Homemade Vegan Boston Cream Donuts (Easy!)
These shockingly easy and undetectably vegan Boston cream donuts are the perfect homemade cream-filled doughnut recipe! With sweet doughnut dough filled with an eggless and super rich vegan vanilla custard and topped with a rich chocolate coating, these Boston cream doughnuts are a wonderful breakfast treat or mid morning snack!
Is it doughnut or donut?
Let’s just get this out of the way really quickly. Is it doughnut or donut? I personally use them interchangeably, and will be using them interchangeably throughout this blog post!
But the answer is: it’s both doughnut and donut. Doughnut was the first word, and the official word. However, in the late 20th century, “donut” started to become a more popular spelling in North America. And then of course, Dunkin’ Donuts popularized it even more!
So whether you like to say “Boston cream doughnuts” or “Boston cream donuts” rest assured, you’re getting an amazing recipe. 🙂
Why you’ll love these homemade vegan Boston cream donuts
I have a thing for Boston cream pie. It’s why I made a mini version of it in the form of Boston cream cupcakes.
So naturally, we also had to make the iconic: Boston Cream Donuts. But vegan 😉
Boston cream donuts are one of the best cream-filled doughnuts in existence (maybe just my opinion, but I really really love them, and you will too!).
A light and airy fried donut filled with a creamy custard-like vanilla pastry cream (just like my vegan Bomboloni!) and topped with a coating of chocolate ganache? I mean, say less. Oh, and it’s all eggless, dairy free and vegan…not to mention, these vegan Boston cream donuts pair so well with coffee or a vegan latte!
Ingredients:
Here’s all you need to make these undetectably vegan Boston cream doughnuts:
- Activated yeast: You can use quick rise yeast, but you’ll need to mix the yeast into the flour instead of blooming it first!
- Granulated sugar: You can also use maple sugar or coconut sugar!
- Dairy free milk: Any dairy free milk here will work- soy milk, oat milk, almond milk, or cashew!
- Flour: I used all bread flour, and have made these with all purpose flour. I have not yet tested this with gluten free 1:1 baking flour.
- Avocado oil: It’s preferred for high-heat cooking (aka frying in this instance!).
- Vanilla
- Vegan custard: we’ll go over that in the next section!
- Vegan chocolate ganache
Overview: How to make vegan Boston cream donuts
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
If you’ve ever made cinnamon rolls, then the beginning process of these homemade Boston cream doughnuts is actually quite similar!
I actually have two different methods for making the doughnuts. The first method involves rolling out the dough and using a small cookie cutter. This can be easy to get a bunch of mini doughnuts quickly.
The second method requires rolling and swapping the doughnuts.
How to assemble Boston cream donuts:
Can I freeze these vegan Boston cream doughnuts once filled?
These doughnuts are best eaten on the same day, but you can store them for 1-2 days after they’ve been filled in the fridge. Additionally, you could also freeze them for up to 2 months. To thaw, simply transfer the doughnuts to room temperature and allow them to thaw for 2-3 hours.
Can I bake these vegan donuts instead of frying them?
I have tried making these Boston cream doughnuts without frying and just by baking. The results are a bit underwhelming. If you wanted a healthier Boston cream doughnut, and you don’t mind the taste of a healthier donut, then you can bake them! Be sure to brush each doughnut lightly with dairy free cream in order to get that shine.
I personally will continue to fry these doughnuts in coconut oil (Edward & Sons/ Native Forest has the best coconut oil for frying!!), but you can bake them! I just don’t want you to be disappointed by the results ha!
You are just going to absolutely love these vegan Boston cream donuts! They’re so sweet, delicious, and satisfying! Be sure to leave a comment and review down below, and enjoy!
More vegan donut recipes you’ll love:
Best Vegan Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Baked Chocolate Donuts with Peanut Butter Glaze
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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Homemade Vegan Boston Cream Donuts Recipe
- Prep Time: 40
- Resting Time: 90
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 8–16 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These shockingly easy and undetectably vegan Boston cream donuts are the perfect homemade cream-filled doughnut recipe! With sweet doughnut dough filled with an eggless and super rich vegan vanilla custard and topped with a rich chocolate coating, these Boston cream doughnuts are a wonderful breakfast treat or mid morning snack!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (184 g) dairy free milk, heated to 110F
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar or coconut sugar, divided
- 4 cups (500 g) bread flour or all purpose flour
- 2.5 tsp (.25 oz) dry activated yeast
- 12 tbsp (185 g) unsalted salted vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (62.5 grams) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups avocado oil, for frying
- 1 batch vegan vanilla pastry cream
- 1 batch vegan ganache
Instructions
- Please read through all instructions before beginning.
- Prep: Grease a medium bowl with olive or coconut oil, and set aside.
- Bloom the yeast: In a separate large bowl, combine the dairy free milk, 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar, and activated yeast. Mix with a wooden spoon, and cover. Place in a warm area to activate for about 10 minutes. The yeast should begin to foam and smell yeast-like (similar to beer).
- Make the dough: Once the yeast is activated, you’ll start the dough. In a large bowl or using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, add the bread flour and remaining sugar to the bowl. Mix just until the sugar is mixed throughout the flour. Then add in the dairy free yogurt, vanilla, and bloomed yeast mixture. Mix on medium speed until a very shaggy dough forms, about 3-4 minutes. Then add in the tablespoons of vegan butter, and begin to mix again on medium speed. Stop every so often to reincorporate the butter. Once the vegan butter is incorporated, turn the speed of the stand mixer onto high, and allow the dough to be kneaded in the bowl for about 10-15 minutes, or until soft and pliable. The dough might still be slightly tacky, but should not leave globs of dough on your finger tip. The trick is to knead the dough until it passes the windowpane test.
- First proof: Place the dough ball into the medium sized greased bowl. Cover with a clean dish towel and place in a warm area (ideally above 80F) to rest for about 60-120 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- While the dough is proofing: Follow the instructions for making the pastry cream. Cover the custard in the fridge until ready to use. Right before filling your piping bag, we’ll blend the pastry cream to get it smooth. Additionally, cut out 8 parchment paper squares (or more if you plan on dividing the dough into more doughnuts) and place them on a baking sheet.
- Shape the dough: Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly flour a clean surface, and place the dough onto the surface. Divide the dough into 8 even dough balls (or more for smaller doughnuts). Take one piece, and pinch the corners together to create a ball. Then gently roll the dough ball between your palms or on the lightly floured surface to smooth the seams until you get a smooth dough ball. Place the shaped dough onto the parchment paper, and repeat for the remaining dough.
- Rest: Cover the baking sheet of doughnuts and place in a warm area again to rest until almost doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
- While the doughnuts are resting: With 10-15 minutes remaining of resting time, pour the oil into a large saucepan with walls and heat the oil until it reaches about 350-365F, keeping it steady at that temperature for frying. Use a candy thermometer please. For the cooling, place paper towels onto a cooling rack or below to sop up any excess oil.
- Fry the doughnuts: When the doughnuts are ready, take one doughnut carrying it on its parchment paper and place it onto the slotted spoon, removing the parchment paper. Lower the doughnut into the oil and fry doughnut on onside for 2 minutes or until lightly golden the bottom. Then flip the doughnut using the slotted spoon to fry on the other side for 1:30 minutes. You can place more doughnuts in a time if your pan can hold it, as long as you keep the temperature between 350-365F. Remove the cooke doughnuts with the slotted spoon, and place them onto the cooling rack.
- While the donuts are cooling: Allow the donuts to cool for at least 10 minutes. While they’re cooling, you can blend the pastry cream here to get it super smooth before filling your piping bag. Additionally, you can make the chocolate ganache here following the instructions.
- Fill the doughnuts: Use a knife or a long skewer to poke a hole in the seam of each doughnut, and use the skewer to create a pocket towards the middle of the donut. This will be where you fill the doughnuts. Then fill a pastry bag with piping nozzle with the pastry cream. Pipe the filling into each doughnut by inserting the tip into the hole made by the skewer. Be careful not to overfill, as the pastry cream will pool out of the donuts.
- Top with ganache: Once filled, dip the top of each donut into the chocolate ganache, twisting the donut when you pull up to ensure any excess ganache drips off.
- Serve and enjoy! Serve the doughnuts freshly baked or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Notes
See blog post for tips and tricks!
Can you double this recipe and have it come out well? Thanks for your help!
Yes you can, but you’d need a pretty big bowl for the dough! You’ll have a lot of it! I recommend still making it in two batches, just for ease of working with the dough! 🙂
Can you bake these donuts instead of frying?
Thank you!
Absolutely! Just brush them with a little bit of melted vegan butter or avocado oil so that the outside still browns evenly 🙂
Can these be made gluten free?
Not at this current time- I’ve been working on a recipe to get it as soft as my gluten free vegan cinnamon rolls, but they keep ending up rather tough :/ Hopefully soon!
Hi! Can I replace the yogurt with a flax egg or apple sauce? Or anything else?
Hi Danny! You can use applesauce, same amount 🙂