Vegan Vanilla Chai Baked Donuts

These donuts are nothing close to the regular fried and fatty donuts that you would get at most bakeries and coffee shops. These are vegan and baked, instead of fried. Don’t get me wrong though. They are still delicious. This recipe only makes four donuts, which is a good thing if you are anything like me. Guess how many were left at the end of the day. Just one sad and lonely donut. Since they are vegan and whole wheat, these donuts are filling, but don’t leave you feeling sick. Even if you eat three in one day. You can also put as much icing on as you want, although I would recommend putting on a decent amount because it soaks into the donut and make it so moist and yummy.

Vegan Vanilla Chai Baked Donuts
Makes 4 large donuts.

for the donuts:
1 1/4  cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon chai spice mixture
2/3 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the glaze:
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon almond milk
½ vanilla bean, sliced down the middle and seeds removed

*Note: Glaze the donuts right before eating because they will soak up the glaze quickly.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix together the soymilk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and chai mixture into a large bowl. Don’t skip this step as it sifts out the large sugar crystals and wheat flakes.
4. Add the applesauce and vanilla to the soymilk mixture and stir well.
5. Add the wet soymilk and applesauce mixture to the sifted dry mixture and stir to combine. Do not overmix.
6. Put the batter into either a piping bag or a plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe it into your donut pan. Fill the pan to about 3/4 full in each donut.
7. Bake for 10-13 minutes You can test by inserting a toothpick and pulling it out. If it is clean then they are done. If not, bake them for just a minute or two longer and test again.
8. Let them cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then flip the pan to release them. Let them cool for 5-10 minutes longer.
9. Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla bean, and almond milk. Add more almond milk ½ teaspoon at a time if you want to thin it out. You want it pretty thick or it will not stick to the donut.
10. Once the donuts have cooled slightly you can liberally spoon the glaze over the donuts.
11. Store in an airtight container in the fridge… if they make it that long you eat them all.