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.
I made these this morning for breakfast. They’re good, but they are really dense. Is there any way to make them a little less dense? We found them a little difficult to eat.
Wow! I want to try it for sure :)
Did you boil the beans before grinding them or just rinsed with water?
Can I replace the 1 3.5oz of dark chocolate w cocoa powder?
Thank you!
I made these donuts today. I made one batch because I couldn’t believe donuts with red kidney beans wouldn’t be disgusting. OMG!! They are absolutely amazing! My husband will eat these for a quick protein fix after playing hockey (7 g of protein) instead of eating a store bought protein bar. I made 3 dozen. I couldn’t get the dark chocolate cubes so I used 100g of dairy free mini chocolate chips instead. Also I used 1/2 C nuts instead of the brittle. Thanks for the great recipe.
Thanks so much for your comment, Jill! So glad you guys like them! :-) Haha! I know, I was pretty skeptical about baking with beans too, but I absolutely love it. Have you checked out my black bean brownies yet? I think you might like these as well. I got two versions: https://veganheaven.org/recipe/vegan-black-bean-brownies/ or https://veganheaven.org/recipe/oreo-peanut-butter-brownies/
Hello! I made your wonderful Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut donuts, and I was wondering how would I go about making an ingredient label for them?
Thanks!!
Hi Tiffany,
So glad you liked them! :-)
I Love how simple this recipe is! I have to try it definately
But can i bake them in a muffin tray? I dont have one for donuts
hi can i use something other than almond milk my babys allergic to almonds would coconut milk work.
Hi Lara,
I’m SO sorry for the late reply! I haven’t tried making them with coconut milk yet, but oat or soy milk work just as good. And I don’t see why coconut milk shouldn’t work. :-) Let me know how you liked them and how they turned out.
Best, Sina
Can’t wait to try these! I am going to use freshly soaked and boiled beans though – not canned. Any idea what the weight of the beans should be then? Thank you!
Hello
I am going to try these out today, however confused as my oven only goes to 250degrees not 350… Is the recipe above a mistake or do I have a sad oven?
Hi Rebecca,
Are you using Celsius? Because the recipe is in Fahrenheit, so no magic oven involved here. ;-) 350°F is about 180°C, so that’s what you should be using. Let me know how you liked them. :-)
Made them for the family last night and they loved them.. We are 4 months into a vegan life and loving it.. Finding yummy blogs like yours sure helps keep the husband on board! Thank you
Oh, and sorry for the confusion! ;-)
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I made 12 cupcakes with oat milk instead of almond milk.
You can’t believe how delicious they are and how soft the texture is :)
I baked them fo almost 20 minutes and they are perfectly soft. I’ve never made such perfect cupcakes!
Hi Emilia, So glad you liked them and thanks for the compliment. :-) Making cupcakes instead of donuts is such a great idea!
I actually convinced a lot of non-vegans! My best friend said that they are the best cupcakes she has ever eaten so far!
I recently found out that your blog is also available in German, is there any difference between the recipes? (I’m from Germany^^)
Hi Emilia,
oh, that’s so great to hear! :-) So glad you guys liked them! No, there is no real difference except from the measurements (grams and cups). I started with the German blog, but over the time the English blog became my main focus. I try to post at least some of the recipes on the German blog as well, but right now I’m pretty busy with my master’s thesis, so unfortunately this doesn’t work out too great. But I usually post at least one new recipe on the English blog per week. :-)
Hey again!
Thank you for your quick answer. I love your recipes^^ Keep going :)
That seems like a lot of cocoa powder! Did you just use regular unsweetened cocoa powder? Do the donuts taste sweet at all without the glaze? I am excited to try these.
Hi Dianna,
Sorry for the late reply! Yes, I used unsweetened cocoa powder and they do taste sweet by themselves, but I’d definitely recommend giving them some glaze for extra flavor. :-) Hope you like them! Let me know if you give them a try. ;-)
These are sooo good Sina!
I love baking with beans and they also don’t contain that much sugar! I love it!
(Your pictures are beautiful as always!
So glad you liked them, Carla!! :-) And thanks for the compliment. ;-)
Could these be made with gluten free flour ? If so, would you adjust anything ? Thanks !
Hi Kellie, I haven’t tried making them with gluten free flour yet, but I think this should work as well. :-) What kind or flour are you using?
Hi Kellie, Sorry for the late reply! Unfortunately I haven’t tried making these with gluten free flour yet, but I’ll give this a try soon. :-) Have you seen my black bean brownies yet? They’re completely gluten-free, so maybe you’d like these too. :-)
Is it possible to make muffin with the same dough?
Hi Beatrice,
Yes,I don’t see why this shouldn’t work. :-) Let me know how you liked them.
Hi Beatrice, I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m sure it would work as well. :-) Let me know if you give it a try!
Made these yesterday and they were amazing! My boyfriend tried one and was in shock when I said it has beans in it! Definitely a keeper recipe. They are very tasty today as well :)
Thanks so much for your comment, Anna! So glad you guys liked them! :-) Haha! I know, that’s the typical reaction when you tell people you used beans for baking. :D
Oh my gosh, these look like perfection!
Thanks, Becky! :-)
Wow, I can’t believe you made these with kidney beans! They look like a bakery donut but better and better for you. Can’t pin fast enough :)
Thanks, Brie! :-) I know, it’s crazy what you can do with beans! Thanks for sharing!
Wowza! These look amazing, Sina! And the hazelnut brittle sounds so perfect for a topping! I love healthier versions of typically not so healthy treats. Great idea to use the beans!
Thanks, Melissa! I do too! I mean it’s still not super healthy, but already a lot better. And I just love baking with beans!! :-)
These are amazing Sina!!! I love how you added kidney beans. Wow! I’ve been making so many donuts recently – they’re so fun to make. I can’t wait to try these!
Thanks, Harriet! :-) They really are fun to make. I bought a donut pan and it’s so easy. I always thought making donuts would be quite complicated.
You weren’t a donut fan??? I dont understand. How is that possible??? lol. These look absolutely amazing!
Haha! I don’t know, Erin. I mean I didn’t hate them, but I just liked muffins so much better, because donuts are always pretty sweat. But my boyfriend can’t get enough of them, so he made me make this vegan version and I absolutely loved it!:-)