These cake-like glazed vegan donuts need just 10 ingredients and under 30 minutes to be made! Perfect for breakfast or dessert!
I know I don’t usually share a lot about me, but I will say that each time in my life I gave up dairy (first two times were for my daughters’ reactions and then finally when we went plant based), the thing I missed the most were donuts. These glazed vegan donuts are so simple and satisfy every craving I missed.
Donuts can completely be a comfort food, especially when you have then fresh out of the oven. There’s a reason that Krispy Kreme lights up that sign when they have hot ones ready and everyone runs towards them.
They are soft and almost melt in your mouth they are so delicious. These glazed vegan donuts are no exception. They are completely:
- vegan/plant based
- dairy free
- egg free
- can be Top 8 Free
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What ingredients do I need to make Glazed Vegan Donuts?
There are two “recipes” in this post; however, even with both you only need 10 ingredients. Y’all know we like easy recipes! The ingredients that you need to make these easy vegan donuts are:
- apple cider vinegar
- dairy free milk (we use almond milk)
- flour
- brown sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- unsweetened applesauce
- dairy free butter
- vanilla
- powdered sugar
That’s it! That’s all you need for the perfect vegan donuts.
How do you make dairy free donuts?
To start making this recipe, you need to make vegan buttermilk. You do that by combining apple cider vinegar and the dairy free milk of your choice. When you let the combination sit together for 10 minutes, it curdles like you see with traditional buttermilk.
Then, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease two donut pans. We used these donut pans for the donuts that you see in our photos.
Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
Then, once 10 minutes has passed and your buttermilk is ready, add in the wet ingredients and mix well.
Add into your greased donuts pans, a little over half full.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.
While waiting for donuts to bake, make your glaze. Whisk together your melted butter, milk and salt. Add in a little powdered sugar at a time, whisking after each addition until a smooth glaze forms.
Remove donuts from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before topping with the glaze. Serve immediately or let cool to room temperature and store in an air tight container.
Can I make these vegan donuts Top 8 Allergen friendly?
There is flour, dairy free milk, and dairy free butter in this recipe. If you are completely Top 8 Free, use an alternative dairy free milk like oat or hemp for this recipe. Otherwise, just use one that works for your family.
For the dairy free butter, you want one that is also soy free. We prefer Earth Balance soy free in the red tub!
While we have not tried gluten free flour with this recipe, we would recommend using King Arthur Measure for Measure flour. We have had the best results with this flour.
What other vegan breakfast recipes should I try?
Once you try these delicious vegan donuts, you may be looking for other amazing vegan breakfast ideas that you should try. We are sharing both sweet and savory dairy free breakfast ideas.
- Vegan Banana Pancakes
- Vegan Sausage Biscuits and Gravy
- Super Soft Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Perfect Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuits
- Dairy Free French Toast
- Dairy Free Banana Bread
All the recipes above are vegan, dairy free, and egg free. Some can be made Top 8 Allergy Friendly.
How long are Glazed Vegan Donuts good for?
Not that they will actually last as long as this, but these vegan glazed doughnuts will last for up to a week when stored in an air tight container.
They can be stored at room temperature and do not need to be refrigerated.
Pin these Glazed Vegan Donuts for later:
Glazed Vegan Donuts
Ingredients
For the Vegan Donuts
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened dairy free milk (we used almond milk, see post for allergy notes)
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Glaze for Donuts
- 2 tbsp dairy free milk (maybe need 1 more tbsp depending on batter consistency)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Vegan Donuts
- Combine the apple cider vinegar and milk in a bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two donut pans. We used these donut pans .
- Add all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
- Once buttermilk is ready, add in the wet ingredients in with dry and mix well.
- Pour batter into greased pans, a little over half full.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.
- Make glaze while you wait.
For the Glaze
- Whisk together your melted butter, milk and salt.
- Add in a little powdered sugar at a time, whisking after each addition until a smooth glaze forms.
- Remove donuts from oven. Let cool for 10 minutes. Dip donuts into the glaze.
- Serve immediately or let cool completely and store in an air tight container.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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This post was originally published on 6/7/2019 and edited on 2/6/2020.
These look delish! Will they hold their shape if you don’t have a donut pan?
Thanks so much! I wouldn’t recommend trying it without as it’s a cake like batter so it would spread. While we have never tried it, you could attempt in a muffin tin instead.
I used a mini cupcake pan because I didn’t have a donut pan and my boys wanted donuts TODAY. haha They seemed to turn out fine.
That’s awesome!
Mine came out super runny and I followed then ingredients! Idk what happened
Hi Kassy! We’d be happy to help you troubleshoot what happened if you want to email us at [email protected]
That looks yummy. Just wondering if I can sub apple sauce with something else? Thank you 🙂
Hi Novi! You could replace with the same amount of mashed banana though it would have a bit of a banana flavor. Any pureed fruit should have the same result.
Made these today and the whole family loved them!!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, we appreciate it so much. We are thrilled that your family loved them!
Made these as pumpkin spice donuts by subbing the nutmeg with pumpkin spice and they were perfect they re still delish with nutmeg as well
We’re so happy that you loved them!
Can you Freeze them?
Yes, we’d recommend freezing before adding the glaze.
Hi! These look delish! Could I add wild blueberries?
Absolutely!
Can i use white vinegar instead of apple cider?
yes you can
Of my 4 kids, two are vegan. One won’t eat sugar. The smart one gobbled these up and so did my non vegans, THey are amazing. I didn’t have applesauce so i used some smashed banana mixed with coconut oil. Followed the rest of the recipe exactly. Perfect taste and texture!
yay! We’re so happy that it worked with your substitutions! Excited to hear everyone liked it. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review Have a great day!
Mine came out fluffy and perfect! very delicious. thanks! we finished it all in less than 5 minutes.
Yay! That’s what we love to hear! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! Have a great day!
I will try this recipe today! Can I use egg replacer? It’s also vegan instead of applesauce?
Yes you can. Enough for 1 egg. Let us know what you think!
*Note: We haven’t tried this method, but it should work because it’s just replacing each other.
Tried and tested this recipe was really good 🙌🏼
We’re so excited that you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, we appreciate that! Have a great week and stay safe.
WOW!
A simply easy to follow recipe with AMAZING results!
My college age daughter and I made these together… she too was impressed!
Looking forward to more Make It Dairy Free creations.
Thrilled to have found you!
Cheers and stay safe!
We so excited that you got to do something together and that it was a success! Appreciate you taking time out to leave a review. Have a great week
I subbed 4 tablespoons of oil for the applesauce and we liked the results! Thanks for a great addition to our family recipients!!
Yay! We are so excited to hear that. Thanks so much for sharing about your substitution, glad it worked
I’m really looking forward to making these but would like to make them without the butter. Do you think I can I substitute the butter with anything else, maybe applesauce or a flax egg?
applesauce will work
This recipe doesn’t work at all.. the donuts were super flat. Fresh yeast is needed istead of baking powder
We’d be happy to troubleshoot with you if you want to email us but dozens of people have successfully made these and we’ve made them ourselves multiple times. No yeast is needed for these.
Hi! What can I use instead of vegan butter?
Are you trying to avoid all oil or just don’t have vegan butter specifically?
Don’t have vegan butter
So delicious and so easy! My kids devoured them quickly! Thank you!
Winning! We’re so happy to hear that it was a hit! We appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Have a great week.
I have used this recipe 3 times and it’s perfect each time.
So happy to hear you loved the recipe. Thanks so much for taking time to leave a review, we appreciate that a lot. Have a great week!
How much cocoa powder do you add to batter and icing?
Hi Karlyn, if you want chocolate donuts, we’d recommend following our chocolate version recipe you can find here: https://makeitdairyfree.com/vegan-chocolate-donuts/
Hi! I loved your recipe 🙂 thanks!!
Just a quick question, I’d like to replace applesauce with something else.
Which one do you think is better, mashed banana or vegan butter?
The applesauce is an egg replacement. We would do banana (if you don’t mind the banana flavor) or flax egg
Hi! I love these but the brown sugar taste is strong to me, do you recommend i swap it out for organic cane sugar or maybe do 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup regular?
you definitely could do either here!
I have made this recipe a few times now. My kids absolutely love this.
So glad you all enjoyed! Thanks for taking time to leave a review.
Hi there! Love, love, love your website! So glad to have found you. Made these with my daughter yesterday and they turned out great! We added a little cinnamon to the batter and after baking while still warm to the touch, we coated them with melted vegan butter and rolled them in cinnamon-sugar…Yummy and gone in a flash:-))) I baked at 175C and needed 8 extra minutes(so 18 min. total) until they were done. We’ll try the glaze next time. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks & sweet greetings from Switzerland.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed them and loved your take on them! Thanks for taking time to leave a review!
Hi! These were great. Can you help me on two things: (1) I’m not sure if our buttermilk turned out right, because it wasn’t bubbly. We used So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk. (2) How can we make top 8-free maple glaze. Thank you!
So happy that you enjoyed! You don’t have to have bubbles. For the glaze — any dairy free milk and a soy free vegan butter (Flora, Earth Balance soy free) will make it Top 8 Free.
Delicious! I added a few sprinkles! I always pipe my donuts into the pans to make less of a mess!
So happy that you enjoyed them! Have a great day! Thanks for leaving a review