Description
This incredibly easy cinnamon vanilla cream-filled vegan doughnut recipe is baked instead of fried for a lighter take on the classic! Filled with a dairy free cinnamon vanilla cream, these baked vegan doughnuts are easy to make and fun to eat!
Ingredients
Scale
Vegan Doughnut:
- 4–4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 packet activated yeast
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 1/4 cup dairy-free milk, unsweetened
- 1/4 cup vegan butter or coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3 tbsp vegan butter, melted (for brushing the doughnuts before baking and before dipping into sugar)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar (you won’t use all of it, just enough to easily coat each doughnut)
Cinnamon Cream Filling:
- 4 tbsp vegan butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1–2 tbsp dairy free milk
Instructions
- Heat the coconut milk until warm- 110F.
- Sprinkle yeast, sugar, and a tablespoon of flour into the warmed milk in a large bowl, cover, and let activate for 10 minutes.
- When activated, add in the vegan butter, applesauce, vanilla extract, nutmeg, and 4 cups of flour to start. Knead the dough together. Add in the 1/2 cup extra flour if the dough is sticky. The dough shouldn’t be sticking to your hand.
- Knead the dough lightly, for 2-4 minutes, then place the dough into a bowl greased with olive oil, cover with a cloth or wrap, and place into a warm area to let rise for 1 hour. It should be double in size.
- After an hour, lightly punch down the dough and roll the dough out on a clean and floured surface to be a large rectangle (6 in x 12 in).
- Use a round cookie cutter (about 4-5″ wide, depending on how big you want the doughnuts to be), and gently press the cookie cutter into the dough. Repeat to create more doughnuts. Remove the excess dough and use a spatula to transfer to a parchment-lined large baking sheet.
- Lightly knead the dough again until smooth to roll out once more and repeat Step 6 until all of the dough is used. You should get between 12-15 doughnuts.
- Once every doughnut is on the baking sheet, cover again with a clean towel, and place near or on top of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Once the oven is preheated, lightly brush each doughnut on both sides with vegan butter. Place the doughnuts (uncovered) into the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the doughnuts are puffed and lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow the doughnuts to cool completely before making the filling (otherwise, the filling will melt out of the doughnuts).
- Once cooled, lightly brush each doughnut with vegan butter again and dip each doughnut into granulated sugar to cover completely. Place each doughnut back onto the baking sheet. To make the slits where the cream will go, use a 1″ wide sharp knife and carefully make a slit to the center of the doughnut. Repeat for each one.
- To make the cinnamon cream filling, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the vegan butter until creamed. Add in the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and 1 tbsp of dairy free milk to start, and begin to beat again until fluffy and creamy. If the texture isn’t smooth, you can add in an additional tablespoon of dairy free milk.
- Fill a piping bag with your desired tip with the filling. Press the piping bag into the slit that you made earlier and gently fill with filling. Repeat for each doughnut.
- Serve and enjoy!