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

Units Scale

Custard Cream:

398 ml (1 can) coconut cream
240 ml dairy free unsweetened milk (such as oat, coconut, or almond)
170 grams maple syrup
6 tbsp arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
1 tbsp vanilla extract
80 grams vegan butter, preferably room temperature

Doughnut Dough:

2.5 grams dry activated yeast
300 mL light coconut milk (or coconut milk mixed partly with water and shaken)
565 grams all-purpose flour
50 grams coconut sugar
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
125 grams unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg

Chocolate Coating:

1 cup vegan chocolate chocolate chips
3 tbsp coconut oil or vegan butter, melted

For frying the doughnuts:

About 32 ounces of coconut oil (two jars) for frying

Instructions

Please read through all instructions before beginning.
Prep: measure out all ingredients for the custard and the doughnuts. Grease a medium size bowl, and set aside. Set aside the doughnut ingredients, and prepare to make the custard first.
Make the custard: in a medium saucepan and without heat, whisk together the coconut cream, dairy free unsweetened milk, maple syrup, arrowroot/tapioca starch, and vanilla extract. Whisk until there are no more clumps of starch. Heat the mixture on the stovetop using medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Add the vegan butter on top of the custard, and whisk together to melt. It’s easiest to use room temperature vegan butter, as it will melt faster, but you can use cold. Once the vegan butter has been melted, the mixture will be very thick. Remove from heat, and allow it to set at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then transfer to the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours.
Make the doughnuts: While the custard is chilling, make the doughnuts.
1. Activate the yeast: In microwave-safe bowl, heat the dairy-free milk until it reaches 110F- use a food thermometer to accurately measure the temperature. Any cooler or hotter, and the yeast won’t activate properly. Add in 1 tbsp coconut sugar and the extra 1 tbsp flour. Gently whisk together, then sprinkle yeast, mix with a spoon lightly, cover, and let activate for 10 minutes in a warm area.
2. Make the dough: When activated, pour the mixture into a large bowl or a stand mixer with the dough attachment. Add in the remaining coconut sugar, applesauce, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until combine. Then add in about half of the flour and mix on medium speed until the flour starts to incorporate into the wet mixture. Add the remaining flour, and mix on medium speed until a shaggy dough forms. Lightly flour a clean surface and place the dough onto the surface, sprinkling some extra flour on top or kneading.
3. First proof: Knead the dough lightly, for 2-4 minutes, until it forms a smooth dough ball that’s not sticky. Then place the dough into the greased medium bowl, cover with a cloth or wrap, and place into a warm area to let rise for 1 hour. It should be double in size. If it’s at least 80F outside, you can place the bowl outside, otherwise you can place it in the oven (which is turned off) and turn on the oven light or start preheating the oven to 350F and place the bowl near or on top of the oven.
4. Shape the doughnuts: When the dough has doubled in size, lightly punch down the dough, and flour a clean surface. Gently roll out the dough to a large rectangle that has about 1/2″ height. Use a 3″ round cookie cutter to cut out the doughnuts. Place the cut out doughnuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Continue to re-roll the dough until you have no more dough left. You can use multiple baking sheets if needed. Cover the doughnuts and allow them to rest while you heat the coconut oil for frying.
Fry the doughnuts: In a large saucepan with tall walls, heat the coconut oil until it reaches 355F. Use a kitchen thermometer to determine the heat safely. Once heated, use a wooden spoon to carefully place 3-4 doughnuts into the oil at a time. Cook on each side until they’re lightly golden, then flip. Once cooked, Place them onto a cooling rack or baking sheet. Repeat for the remaining doughnuts, then allow them to cool for 30 minutes before filling.
Make the chocolate topping: when ready to fill the doughnuts, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the chocolate until melted, either in the microwave or by stove top, then stir in coconut oil. Set aside to cool at room temperature.
Create pockets in the doughnuts: use a small butter knife or wooden skewer to create one hole in the sides of each of the doughnuts, creating a pocket inside for the custard. You don’t need to poke it all the way through, just about 2/3 of the way to create a pocket for the custard.
Dip the doughnuts: Once each doughnut has a pocket for the custard, lightly dip the tops of each doughnut into the chocolate. Place onto a cooling rack to set for 10 minutes.
Fill with custard: Remove the custard from the fridge. It might have thickened a lot in the fridge, which is completely normal. To remedy this so that it’s a smooth custard, simply spoon the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy again. Fill a pastry bag with piping tip with the custard, and gently fill each doughnut with custard (about 3-4 tbsp). Be careful not to overfill.
Serve and enjoy! Once all of your doughnuts are filled, you can serve and enjoy! These doughnuts are best the first day of baking, but can be enjoyed for 2-3 days afterwards if kept in the fridge in an airtight container.

Keywords: vegan Boston cream doughnuts, homemade Boston cream donuts, Boston cream doughnut recipe, Boston cream pie donut