Name: Vegan Donuts with Chocolate Glaze
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 9 min
Total time: 19 min
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)

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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! Or check out my roundup of 27 vegan chocolate recipes.

As always, I love hearing from you in the comment section below, on Facebook, or Instagram.

Sina