.
- Vegan butter. This ingredient is available at most supermarkets, right next to the regular butter. Earth Balance, Melt and Miyoko's are some popular brands to look out for.
- Sugar. Make sure you're using organic granulated sugar. Conventional sugar is often processed using animal bone char, so you'll want to avoid it to keep the recipe vegan.
- Non-dairy milk. Use an unsweetened and unflavored variety. Pretty much anything other than canned coconut milk will work, but if you need guidance, check out my guide to non-dairy milks.
- Lemon extract.
- Shredded coconut. Unsweetened or sweetened shredded coconut can be used, but make sure if you use sweetened that the label indicates that it's vegan, as the sugar used may not be.
- Lemon juice.
- Powdered sugar. Again, make sure this is organic.
How They're Made
- First make your flax egg. Stir the water and flaxseed together in a small container and let it sit while you gather your remaining ingredients. It will gel after a few minutes.
- Whisk together your dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, and sugar.
- Combine the butter and flour mixtures. Stir in the milk and lemon extract.
- Stir the dough together, then fold in the coconut.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled doughnut pan. A pastry bag works well for this, but you could also roll it into little snakes by hand and place each one into a doughnut cavity.
- Pop the doughnut pan into the oven to bake.
- Stir the lemon juice and powdered sugar together to make the glaze while your doughnuts bake. Add more lemon juice if it seems too thick, or more powdered sugar if it's too thin.
- Place the doughnut pan on a cooling rack when the bake time is up, then carefully remove the doughnuts and dip each one in the glaze. Optionally sprinkle the tops with some additional coconut.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Vegan lemon doughnuts will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, in the fridge for about 1 week, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Vegan Doughnut Recipes
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Vegan Lemon Doughnuts
These scrumptious vegan lemon doughnuts are baked (not fried!), so they're super easy to whip up at a moment's notice! Flavored with zesty lemon, sweet shredded coconut, and drizzled in a tangy lemon glaze, they're perfect for dessert or a sweet indulgent breakfast!
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 3 tbsp. water
- 1 tbsp. ground flax seeds
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour could sub all purpose
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. lemon zest
- ¼ cup vegan butter at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup unflavored unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp. lemon extract
- 1 cup shredded coconut divided
For the Glaze
- juice of ½ lemon
- ½ to ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Make the Donuts
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Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil an 8 cavity doughnut pan.
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Whisk together flax seeds and water. Set aside and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.
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Meanwhile, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in small bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together margarine and sugar.
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Add flax mixture then milk, maybe just a bit at a time to avoid splashing, and lemon extract.
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Add in dry ingredients and blend until a uniform dough is formed. Fold in ½ cup coconut.
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Divide the dough among the cavities of the doughnut pan. You can use a pastry bag or gently roll it by hand and place it in the cavities.
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Bake for 12 minutes.
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Remove from oven, allow to cool and remove from pan before glazing.
Make the Glaze
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While baking, whisk glaze ingredients together, using as much powdered sugar as needed to get the right consistency.
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Drizzle glaze over donuts and top with remaining ½ cup of coconut.
Where is the recipe for the lemon donuts? I have tried with Safari and Chrome and I've updated my flash player. No recipe. Cruel.
Sorry! I found a technical glitch that was causing the recipe not to display. I think it should be fixed now.
Hoping this recipe works well in a mini donut maker! These are a MUST-try!!! :)
I haven't tried mini donuts, but I think they'll work! Hope you enjoy!!
Any idea about nutrition info for these (not that it really matters since they're in the oven baking ?)
I don't usually calculate nutrition info, but this is a great tool if you'd like to take a crack at it. :)
Using what I had on hand, I used all purpose flour, sweetened almond milk, vanilla instead lemon flavor, and chia seeds instead of flax. I reduced sugar to 1/4 cup and baking powder to 1 tsp because of high altitude where I live.. The result was 18 lovely little cakes with a fine texture. I will freeze them till needed, and then glaze them and top them with toasted coconut. Our vegan friend will be delighted!
Awesome! I hope you and your vegan friend enjoy them!!
I made these. They turned out so delicious. I had to use a lot of sugar for the icing (2.5 cups).
Thanks Natalie! I'm glad you enjoyed them!
My family really enjoyed these. Thank you! :)
I'm glad they were a hit!
These were great! I didn't have lemons, so I used limes instead (including a bit of lime juice in the batter instead of extract). I also substituted three Tbsp aquafaba for the flax egg. My cooking time was 20 minutes. The texture was divine and the flavor was so delicate; my non-vegan husband ate four in one sitting!
I'm so glad they were a hit! Thanks Jennifer!!
How to make gluten free?
I would try subbing a one-to-one gluten-free flour blend. Bob's Red Mill ususally works for me, but I haven't tested it with this recipe, so no guarantees!
Can these be frozen for later??
I haven't frozen them, but I'm pretty sure they'd be fine. Just seal them up tightly in a freezer bag or container and you should be good to go. :)
Made these donuts this morning and they were a hit with the entire family! They are light, moist and full of lemon flavor! Will be making these again! Thanks, Alissa!
I'm so happy to hear that!! Thanks Kathleen!
The texture was outstanding. Very soft. I did have some issues getting the glaze to a consistency that wasn’t absorbed by the donut. Still good thoufh.
I'm so glad you liked them! Thanks Sheila!
Can you use vegan butter if you don't have margarine?
Yup! They're actually the same thing. :)
Can you substitute olive, canola or vegetable oil for the vegan butter?
I think any of those would work, but I can't make any promises as I haven't tested the recipe with them.