Healthy Banana Donuts with Chocolate Glaze
These baked donuts taste incredible — and I actually prefer them to the traditional fried ones! They’re deliciously sweet, thanks to the banana, and the rich dark chocolate glaze is the perfect flavor combination. Leftover donuts will keep for at least 5 days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
FOR THE DONUTS
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp (7g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp liquid stevia
- 1 cup (260g) mashed banana (about 2 large ripe bananas – see Notes!)
- ¾ cup (180mL) unsweetened cashew milk
FOR THE GLAZE
- ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- 3 ½ tbsp (52mL) unsweetened cashew milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- scant ¼ tsp liquid stevia (or adjusted to taste)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 28 mini donut cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the donuts, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Stir in the mashed banana. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 4 equal parts.)
- Transfer the batter to a large zip-topped plastic bag, and cut off one corner. Pipe the batter into the prepared donut cups. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch. Cool in the donut pan for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Just before serving, prepare the glaze by stirring together the cocoa powder, milk, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Dip each donut into the glaze, and place back onto the wire racks or a plate to let the glaze set.
Notes
IMPORTANT MEASURING NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: It’s very important to measure the flour and cocoa powder correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!). Too much flour will dry out the donut batter. Too much cocoa powder will make the glaze taste bitter instead of rich and dark (like 72% dark chocolate).
IMPORTANT BANANA NOTES – READ BEFORE BEGINNING: For the best results, use the ripest, darkest, and spottiest bananas you have! The ones that are purely brown are ideal. They have a stronger and sweeter banana flavor than pure yellow bananas.
Measure the bananas by cups or grams, not by “two large bananas.” Not all “large” bananas are the same size!
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
LIQUID STEVIA NOTES + ALTERNATIVES: I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It’s one of my favorite sweeteners, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too. (I buy it online here because that's the cheapest price I've found!)
If you prefer not to use the liquid stevia in the donut batter, substitute ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (150mL) pure maple syrup, honey, or agave AND reduce the cashew milk to 2 tablespoons (30mL) in the batter.
If you prefer not to use the liquid stevia in the glaze, substitute 2 tablespoons (30mL) pure maple syrup, honey, or agave AND reduce the cashew milk to 1 ½ tablespoons (22mL).
MILK ALTERNATIVES: Any milk may be substituted in place of the unsweetened cashew milk.
GLUTEN FREE OPTION: For the gluten free flour, I recommend the following: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ½ cup (60g) brown rice flour, ½ cup (60g) tapioca flour, and 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten free flour blends (I like this one by Bob's Red Mill) will work as well, if measured like this.
DONUT PANS NOTE: These are the donut pans that I use! They’re made of silicone and a little flimsy, so I just set them on top of a large cookie sheet to bake.
GLAZING TIP: When dipping in the glaze, I put the glaze on the side of the donut that was touching the donut pan (so the donuts' bottoms!). It’s typically smoother than the top side, so the glaze looks a little prettier!
HOW TO MAKE STANDARD SIZED DONUTS: If you prefer, this recipe will yield 12 standard sized donuts. The baking temperature remains the same. Begin checking on them after about 18 minutes. The donuts will be done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops feel firm to the touch.
HOW TO MAKE IN MUFFIN PANS: Don’t own a mini or standard-sized donut pan? Not to worry! You can use mini muffin pans (you’ll get 28 mini muffins) or a standard-sized muffin pan (you’ll get 12 muffins).
{gluten free, egg free, dairy free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low sugar}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.