Today I have a special recipe that I’m so happy to share with you guys. It’s been a long time coming, but here they are at last: my first successful attempt at gluten free baked doughnuts that I actually like a.k.a. baked doughnuts that taste nothing like cake.
They turned out so soft and a little airy/not dense at all which was a surprise to me as they’re also completely grain free! Made with coconut flour and a touch of tapioca starch.
The secret? Surprise surprise… it’s that wonderful French delight yet again: choux pastry. Yes that’s right, everything on this blog either relates to doughnuts, choux pastry or both combined. And this post today is no exception. LOL
I know I’ve already posted so many doughnut recipes, but the one common denominator is that they’ve all been fried. And if you follow me on Instagram, then you may be aware that I’ve been going through something with my health as of late so I’ve had to press pause on baking while I focus on taking care of myself. This has entailed cutting out grains almost completely (temporarily), lowering my carb intake drastically and generally eating a diet of 99% whole foods. So I thought it was time to figure out a way to make some good and healthy-ish baked doughnuts!
I don’t usually like baking with coconut flour that much as it doesn’t always yield the best texture compared to standard gluten free flour blends, but with the added tapioca and the fact that there isn’t a lot of flour at all in choux pastry, it actually worked really well in this recipe.
SOME DISCLAIMERS:
Do these taste just like ‘proper’ doughnuts?
No, of course not. Sadly, doughnuts are supposed to be fried and no baked version ever comes close to the real thing. Especially a grain a free, healthy-ish version.
If you’re looking for an authentic doughnut recipe, unfortunately fried is the only way and I would recommend my Krispy Kreme Copycat Recipe instead (pictured below). hehe
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Choux pastry is eggy
This recipe is based on choux pastry which is naturally quite eggy. If you’re not a fan, this may not be the best recipe for you. And in that case, you may prefer my doughnuts as another bake alternative.
- 22g coconut flour (or a bit more, see explanation below in the instructions)
- 2 tsp tapioca starch
- 6 tsp / 40g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- ¼ tsp salt
- 50g butter
- 210g whole milk
- 3 large eggs (about 150g)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180g icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp (15g) honey or syrup
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- A few tsp milk
- Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- In a non-stick pan, melt the butter into the milk on low heat until the mixture reaches a very light simmer and add the vanilla.
- Turn off the heat and add the dry ingredients into the warm milk/butter mixture. Immediately stir with a spatula until everything is well combined into a paste.
- Transfer the dough into a bowl and let it cool down briefly (don't skip this step as we're adding the eggs next and we don't want the heat to start cooking them). To speed up the process, just keep mashing it up with the spatula to let all the steam out.
- Add the eggs and mix until you have a smooth batter. It will look really lumpy at first, but it's normal, keep going. Note: I kept this recipe pretty low in flour, but if you want it to feel a bit drier/doughier, feel free to add a bit more coconut flour at this point.
- Grease your doughnut pan with butter or oil and add a light sprinkle of flour on top.
- Pour the batter into the doughnut pan (you can use a piping bag to make the process easier), all the way to the top of the moulds or close as they don't puff up that much.
- Bake for 25-30 mins in a pre-heated oven 190C (375F). Note: near the end, when you see the top is starting to brown quite a bit, turn them over to cook the other side.
- Then turn the heat off and let them sit in the oven for 20 mins with the door opened.
- For the icing: mix the icing sugar, honey (or syrup), salt and vanilla extract together then add the milk very slowly (half a teaspoon at a time) until you reach the right consistency (it should be relatively thick and not too runny or it won't stick to your doughnuts).
- Cover the doughnuts in icing and let the rest on a rack while any excess drips off and add any sprinkles and toppings you'd like. I used sweetened cream cheese, Morrisons hundreds of thousands and raspberries.
Enjoy!
Kimi x
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂
Appreciate this post. Let me try it out.
Hi Kimi,
I was so excited about these but they just didn’t work for me! I am not sure my choux pastry was thick enough, because my final dough seemed a little runny. I added the extra coconut flour, but they still turned out more like soufflé…veeerrrrry eggy. Any advice?
As a side note, I noticed vanilla extract in the ingredients list, but it’s not mentioned where/when to add it in the instructions. Just an FYI.
I’m sorry to hear that these didn’t work for you! Choux pastry is eggy so the flavour may not be to everyone’s taste.
I posted another baked doughnut recipe since this one that you might prefer (gluten free yoghurt doughnuts). Otherwise, for more authentic doughnuts, my Krispy Kreme copycat recipe is what I’d recommend for sure. 😉