Healthy vegan birthday cake donuts that are easy to make and taste like they’re from the bakery! No one will know that these baked vanilla cake donuts are healthy, low in sugar, and vegan! 

baked vanilla donuts

Well, my friends, I’ve nailed it. I’ve created a vanilla donut so good, every single person that sampled (read: ate the entire donut) was convinced I bought them from the local donut shop, let alone that these were in fact…

bite taken from vegan birthday cake donut surrounded by other vanilla cake donuts

Vegan birthday cake donuts!!!

You see, they have that bakery-oven taste to them- like there was no other possible explanation for their inception than your traditional bakery!

I was even asked to provide proof that I did indeed make mess of the kitchen these vanilla cake donuts. Unfortunately, this recipe is so dang easy that there wasn’t really a mess to prove them I made the donuts myself!

close up of baked donuts with sprinkles

Thankfully, these beautiful yet easy baked donuts were freshly decorated, so I had not gotten a chance to wash the dishes, which were sitting amuck in the sink haha! Saved by the fact that my Virgo nature stepped aside for just a second!

Once they saw the proof in my once clean sink, they believed me…and made me make a second batch…and a third…and a fourth!

close up of donut with bite taken out of it

I’m telling you, these vegan funfetti donuts are basically crack because you just can’t stop at one!

Let me break it down for you: these healthy vanilla donuts are insanely easy to make, are completely dairy free, refined sugar free, vegan, and can be made gluten free, and contain absolutely no yeast, yet taste like a freaking birthday party in a bite!

And yes, these no yeast baked donuts rise as if they were just the opposite!

Have I got your attention now? 😉 Let’s go over what goes into these healthy baked donuts, and then I’ll teach you how to recreate them bakery style!

baked vegan vanilla donuts on wooden board

Vegan Birthday Cake Donuts Ingredients

Flour: you can absolutely use gluten free flour here if you’d like to make these healthy baked donuts gluten free and vegan! I personally use organic white flour, which isn’t much more expensive than regular flour, so I highly recommend checking that out!

Nutmeg: ahhhh the secret ingredient! This is what makes these vegan vanilla cake donuts taste like they came from a bakery! A not-to-miss ingredient!

tower of vanilla cake donuts

Coconut Sugar: I find coconut sugar to be the best substitute for regular sugar in these donuts, but if you don’t mind having baked donuts with regular sugar, just swap in 2/3 cup sugar instead of 1/2 cup!

Unsweetened Applesauce: another secret ingredient that goes into all of my vegan cake and cupcake recipes!

Coconut (or Almond) Milk mixed with ACV: this stands for apple cider vinegar, which essentially creates a vegan buttermilk for these vegan birthday cake donuts! If you don’t have ACV, you can absolutely swap in regular vinegar! Just don’t use balsamic 😉

Vanilla: well you wouldn’t be able to have vanilla cake donuts without the vanilla!

easy baked donuts with sprinkles

Vegan Butter: I think this is also what adds to the birthday cake flavor of these easy baked vegan donuts- you can totally swap in coconut oil here, but I prefer the vegan butter! Highly recommend Miyoko’s for this, as their vegan butter tastes the best in my opinion.

Rainbow Sprinkles: it’s not a birthday without the rainbow sprinkles! Plus, aren’t the colors just so fun!?

bowl of rainbow sprinkles on cutting board

How to make baked donuts without yeast

Making these no yeast baked donuts is beyond easy, you’re going to love them! All you’ll need equipment-wise is a donut pan, a hand mixer, and a few bowls. That’s it!

Next we’ll start with the dry ingredients, move to the wet and then put it all together!

baked donuts on drying rack with sprinkles

Make the batter

First, preheat the oven and then grease the donut pan with a little coconut oil or olive oil.

line of vegan birthday cake donuts

Next, whisk the flour, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Set this bowl aside and grab a second bowl for the wet ingredients.

Using a hand mixer, beat together the coconut sugar, applesauce, melted vegan butter, homemade vegan “buttermilk,” and vanilla until it’s a nice and smooth drippy mixture.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a spoon until there are no more flour clumps.

vanilla cake donut batter in bowl on marble slab

Sprinkle in the sprinkles and mix again.

vanilla cake donut batter mixed with sprinkles
mixed vegan vanilla donut batter

Next, pour the batter into each donut pan until about 3/4 of the way up. Save half of the batter for the next batch (or just get 2 donut pans ha!).

vegan vanilla donut batter in the donut pan before baking

Bake the donuts for 18-20 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean, and then repeat for the remaining batter.

Then let your donuts cool completely before frosting!

vegan birthday cake donuts on a cool rack with sprinkles

Make the vegan frosting

When your vanilla cake donuts have cooled, now it’s time to make the vegan vanilla glaze!

Now, you could just dip them into some melted coconut butter and call it a day- this will keep these healthy vanilla donuts free from all refined sugar.

glazed vanilla cake donut on cooling rack with sprinkles

However, I personally love a traditional glaze or frosting, so what I did was beat together some powdered sugar, a little coconut milk, and some more vanilla!

Super easy and effective. Then just dip the vegan birthday cake donuts into the frosting one at a time and top with sprinkles 🙂

hand holding bitten vanilla cake donut

Then devour! These easy baked vegan donuts are great for all occasions, not just birthdays! Make them for a party, a brunch, or even just because- I mean, who wouldn’t love to wake up to vegan funfetti donuts on a Monday morning!?

I hope you love these healthy baked donuts as much as I do! Let me know how they go over in the comments below (I’d be eager to know if anyone thought you were lying about making them yourself ha!!), and of course, I look forward to seeing your beautiful recreations on Instagram and Pinterest 🙂

Happy baking and sprinkling!

More recipes you’ll love:

The BEST Vegan Vanilla Cake

Vegan Black Forest Cake

Simple Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

The BEST Paleo Fudge Brownies

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

pinterest image for vegan vanilla donuts
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close up of donut with bite taken out of it

Vegan Birthday Cake Donuts

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: thebananadiaries
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking

Description

Healthy vegan birthday cake donuts that are easy to make and taste like they’re from the bakery! No one will know that these baked vanilla cake donuts are healthy, low in sugar, and vegan! 


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup organic white flour, or favorite gluten free flour blend 
  • 1/2 cup coconut sguar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup coconut or almond milk, unsweetened with 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles

Vegan Icing:

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 24 tbsp coconut or almond milk
  • extra rainbow sprinkles for decoration

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 6-donut donut pan with coconut or olive oil.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the applesauce, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, melted butter, and coconut/almond milk until well combined.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined and there are no flour clumps.
  5. Add in the rainbow sprinkles and mix again.
  6. Distribute the batter evenly amongst the 6 donuts (saving half for the next batch). Fill the cups until they’re 3/4 of the way full.
  7. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Repeat for the remaining batter.
  9. Let the donuts cool completely before icing.
  10. When ready to ice, beat together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond milk until it’s a thick but still movable icing. 
  11. Dip each donut into the icing and sprinkle with extra rainbow sprinkles.
  12. Enjoy!


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 donut
  • Calories: 124
  • Sugar: 13
  • Sodium: 217
  • Fat: 4
  • Saturated Fat: 3
  • Carbohydrates: 22
  • Fiber: 0
  • Protein: 1
pinterest image for vegan vanilla donuts
pinterest image for vegan vanilla donuts