These vegan donuts with chocolate glaze and hazelnuts are pure decadence! But they are baked, therefore, super fluffy and oil-free! Have some of these goodies!
Actually I’ve never been a big donut fan before I turned vegan. I’d always take muffins and cookies over donuts any time. Mostly because I don’t like that a lot of them are super sweet. But now that I tried so many new things in the last couple of months, I thought what the heck why not just give vegan donuts a try. So I ended up with these delicious donuts with chocolate glaze and hazelnuts.
Can You Eat Donuts as a Vegan?
Admittedly, it is a bit harder to eat donuts as a vegan, but you definitely can. The only thing that is actually harder as a vegan, is to get store-bought donuts. Store-bought donuts mostly contain milk, eggs and butter. Plus, the chocolate glaze often contains butter.
Dunkin Donuts, for example, does not (yet) offer vegan donuts. However, they offer vegan bagels, muffins and hash browns. If you want to check their vegan options, have a look here. If you want to have homemade-donuts, vegan donuts are super easy to make.
Are Vegan Donuts Good For You?
Yes, definitely better than regular donuts! Because they don’t contain eggs and dairy products, they are free of cholesterol and saturated fat. Plus, usually you bake homemade vegan donuts and don’t fry them. Therefore, are overall lower in fat.
Some vegan donuts also use black beans or chickpeas as a basis, instead of flour. This way you not only get a super delicious treat but also one that is packed with proteins!
It’s probably hard to believe, but I used kidney beans for the donut batter. At first, I was really skeptical about baking with beans. But when my black bean brownies turned out so delicious and moist a couple of weeks ago, I thought I really needed to use beans for other baked goods as well.
However, I also added a cup of whole wheat flour this time, so the vegan donuts are not gluten-free, but it’s very easy to change the recipe.
People would probably never guess that there are beans in these vegan donuts, they are just so damn chocolaty and delicious!! I made these for my family a couple of days ago and everybody just loved them! I’m telling you they were gone so fast!
They are already used to my crazy bean recipes and weren’t even a bit surprised when I told them that I used kidney beans for the batter. Haha, they know me and my vegan recipes pretty well by now.
How to make these vegan donuts
I bought a special donut baking tray a couple of weeks ago and I love how easy it is in comparison to frying donuts.
- First, place the drained kidney beans in a blender together with brown sugar, almond milk, and cacao and blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Then transfer it to a medium bowl and stir in the whole-wheat flour, the baking powder, and vanilla. Spray the donut pan with cooking spray or grease it with vegan butter such as Earth Balance.
- Then either use a spoon to fill each donut or fill the batter into a Ziploc bag and cut off one edge.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the vegan chocolate hazelnut donuts for 9-11 minutes.
- Allow to cool down in the pan for a couple of minutes, then move them to a cooling rack.
How to make a chocolate glaze for donuts
In the meantime, make the chocolate glaze. Melt a 3.5-ounce package vegan dark chocolate either by using a microwave or place the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place it over a pan of barely simmering water.
Once melted, cover the donuts with the chocolate and sprinkle with hazelnut brittle. I used store-bought brittle, but of course you can also sub it with chopped hazelnuts if you want. Or use other decorations like sugar sprinkles or coconut flakes.
Did I make you hungry yet? Then I guess you should start baking. What’s your favorite donut recipe? My next recipe is definitely going to include some kind of pumpkin or pumpkin spice. I simply love eeeeverything with pumpkin in it these days!!
If you’re looking for more vegan donuts, check out my roundup of 24 drool-worthy vegan donuts. So many delicious vegan donuts in just one place!
As always, I love hearing from you in the comment section below, on Facebook, or Instagram.
Have a great weekend and talk to you soon!
Sina – xx
Vegan Donuts with Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 3.5 oz package vegan dark chocolate
- 4 tablespoons hazelnut brittle You can also sub it with chopped hazelnuts, or use sugar sprinkles or coconut flakes instead
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the kidney beans. Place them into a blender together with the brown sugar, almond milk, and cacao and blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Then transfer it to a medium bowl and stir in the whole-wheat flour, the baking powder, and vanilla. Spray the donut pan with cooking spray or grease it with vegan butter such as Earth Balance.
- Either use a spoon to fill each donut or fill the batter into a Ziploc bag and cut off one edge.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F and bake the vegan chocolate hazelnut donuts for 9-11 minutes. Allow to cool down in the pan for a couple of minutes, then move them to a cooling rack.
- In the meantime, make the chocolate glaze. Melt a 3.5-ounce package vegan dark chocolate either by using a microwave or place the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and place it over a pan of barely simmering water. Once melted, cover the donuts with the chocolate and sprinkle with hazelnut brittle.
Hi Sina, I just made these and they are super delicious! I love that they are not greasy or overly sweet and who would ever guess they contain kidney beans? I am loving your desserts, I made a batch of your carrot energy bites too last night so I’m all set for healthy delicious treats this weekend. Thank you so much for these excellent recipes 😃
These are amazing! My kids love them. We made the switch to vegan a year ago and of all the recipes I have tried…the M.D.V are always the best!!! That coming from a french Canadian family that was obsessed with full fat animal products and dairy cheese!!
Thank you!!! You’ve made our switch easy on this cooking momma!!!
Do you think I could fry these if I used less liquid to make more of a dough and less of a batter?
Hello! They look delicious! I would like to trie them out but please tell me, the pan you used was it for 6 or 12 donuts? Are they mini donuts or regular ones? Thank you!
Hi Nazaret, They are regular ones and I used a pan for 12 donuts. Hope you like them! :-)
These look delicious! I know it’s been a while since anyone has interacted with this post, but I have a question: If I don’t own a donut tin, can I make these into muffins?
I have a potluck for class and I have vegan classmates so I’m really excited to have an opportunity to learn more inclusive recipes! These look amazing!
Hi Hannah,
I haven’t tried making them into muffins myself, but I had some readers who successfully turned them into muffins. I don’t see why this shouldn’t work. :-)
Hope you like them!
I made these today- wow they came out delicious!!! I didn’t have hazel nuts si i used slivered almonds, that worked well but next time i an using hazelnuts! Thanks for the awesome recipe!1
This is really amazing . Baked donuts . My kid is going to love this . Much better than frying . I dont like to serve much of fried food to my kid so this will be a great food . Thanks for this amazing recipe !!
Thanks for sharing recipe but after making
this doughnuts I would like to share my
Experience. First it is unclear if you are
using the mini pan which makes 12, or
the traditional sized doughnut pan. The
Amount of batter the recipe yields
12 minis that were overfilled & 6
regular sized that I also overfilled. The
Dough is extremely stiff and not very
sweet, & lacks the depth of flavor
so one must rely on the chocolate
frosting in order to qualify as a sweet treat.
Also, the texture is interesting not bad just different. For me the recipe is not a keeper but
I liked the idea of baking with beans so
will experiment further to get a product
That I like and would share with friends. I’m
not trying to be critical but provide feedback
for others considering baking this product.
I’m just venturing in these life changes and saw your post. I’m so curious about cooking this way, i really hope qe can make the switch now that our kids are young.
My only concern is the sugar… just watched FED UP and I’m freaking out about sugar haha so many things to stay away from :)
What can I use instead of sugar?
Thanks!
Hi Sina, Is there a reason you use kidney beans instead of black beans? Also, do you think these will still turn out great with light brown sugar instead of regular? I’m just trying to use what I already have :) Thanks for posting the recipe!
Hi Sam, I liked kidney beans better for this recipe because of their texture, but you can also use black beans. No problem at all! I use them for black bean brownies all the time. And light brown sugar is fine as well. Let me know how they turned out. :-)
These are AMAZING!!!! Thank you for sharing!
Hi
I haven’t got a donut tin. Can I try them as muffins?
Thanks
So I made donuts and tried to make muffins. They tastes the same way. I could say that frosting makes all the difference. Without it it’s kind of tasteless. I would add maybe little bit more of sugar or even honey for more flavor. But still thanks for sharing your recipe.
Hi Julija, I wouldn’t recommend using the batter for muffins and I definitely recommend using the chocolate frosting and the hazelnut brittle. They both function as additional sweeteners. So I’d say in this case it’s best to keep to the recipe. :-) Of course you can always adjust the amount of sugar to your personal preference and add a little bit of more sugar as you said. Hope that helps!
These donuts look so incredibly divine. I haven’t baked with beans yet but I tried some cupcakes a friend made with beans and they were great so obviously I need to jump on board! I will make these soon.
Does the recipe make 12 donuts or just 4 ? wasn’t sure because it says four servings so wanted to clarify before baking them. Will be trying these very soon
Hi PJ, The recipe makes 12 small donuts. Hope you like them! :-)