At least once a year every one of us decides it is time to start eating healthy. Most people think that eating healthy is all about consuming only veggies, fruits, meat, and some dairy products. However, that is a mistake, not all carbs and fats are bad. In fact, your body needs them!
You don’t need to cut off bread, dough, and treats, as long as they are homemade and made with whole ingredients or organic products that are not full of chemicals and artificial aromas. Unfortunately, many give up too soon because they make drastic restrictions that are not sustainable in a long run.
Luckily, there are a lot of guilt-free recipes for almost any type of food you can imagine, but today I have a sweet tooth, so I’ll be talking doughnuts. Here comes the list of the most delicious healthy baked doughnuts recipes.
How To Make Healthy Baked Doughnuts?
Now that you have a handful of different recipes available, you can choose the one you like the most, or the one that fit your dietary goals. However, using healthy ingredients for making the batter isn’t enough.
What makes these doughnuts healthy, is the way you prepare them. Forget about frying your doughnuts in deep oil, no matter if you use a refined sunflower or palm oil, or some healthier version like coconut. Regular frying is not an option since doughnuts soak up the oil which increases the calorie amount you ingest.
Therefore, you have two different options available – oven baking or air frying. Doughnuts that are made with yeast can be air-fried since the dough can be shaped by hand or rolling pin. Versions made with baking powder are more liquidy and they require doughnut molds.
The result is similar. The ones baked in the donut mold in the oven are softer and similar to cake texture. On the other hand, air-fried doughnuts are more crispy and more like regular fried doughnuts by texture.
Healthy Baked Doughnut Recipes
Making healthy doughnuts isn’t hard at all, and in most cases, it is way faster than making the regular version. There are a lot of ingredients that you can use as substitutes for regular ingredients. However, all healthy doughnut recipes use these basic ingredients:
- Flour – you can use regular flour, oat flour, almond flour, or any type of whole seed flour is acceptable;
- Raising agents – yeast, baking powder, baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and more;
- Eggs – or vegan substitution for eggs (flax seed eggs);
- Sweetener of your choice – stevia, erythritol, honey, or brown sugar;
- Dairy product or substitution – milk, butter, yogurt, applesauce, margarine, and plant milk (for vegans).
Remember all ingredients in these recipes can be substituted with vegan versions and vice versa. Everything else that you’ll find in recipes is just addons that improve the taste and texture or add some nutritional value like protein powder, dark chocolate, raw cocoa, fruits, and veggies.
Whole wheat chocolate glaze baked doughnuts
This is a healthy version of a traditional doughnut, and I promise that the taste is not compromised at all. In case you eat gluten-free, use gluten-free baking powder and gluten-free oat flour.
Ingredients for six pieces:
- ⅓ cup of unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon of avocado oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 1 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 cup of dark melted chocolate with at least 75% of real cocoa
First, combine the wet ingredients and then the dry ones. Add dry mix and use a hand mixer until the batter is smooth. Grease up the pan and fill up ⅔ of each mold. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
Let them cool off on a cooling wire rack and then dip them in melted chocolate. Sprinkle with chopped nuts or coconut.
Skinny low-fat cinnamon and granulated erythritol-coated baked doughnuts
This is a perfect recipe for those who are on a diet, or who count the calories. Each donut has only 60 calories and 1.1 grams of fat. They are easy to make, thick but fluffy. You can use the icing of your choice.
The ingredients for twelve doughnuts:
- 1 cup of unbleached whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup of granulated erythritol just for the batter
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for the batter
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon of melted butter
- ½ cup of skim milk
For coating:
- 3 tablespoons of granulated erythritol
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In separate bowls combine all dry ingredients and wet ingredients. The next step is to gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture while whisking. Make sure there are no lumps. Fil three-quarters of each mold.
Bake doughnuts for 17 minutes, or until golden brown. Let them completely cool off on a wire rack before rolling them in a cinnamon-erythritol mixture. If you want you can add dark chocolate chips or blueberries to the batter mixture.
Vanilla protein-loaded healthy baked doughnuts with peanut butter glaze
This recipe is for all of you who are trying to consume more protein. Here organic vanilla flavored protein is used, but you can switch it with any kind of protein powder you have and prefer.
Ingredients for six doughnuts:
- ⅔ cup of almond or whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup of vanilla protein powder
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon of sea salt
- ¼ cup of pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons of coconut or olive oil
- ¼ cup of unsweetened almond milk or regular milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
For the glaze:
- ⅓ cup of smooth peanut butter
- ⅔ cup of organic powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons of almond milk
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Add gradually dry mixture into the wet ingredient and mix with a hand mixer until the batter is smooth. Make sure you don’t overmix it!
Use the piping bag to fill three-quarters of each donut mold, and bake them for 10 minutes. While they are baking, use the hand mixer to fluff up the peanut butter then add milk and sugar. Dip completely cool doughnuts into this glaze and sprinkle with chopped peanut.
Healthy baked vegan doughnuts with applesauce
These doughnuts are a yeast-free, easy-made, absolutely scrummy dessert that you must try! You’ll need around 40 minutes and goodwill. One tip before we begin, when you make vegan food always follow the exact measurements!
The ingredients for twelve doughnuts:
- 2 cups of spelt flour
- ½ cup of sweetener of your choice
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 3 tablespoons of applesauce or mashed banana
- ¾ cup of plant milk
- ½ cup of vegan butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
For glaze:
- 3 tablespoons of raspberry juice (use your own juicer)
- 1 ¼ cup of organic powder sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine wet ingredients into a smooth mash. In the separate bowl combine all dry ingredients, then gradually add to the wet mixture. Whisk with a hand mixer until it becomes creamy and without lumps.
Pour it into the doughnut molds and bake for 20 minutes. Once they are baked, let them cool off on a cooling rack. During that time, mix powder sugar, and juice into a glaze. If it is too runny add more sugar, if it is too thick add more juice. Dip the donuts and sprinkle with coconut.
Low-carb healthy baked yeast doughnuts with cream cheese glaze
This is the only recipe on this list with yeast. Meaning some kneading will be involved, but also that means you can bake or air fry your doughnuts which is even a faster option.
Ingredients for dough:
- 3 cups of whole wheat or almond flour
- 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup of non-dairy or regular skim milk
- 1 tablespoon of warm water
- 2 tablespoons of psyllium powder
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons of dry active yeast
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
The cream cheese glaze
- ½ block of cream cheese at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons of powdered sweetener of your choice
Mix your dry ingredients and set them aside. Combine all the wet ingredients until they are smooth. Now add half of the dry ingredients mixture and use a hand mixer to combine.
Add the rest of the dry mixture and whisk with a spoon, if the dough is still wet add some more flour and knead the dough until elastic. Let it rest for 25 minutes so the yeast will activate.
While the dough rests, preheat your air fryer or oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Rool out the dough and cut out doughnuts with a glass or cookie cutter. Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes, or 3 to 4 minutes on each side in the air fryer.
Place them on the cooling rack, and whip the cream cheese and sugar. When they are cool top with the cream cheese icing and add some blackberries as decoration.
FAQ
What is a good donut pan for baking?
You can either choose a regular non-stick doughnut pan with six or twelve molds, but just in case always grease up the molds with cooking spray. Or you can choose separate silicone doughnut molds that are suitable for air fryers as well.
How long can I store these doughnuts?
You can store all of these doughnuts in an airtight container for up to 2 days on a countertop, or 3 to 4 days in a fridge but without glaze. Simply reheat them in the microwave, and glaze them before serving.
Batter or dough for doughnuts?
The difference is that batter is thin and contains dough (or vegan substitute) and the dough doesn’t need to have eggs. Batters usually don’t use yeast, while doughs always use yeast.
Donuts made with batter are called cake donuts because of the texture which is denser. On the other hand, yeasted doughnuts are airy, fluffy, and crisp.
Conclusion
Sorting out your diet is a crucial thing f you want to live a long and healthy life, however, treat yourself from time to time with some guilt-free baked goodies. They won’t harm you, in fact, they will fulfill your cravings, and keep you on track.
I know all of you know at least one recipe for healthy baked donuts, so please share them with us.
