Vegan Gluten-Free Apple Cider Donuts

WOW. These are delicious! Make sure you heavily grease the pan. Ours had a tough time coming out. SO GOOD!

These were delightful! The donuts were delicious, with a great texture and flavor. I used egg whites rather than aquafaba, Kirkland (Costco) brand almond flour and King Arthur GF measure for measure flour. Thank you for making sure those of us who need GF can partake of the seasonal apple cider donut fun!

This recipe is amazing, I honestly can not tell the difference between this and the real gluten filled thing! I’ve made this twice and sent the link for the recipe to everyone I thought would enjoy it!

I haven’t been this content and happy after baking in as long as I can remember – thank you for this amazing recipe ! My gf baked goods always turn out very dense, so I finally got all of the ingredients to make your homemade flour blend and WOW did it change the game. My entire family raved about these, and I’m the only one who needs to eat vegan and gluten free! On a more tender note, apple cider donuts are a staple at a farm stand near my college this time of year, but my senior year is now virtual and I’ve been missing New England a little more as the trees start to turn. This recipe was even better than I remember their donuts being, so thank you for making it possible for me to enjoy a little piece of New England fall here at home : )

I made this today and it’s amazing! My five year old was suddenly put on a GF, egg and dairy free diet in Oct. 2019. I was scrambling to find the best sandwich breads, zucchini bread, cake and pancake recipes. The poor guy has been missing out on a lot of things—including doughnuts—until now! Since he’s been such a good kid about the quarantine, wearing a mask, 100% online remote learning AND being stuck indoors because of the horrible air quality due to the West Coast Fires, I decided to try this recipe for lunch today. (He had carrots to balance it out.) Rave reviews by the entire family! I can’t wait to try the other doughnut recipes. Thank you so much!

Hello,
This is the best donut recipe I have made, ever! These are super easy to make! I love the aromatic smell of the apple cider and the glaze fits together perfectly!! I used coconut oil and coconut palm sugar for the glaze. The aquafaba adds a nice touch. I will definitely be making these again!!

I made this last night and they were delicious. I loved the mix of flavors of apple, cinnamon and nutmeg. I used a silicone tray and left the donuts in the oven a couple of more minutes. They taste very good today as well straight from the fridge. I feel so happy after mastering this recipe! 😊

Made these tonight and OMG the best donuts ever not even joking. Use egg whites instead and used the apple butter. Made 10 large ones and 12 mini ones. Make sure to grease pan before hand so they don’t stick when trying to push them out. Overall amazing recipe and quite simple. Thank you again for another great recipe!! Xo

I totally messed these up and they were STILL good. Thats how great this recipe is. I didn’t have apple juice so I used almond milk, I didn’t have almond flour so I used 3/4 cup of coconut flour, I didn’t have chickpeas so I used 1 egg white. I didn’t even have a donut pan– I used ramekins with little foil balls in the middle lol. I by no means should have been making these at all given my unpreparedness. BUT they somehow came out amazing. Not the winners of a beauty pageant, probably because I didn’t have the apple cider to get them beautifully golden, but the texture was hands down the best out of all the gluten free baked goods I’ve ever made. I can’t imagine how great they’d be if I actually had all of the ingredients!

Delicious recipe!!

I made these Christmas morning. I did the optional step of brushing with vegan butter (Miyoko’s all the way!) and dipped in cinnamon sugar. SO DELICIOUS! My non-gluten-free/non-vegan family members were so impressed. Highly recommend!

Excellent! I made a batch in a donut pan and put another round of batter in 4-inch springform pans to make layers for a “mini apple cider cake” with Dana’s buttercream frosting recipe.
So good!
Modifications- I used a combo of date sugar and erythritol instead of cane sugar. Doubled up on the spices, just that kind of person

This recipe is amazing! Super easy and fool proof to make. I used coconut sugar, maple syrup, and avocado oil; skimped on all and they still turn out great. They also taste great without the sugar coating!

Absolutely incredible. The best GF donut recipe I’ve tried! Perfect moisture and texture for a donut- firm/slightly crispy on the outside but moist on the inside. We followed the recipe exactly. We had a bit of trouble getting some of them out of the molds but putting them in the freezer worked like a charm! We tried one donut dipped in sugar/cinnamon after brushing with coconut oil and found those too sugary, so only sprinkled the rest. Perfection. I could eat these every day! Thank you so much!!

Yummy! I just made these exactly as written (maple syrup, not agave) and they are delicious. I’m giving this 4 stars because 20 min was a few min too long and they were a bit overcooked. I wish I had checked at 17 – 18 min. Otherwise a great recipe and not too much clean up!

This recipe didn’t work out for me. It tasted great but I think it was too moist and it just wouldn’t come out in one piece even after cooling for over an hour in the pan. Followed it exactly. ?

I love so many of the recipes I’ve found on Minimalist Baker, but this really outdoes it. Instead of donuts, I used a muffin tin. Apple cider donut muffins!?!?! Out of this world.

I baked for 30 minutes so that they were baked the whole way through and actually mixed up the sugar coating in a little bowl and spooned it over the muffins.
My husband and I are going to struggle not to eat every last one of them by tomorrow!

Just made these donuts, and OMG, I’m in love. I grew up in Michigan, where fall meant a quick drive out to Yates Cider Mill for fresh pressed apple cider and donuts. I have been missing those donut for years, but no more. Thank you for this delicious recipe!

Just made these, I didn’t realize it was apple cider… SMH I thought it was apple cider vinegar… but I read the recipe slowly and I had apple juice. Yay these are great, my husband ate two in one sitting. ?
Thank you, next I’m going to try your oat milk recipe ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I just made these. Such a simple recipe to follow – whisk this thing, mix all those things, fold, spoon, bake!
I had to use spelt flour as I had no GF mix or anything to make it with, but they turned out really well.
I used spiced apple butter in place of the apple sauce.
They are quite cakey, but man oh man they taste GOOD.
10/10 will make again!

Turned them into muffins and added the Vegan Pumpkin Ice Cream <3 In heaven!

Holy.apple.sauce.

This recipe is amazing, the first time I’ve had a gluten free pastry that actually has a breadlike texture. Better than any regular donut I’ve had. 100 stars if I could!!

I did not have donut tins so I made them in muffin tins (they took 40 min to fully cook for me). I did not roll them in sugar this time, but I will certainly try it when I make these for my fam at thanksgiving. Next time I will also try with apple butter to enrich the flavor. I whipped the chickpea liquid by Hand, and found that a fork with some cream of tartar worked a lot better than a whisk. Eventually got them to soft peaks after about 10 min.

My only complaint is that almond flour is so expensive!! I don’t want to change the recipe but I do wish there was a substitute.

Major high five. This was incredible.

This is one of my favorite fall recipes!! I made them a handful of times last year and now here I am (Sept 1) looking up the recipe already in anticipation. I followed the directions as is and they were beautiful and scrumptious. Thank you Dana!

I made this recipe and everyone in my family loved it so much, I had to make it again immediately. Everyone from my parents to my 2 year old niece loved these doughnuts.

These donuts were absolutely delicious! I used natural unsweetened apple juice as I could not find apple Cider. The donuts were moist, tasty with just the right amount of spice. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

We have a winner! Turned out exactly as pictured and described. Of the dozen we had a few that didn’t immediately get eaten. Third day I put them in the toaster oven at 325 for 5 minutes or so and voila! Fresh donuts! Thanks for the great website!

I used this recipe and made muffins bcus I could not find a donut pan in stores. The only sub was I used grape seed oil for the 1/4 cup. Also didn’t have baking soda so I added a little more baking powder. They turned out great still !! Will use this recipe again

These are sooooo good!!!!! We all loved them. I tried to cook some of the batter in an ebelskiver pan but decided it is too thick; but it works great as donuts! The aquafaba is amazing. Thanks for your fabulous recipes and pictures!

These turned out awesome! I used the nut free suggestion and subbed almond flour for 1/2 ground sunflower seeds(used vitamin) and 1/2 flax meal. Thanks Dana!!

Yummy and very soft & fluffy! My first time with aquafava and I am impressed. Recipe did work in a muffin pan, since I didn’t have the donut style. Next time I would decrease the apple cider vinegar a smidge, I could taste a bit too much of the flavor for me, however my friends didn’t notice or mind! This is a try again forsure!

I have a question. I made this once before and they came out perfect. Absolutely perfect. However, the last two times I have made them, they have stuck to the pan and came out in pieces. I tried cooking spray first then coconut oil this time to “grease” the pans but both times the same thing happened. I was able to resurrect them a bit by crumbling the pieces into a bowl and adding vegan melted butter until I was able to mold them into donut holes. Then I rolled them in the coconut sugar/cinnamon mixture. They were great but we still want to eat them as donuts! Any suggestions?

Five star excellent recipe. I made these for Thanksgiving and they were a huge success and went way too fast. Thank you Dana for your simple yet very delicious recipes. Being gluten and dairy free it is such a treat to really indulge in something so yummy. I made the donuts again this morning followed by a homemade hummus recipe with the opened can of garbanzo beans.

Excellent… a little too excellent. I could see myself eating the whole tray! We made them in a muffin tin and they were wonderful. We used melted coconut oil, but due to the temperature of our house we had to act fast cause it was firming up.

Thanks for sharing the awesome vegan recipe. I cooked this recipe yesterday at my home. My husband loved it very much. Keep Sharing such kind of awesome recipes.

Dana, thank you so much for sharing your amazing recipes with the world. I am 36 and have been healing from serious chronic health issues for the past 5 years, with going mostly vegan/gluten free as a part of the the healing process. My husband has been dealing with some health issues as well and has helped me stay on track with our diet by making it a lifestyle change as well. Every time I make one of your recipes, he says “is this Minimalistic Baker?” You are my go to for new recipes because we haven’t tried even one that we weren’t crazy about! We appreciate you so much and this recipe is one of our new faves. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts (and bellies!) When you share your passions with others, you never know just how many peoples lives you touch in a positive way!

This is definitely a new favorite recipe! I’ve made them twice already and both times I had guests ask to take some home with them. Pretty much the only recipe that takes me the as advertised time to make – only 30 minutes! I even doubled the recipe for one batch and still perfect, I used the cream of tartar liberally to “stiffen” the aquafaba but it didn’t seem to matter if it didn’t firm up much.

I have a lot of pumpkin puree left over from Thanksgiving. Any thoughts on how I could sub in some of that into this recipe?

Thanks!

Yum! These are delicious. Will be making this again soon.

I just made these donuts and they were delicious! I had to modify a bit because I didn’t have gluten free flour. So I just put in regular. I used one regular egg. I thought that they lacked a little bit of taste so I made the icing with regular sugar instead of cane/coconut sugar. All in all, a great recipe. Thank you. :)

I had known that applesauce is a great substitute for fat, but I had no idea that the liquid from chickpeas mimic whipped egg white. Truly delicious and easy. Thank you. P.S. I made muffins; will get a donut pan.

I just made these and am thrilled with how they came out! I used agave syrup over the maple, and to my delight, this wasn’t too sweet in this recipe. I also used regular flour combined with the almond flour, and the text was perfect! Holds together well, isn’t gummy, and is suuuuuper moist. Since I had a lot of extra apples at home, I made a homemade apple sauce by chopping up 5 apples (golden delicious, braeburn, and gala) and putting them on the stove in a pot with 1/2 a cup of water for 20 minutes. After, I used an immersion blender to sauce it up! I held off on using cinnamon out of fear of over doing it in the recipe, but next time I’m going to try adding 1/2 tsp for some extra cinnamon. Lastly, I baked them in a muffin tin using cupcake liners and they came out this way! Baked evenly, moist all the way through, and no burnt bottoms. Already excited to make these again

Hello Dana, I made these for a lazy Sunday breakfast yesterday.
I used whole grain spelt flour, a pealed a fine grated apple instead of the applesauce and made them in a muffin tin.
What can I say?
They are absolutely delicious ?

Next time I will try them with orange juice and a chocolate glaze.

And I have to buy the doughnut tin. Finally!

Greetings from Germany

The moment this recipe popped into my email subscriptions, I knew I was going to make it. I’ve been all kinds of excited for all things apple cider but I haven’t seen a vegan and gluten free donut recipe that works. Thank you for creating such a great donut!
Also, I made these with the following modifications: I used 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 1/2cup tapioca starch in place of the gluten free flour. I also used my almond milk pulp (dehydrated) for the almond flour. I halved the maple syrup and used an extra 1/4 cup of applesauce. I omitted the oil because the batter seemed wet enough. Lastly, I had a hard time whipping the aquafaba and by the time I added it to my batter it was flat again. Oh well, the donuts still tasted good! It was a little tricky to come up with all of the ingredients but I am very satisfied with the taste!

Yum! Made these this morning and they turned out delicious! It was hard to wait for them to cool off, but it was well worth the wait!! Made the attached gluten free flour mix for the first time and it worked great!!

Mine turned out a bit darker but they were quite tasty. I think I also should use the cream of tarter to firm up the aquafaba. I will try this again.

These turned out great! I dont have a donut tray, so used a mini muffin tray instead. I dipped them in the cinammon sugar whilst still warm. My partner and i arent vegan nor gf – but both enjoyed them just as much as if made with ‘regular’ ingredients. They were superbly light and airy when eaten closest to coming from the oven. Thanks for this recipe – i will definately be making these again

These came out excellent in texture and flavor. I did not need to add the additional 2T flour. I also did use one egg instead of aquafaba.
Thank you for another outstanding recipe!

Definitely misread the directions and used ACV instead of apple cider. Still turned out amazing.

Made these tonight and they are the most delicious donut recipe I’ve ever tried!!

I made this for my kids (all under 9). After they are their dounuts they started all yelling from the other room, “Rate these 5 stars!” We all loved it. I had to sub ground walnuts for almond flour, but it worked great! It was my first time using Aquafaba– so easy. It was a treat to make and to eat! Thank you!

I simply love your recipes and this one is no different, made them today with homemade applesauce, ground pecans and a few pureed dates thrown into the mix for fun. Delicious! Thank you from Australia!

Loved this recipe! I didn’t have apple cider (couldn’t find at the store), so I used 1 cup of apple sauce and I forgot I had just finished off my baking powder so I squeezed half a lemon and a total of 1 tablespoon of baking soda for the recipe. They came out moist, super tasty and best of all a donut!! Thanks for your great recipes!

I saw this recipe and it just seemed like the perfect thing to make since I was using chickpeas for another dish (which would supply the aquafaba) and some apple cider that needed to be used up. I am not going to rate the recipe, because I had to make a few changes and I would like to try it as written before I rate it. I used half applesauce and half apple butter as suggested, I believe that added wonderful flavor. I have a “pie spice” mix that I used instead of the spices. The main problem was, I don’t know if I used almond flour or almond meal! I think it might have been almond meal because the finished product did have some “chewy” pieces in it. I also don’t have a donut pan, so I used a mini bundt pan instead. However, it wasn’t greased well enough (all those little nooks…) and I had much trouble getting the donuts out of the pan. Several fell apart in the process, but the crumbs were yummy! I felt that the flavor was VERY GOOD, but the texture was a bit off, too crumbly….I believe to be my fault if it was in fact almond meal. BUT, when I did reheat them today (the day after), the texture improved and they were even better! I want to make the recipe again, making sure I use the right flour, then I can give it 5 stars! Truth be told, I don’t think my kids even noticed that the texture was too crumbly, they just gobbled them all down… When they do that, it’s nice to know that they aren’t deep fried, we avoid those because we try to cut out as much oil as possible! Thanks you Dana for a apple cider donut recipe that I don’t feel guilty eating!