These scrumptious vegan doughnuts are baked (not fried!), flavored with zesty lemon, sweet shredded coconut, and drizzled in a tangy lemon glaze!
I've had this donut pan sitting at the back of my pantry for quite some time now. This happens a lot. I learn about something I haven't cooked yet, in this case baked donuts, get all excited and buy the necessary ingredients or equipment, and then forget about this new awesome food that I wanted to make until one day it falls from the pantry shelf and hits me in the head. In this instance the timing couldn't have been better. Everything soon came together in the form of lemon coconut donuts.
I found eating baked donuts from my donut pan to be oddly satisfying. Yeah, I recognize that the point is to feel like you're eating something fried and thus way badder than you really are, and I usually don't buy into that kind of thing, but I really think it works here! I should also mention that you can achieve this without a donut pan (even thought the donut pan rocks), by just rolling your dough into donut holes. Donut holes are really satisfying too. You just gotta eat a few more of them ;)
Vegan Lemon Coconut Donuts
These scrumptious vegan doughnuts are baked (not fried!), flavored with zesty lemon, sweet shredded coconut, and drizzled in a tangy lemon glaze!
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 margarine at room temperature
- â…“ 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 and spray donut pans or baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
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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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If you're making the "full" donut form of this recipe, distribute dough among donut forms. I found the best way to do this was by spreading it around with my hands. Otherwise, just roll dough into 24 balls and place on baking sheet.
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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.