Mini Donut Test Kitchen
Remember when I made mini-donuts and promised you a recipe? And then never gave you one? Well, today I decided to keep my word. I got up, made some tea, and set to work. My house is covered in donuts!
My first attempt wasn’t a complete failure, but I wasn’t happy with the result. They didn’t rise very well, leaving one side of each donut flat and craggy. It’s not that I expected a recipe I made up to work on the first try, but I was still hoping to get lucky.
I did get lucky on my second try. I reduced the fat content and upped the soy milk and the baking powder. Success! They rose much better, had a nicer texture, and were prettier. Here are the two tries side-by-side:
Much better, huh? Below is the recipe for the donuts and the glaze, directions for glaze, pictures of the whole process, and even a video.
Oh, and did I mention? There’s chocoalte coated ones, too!
Mini Baked Donuts
Make 20 Donuts
Dry Ingredients:
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp (scant) Nutmeg
1 tiny pinch or shake Cinnamon
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Soymilk
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Egg Replacer for 1 Egg
4 Tbs Earth Balance
Preheat oven to 350º F
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk to mix thoroughly. Combine wet ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium low heat and mix until earth balance is melted. This mixture should NOT get too hot, you should be able to stick your finger in the mixture. It should feel slightly warm. If you burn yourself, 1) it’s not my fault! and 2) it’s too hot for the dough!
Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. It should form a very soft dough. Like this:
Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out dough into your ungreased nonstick mini-donut pan. Smooth out the top of the dough with your fingers, this will make for more even, prettier donuts, but isn’t crucial.
As you can see, the dough sits just below the rim. If you over fill, your donuts will come out looking like it has a little muffin top. Not the end of the world, but not very donut-like either.
Bake for 12 minutes. They should not be browned on top, but a tester will come out clean. Invert hot pan over a cutting board or cooling rack to release donuts. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Time for toppings!
Glaze with Sprinkles
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar (lump free!)
1 Tbs Soymilk
Bowl full of sprinkles (1/4 to 1/2 cup, ish?)
Whisk soymilk and powdered sugar together. Dip the “bottom” half of the donut (the side with the nicer shape) into the glaze, let some drip off, then dip glaze-side down into sprinkles. Transfer to a wire rack that has been set on top of some parchment paper. The excess glaze will drip through the rack onto the paper for easy cleaning later.
Chocolate Dip
This is the easy part. Melt 6 oz of high quality fairly sweet chocolate over low heat in a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir until chocolate is smooth and barely warm to the touch. I should mention that you should be very careful not to get any water in the chocolate or it could seize, and no one likes that!
Dip your donuts one-by-one into the chocolate until completely covered. Place donut on your wire rack to drip off excess chocolate – it’ll make for a much smoother appearance than if you try to scrape off excess chocoalte with your fingers. Allow to set until chocolate isn’t so shiny and can be picked up without making a sticky mess!
*Edit!! So, I waited until the chocolate was set and realized that my donuts had glued themselves to the rack, making the bottoms rip off when your try to pick one up. I think it’d be better to let these set on parchment paper! Also, use a decently sweet chocolate, mine was too bitter.
Enjoy!
Looks deelish! How many mini donuts would fit in my big mouth?
Wow – thank you for the incredible recipe tutorial. I modified the recipe to make it gluten free as well. They came out awesome!
http://heiressintraining.com/2008/10/18/gluten-free-spiced-baked-mini-doughnut-recipe/
Thank you again and God bless!
OHH these donuts are soo cute!
Andy
I made vegan baked doughnuts today from another recipe, and they were not great. I look forward to trying these. However, I only have 2 large/regular doughnut pans. I assume these will be fine? Just a bit longer cook time?
I just made these as mini muffins, and they are AWESOME! I dipped the tops in glaze and then in dried coconut, SO GOOD! I also used 1/4 cup silken tofu to replace the egg and they came out just as I had hoped. I am going to a Christmas Eve party tomorrow and these will be my contribution. Hopefully my boyfriend doesn’t eat them all while I am at work.
These are the most amazing baked good I have ever made. I asked for a donut pan for Christmas, which I received, JUST to make these donuts. So a few hours after getting the present, I made these donuts. I have never been so happy with a donut. It is SO HARD not to just eat all of them! I made them precisely to the recipe, no changes. Thank you so much! Everyone else loved them too, obviously!
Merry Christmas!
OMG!! i just made these and they are gonna rule!!! i had to take a little taste before i went crazy with the frosting… soooo goood!!! i do agree with cutting down on the nutmeg.. just a itty bitty bit was good.. thank you so much for posting this… you’ve made me and some friends quite happy… xoxoxo
when you say Egg-replacer for one egg, does that include water? or just the powder for one egg? @_@
i was afraid the latter would be too dry, so i added 2tbs of water anyway.
it still turned out marvelous~ … just a tad moist
:] thanks ~
I just made these and they are amazing. It’s for my daughter, who is allergic to eggs/dairy. She always wanted to have donuts and finally I found the mini donut pan and the right recipe/instructions. Thanks so much for sharing this.
We just made these! They’re fabulous! Added coffee extract to one of the bowls of glaze, and the others were cinnamon/powdered sugar, YUM!!!! THANK YOU!!!! The kids were amazed!
Oh, we used a mini bundt cake pan.
I just made these and they are pretty good. The went over very well with the children. I do have a few questions. For the egg replacer do you mean mixed with water? Also my doughnuts stuck to the pan. The one recipe that came with my pan calls for it to be greased. From the picture it looks like the same pan you used. How did you get yours to not stick?
woow look soooooo yum!!!!
must try to give these a go. wow.
Hello dear lovely recipe… I just loved ur blog..:)
Wt is earth balance? can u please tell me?
those look so good
i found an amazingly easy recipe from youtube, the ingredients are flour, yeast, water, olive oil and sugar, and its fried. i dont know i havent tried it yet, but i will.
i can’t afford to buy a mini donut pan! gah! is they any other way to do this?
I would like to know where to purchase the minni donut pans. Please answer but return e-mail. thank you
is it possible to use a muffin pan, instead of the donut pan, to make these? im thinking of using some vegan pudding/custard/jam to make filled donuts because i just cannot find mini bunt cake or donut pans D:
Would scooping out tablespoons at a time onto a cookie sheet create something like donut HOLES do you think? I cannot seem to find the mini donut pans.
these donuts look delicious, i like to feed my family these recipies all the time
hi
i would like to know where i an purchase the doughtnut pan
thank you
Thanks to you and your inventiveness, my son with food allergies just enjoyed his first donut! Actually, he enjoyed three or four of them…but it is all thanks to you! Even my picky non-vegan son likes these. Thank you!
Thank you! These rocked! I didn’s have the patience to drive around town looking for a mini donut, pan so I used a mini muffin pan. Same same. They were so much better the next day when the chocolate had set.
Speaking of which, I had a hard time getting my chocolate to melt, after it had been too long, I had to add agave necter to get it dippable, and to sweeten it back up.
What chocolate do you use?
AUSTRALIANS:
You can substitute Earth Balance for NUTTELEX (vegan margarine).
Cheers
I found your blog by accident. Then I saw your recipe for mini donuts in the latest issue of Vegetarian Times. I took it as a sign to make these delectable little gems! My family is hooked. I have made countless dozens and they keep begging for more.
I became a vegetarian two years ago and vegan about a year after that. I thought I would have to give up all the baked goodies but with your help I’m realizing vegan baking is SO much tastier. (not to mention better for you)
Can’t wait for the cookbook to come out!
Thank you. This recipe looks wonderful and I will try it. I hope they do taste like donuts though. I have tried a couple of recipes that said they were muffins that tasted like donuts and, while still good, they didn’t. I miss donuts. Even if I don’t need them. :-)
I just got my mini and regular sized donut pans in the mail today. I bought mine through King Arthur Flour. They are the same ones in the Vegetarian Times Article (the target site was back-ordered).
My devils food donuts are in the oven now :-))
So good. Plus, if you stick the chocolate coated ones in the freezer for about 10 minutes, the chocolate will set faster. I kindof think that the texture and taste of them resemble Twinkies? But everyone else who was vegan who tried them said they were just like donuts. Copper Sinks
Donut-lover’s heaven! And so easy. Used a mini bundt pan and the kids had a ball decorating them. Now when I get the question “what do vegans eat?” my answer is donuts! Thank you!
These look a little like donut shaped cupcakes. Is that what the texture is like?
These are fabulous! Thanks for such a grand recipe. I modified it slightly: I replaced one tablespoon of Earth Balance with a tablespoon of apple sauce, used whole-wheat flour, and added some chopped strawberries (with excess water removed by wrapping the pieces in a paper towel)–and they turned out marvelous. You rock! :)
that does look good. Not only that, but it will be healthier for you. I never knew that there are donut pans. Kinda like muffin pans but only for donuts. Thx so much for the recipe and I will try this sooner or later
I just bought a large donut pan (6 donuts only). Will the baking time or temperature change?
I cannot wait to try these!!
YAY!! I am SOOO HAPPY!!! I found a perfect treat for my kids for this Thanksgiving!!! I am so excited, can you tell?? :) Can’t wait to try these!!! Thank you.