Doughnuts are a thing in this house. There is nothing better than a fresh doughnut with a cup of coffee but they used to be a once-in-a-while treat. Well, not any more with this dairy-free doughnuts recipe. I love the dairy-free doughnuts Krispy Kreme sells for a freshly fried treat, but I have discovered how easy it is to make dairy-free baked doughnuts at home, much to my children’s delight. These mini doughnuts are perfect for a mouth-watering, bite-size treat!
These are quick and simple to make, so even my children give them a go. If they are too young to do the baking, then they will have just as much fun icing them. Whether you are looking for something warm and sugary to go with your coffee or tea, or a small (but tempting) sweet treat to satisfy those sugar cravings you cannot really go wrong. My children love baking these as it means they can take them for school snacks and love to share them with their friends.
These dairy-free doughnuts are so easy to make that once you have tried them there will be no stopping you!
- Perfect for lunchboxes
- Parties
- School snacks
- Perfect accompaniment with your coffee or tea
- Easy, no fuss recipe
- Baked not fried so less fat
- Fun to decorate with kids
- Doughnut recipe without yeast, so no proving time
- Quick and simple
- Suitable for freezing
- No special ingredients
Special Equipment
You will need a doughnut pan for these dairy free doughnuts. I have used the Wilton mini doughnut pan which makes 12 bite-sized doughnuts. You will also need a piping bag and nozzle to make it easier to pipe the batter into the pan.
I have posted a link to the pan I bought from Amazon for your information. (I am not affiliated with Amazon or anyone else)
Other than a doughnut pan and a piping bag and nozzle you will need basic baking equipment of two mixing bowls, either an electric mixer or spoon to mix by hand and weighing scales. I do have a Kenwood Chef stand mixer I could use and my children have a small handheld electric mixer but honestly, you can just use a wooden spoon to make this recipe. I always make this by hand with a wooden spoon as it is so easy to do, as long as your dairy-free butter is properly softened.
The FUN part is deciding what toppings to use. Below are just a few suggestions.
- Add some maple syrup to your icing sugar
- Crushed Oreos on top of your glazed doughnuts
- Traditional white or pink icing glaze with sprinkles
- Just dip the doughnuts in a bag of caster sugar to coat them
- Add mini marshmallows on top of the icing glaze
- Substitute lemon juice instead of water to make a lemon glaze
- Drizzle with dairy-free, melted chocolate
- Dip them in dairy-free chocolate
I think there needs to be a separate post dedicated to icing these dairy-free doughnuts.
Useful tips when making your doughnuts.
These doughnuts are made using an easy doughnut recipe but here are a few handy hints to help.
- Before you start, ensure that your dairy-free baking block is properly softened to make it easier to cream with the sugar.
- When filling your piping bag (or sandwich bag) it might help if you put the piping bag in a tall glass to hold it open for you when you fill it with the doughnut batter.
- I used a Wilton no.12 piping nozzle which has a hole of about 7 – 8 mm and fits in a 25 cm Wilton piping bag.
- Use a non-metal utensil to loosen the doughnuts if required but don’t forget to grease the pan!
Dairy-free doughnuts recipe
I cannot take credit for the original recipe which you can find on Wilton’s website but for dairy free doughnuts, you will need to substitute the butter and milk.
https://www.wilton.co.uk/recipes/doughnuts/baked-doughnuts-plain-chocolate-and-spiced-sugar-coated
The recipe below is based on the Wilton one with the dairy-free substitutes included.
Dairy Free Doughnuts
Equipment
- 12 hole mini doughnut pan
- piping bag and nozzle Or use a sandwich bag with the end cut off.
- 2 mixing bowls and spoon to mix. Or electric hand whisk or food mixer instead of spoon
- sieve
- mini spatula or other small non-metal utensil
- 1 or 2 sandwich bags
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 85 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
- A few drops vanilla essence
- 60 ml dairy free milk
- 70 g dairy free baking block
- 65 g castor sugar
- 1 egg
- Cake release or grease for tin.
Sugar Coating
- 30 g sugar
- 1 tsp cinammon
- sandwich bag (or bowl if you prefer)
Glace Icing
- 340 g icing sugar
- 2-3 tbsp water to mix
- food colouring as required
- deep bowl for dipping
- wire rack
Instructions
Dairy Free Doughnut batter
- Pre-heat your oven to 180c or Gas 4. Grease the 12 hole doughnut pan thoroughly or you can use cake release spray, but check the ingredients of the spay are suitable for whoever is going to be eating them.
- Cream the dairy free baking block and castor sugar together in a mixing bowl until it is combined to a light and fluffy mixture. You should really notice the mixture lighten in colour.
- Add beaten egg a little at a time.
- Mix dairy free milk and vanilla essence together.
- In a separate bowl sieve flour, salt, baking powder and spice together.
- Alternately add flour and milk mixtures folding in as you go. It is important to alternate these two so as not to end up with a curdled batter.
- Put the tip in the piping bag if you are using one and fill with the doughnut batter. Pipe the batter evenly into the 12 doughnut rings. Do not over fill the rings, you are looking to fill each one about half full.
- If you don't have a piping bag and suitable nozzle then try cutting the corner off of a sandwich bag instead.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the sides pull away from the edges. The time will depend on your oven. For our oven, it is closer to 14 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for around 5 minutes before trying to remove them.
- If they do not come away easily, try loosening the edges with a non metal spatula. I have a small mini spatula that is perfect for this. I then gently twist the top of the doughnut and they should release from the pan.
- If wanting to freeze your doughnuts, allow to cool and freeze before adding any coatings or toppings.
Sugar Coating
- If you wish to serve them warm and fresh then you cannot go wrong with coating them in cinammon sugar. Simply mix the 30g of sugar and 1tsp of cinammon together in a sandwish bag and toss the doughnuts in the mixture. Serve.
Glace Icing
- It may feel like this is a lot of icing for the amount of doughnuts but I have found you need quite a deep well of icing for this to work best.
- Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. It's important to sieve the icing sugar to remove lumps so as not to spoil the appearance of your doughnuts.
- Add 2 tablespoons of water and mix. You are looking for icing with quite a thick consistency but it still needs to drip in ribbons back into the bowl, leaving a trail for at least a few seconds. Carefully add more water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time until you reach the correct consistency. I have found that I only need about 3 tablespoons of water in total but better to add gradually.
- Add any food colouring you wish and double check consistency. Add a little extra sifted icing sugar if required.
- Continue using the same bowl or transfer into a bowl which ensures the icing is forming a deep well rather than shallow and wide. Dip the top side of the doughnut into the icing. Lift and allow excess to run off.
- Place on a wire rack to set. It's a good idea to place a baking tray or some kitchen paper under the wire rack to catch any drips and sprinkles.
- Add any sprinkles you choose as soon as you have dipped the doughnut and allow to set.
- Best eaten the same day unless freezing.
Freezing
- If you intend to freeze these doughnuts, then freeze before adding any toppings or coating in sugar.
- Defrost thoroughly before use.
Notes
If you are using food colouring then you may wish to check out this post which mentions my favourite food colouring gel from Sugar Flair. I used a very small amount Sugar Flair Ice Blue gel to colour my glace icing that you can see in the photos.
https://www.ultimatedairyfree.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1663&action=edit
