Tender banana donuts are just right when topped with rich chocolate icing. These baked donuts are easy to make, and are gluten free and vegan, too! A sweet treat that all can enjoy.
Sometimes you get into a breakfast rut. I find it’s easy do when you have food allergies. If you avoid eggs, gluten, or dairy, that can eliminate a lot of standard breakfast options.
We like overnight oats, or baked oatmeal, or vegan waffles for breakfast, but those can get tiring, too!
When you’re in a breakfast rut, I highly suggest baked donuts. Even if you just use a favorite muffin recipe and bake them in a donut pan, they will seem exciting and new to your family. These banana donuts are kind of like banana muffins, but with a chocolate glaze on top, they seem more like a treat you’d find at a bakery.
We use our donut pan often – double chocolate donuts and chocolate cherry donuts are a favorite over here.
Ingredient Notes
- Bananas – Just like with banana bread, very ripe bananas are the secret to a delicious banana donut. Bananas have a binding property – they are one of my favorite egg replacers. For this recipe, either use bananas that are starting to get a lot of brown spots, or use some that you’ve frozen previously because they were too ripe. If you use frozen bananas, you will need to thaw them before adding them to the batter.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – I like my own gluten free flour blend, but you can use a store bought blend if you like! Gluten free blends from Namaste Foods or 123 Gluten Free usually perform very well in baked good recipes.
- Oat Flour – Making oat flour is easy – you can just grind up certified gluten free oats in a food processor until they become a fine flour. If you want it to be really fine, you can also sift it through a fine mesh sieve. I don’t mind a little more texture to my oat flour, so I don’t usually sift it. I don’t recommend using only oat flour in this recipe. Oat flour alone results in very light and crumbly baked goods. Use some gluten free flour as well to help these donuts stick together.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I used Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder for making this chocolate frosting. Any brand that works for your dietary needs should work just as well in this recipe.
Substitutions
- If you can’t eat bananas, you could try this recipe with applesauce or pumpkin puree instead of the mashed banana. These donuts will still taste good!
- If you don’t want to do chocolate frosting, you can make these a simple dairy free vanilla frosting.
Special Equipment
A donut pan is helpful for making donuts at home. They’re easy to find at stores like Michael’s, JoAnn Fabrics, or on Amazon. If you don’t have a donut pan, you can make these in a muffin pan instead.
Tips for Success
- Even though donut pans are non-stick, I still have trouble getting the donuts out at times. That’s why I recommend always greasing and flouring the pan.
- Make sure you allow the donuts to cool for 5-10 minutes before overturning the pan and tapping the bottom to get them to release.
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Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make these perfect baked donuts!
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Recipe
Banana Donuts with Chocolate Icing (Gluten Free, Vegan).
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- ¼ cup vegan buttery spread melted
- 3 Tablespoons very ripe banana mashed
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup gluten free flour or all-purpose flour, or spelt flour
- ⅓ cup oat flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ teaspoon white vinegar
For the chocolate icing:
- 2 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2-3 Tablespoons water
Instructions
Make the donuts:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a donut pan.
- Place the melted vegan buttery spread, mashed banana, brown sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and stir well.
- Add the gluten free flour, oat flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the water and vinegar and stir until smooth.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 13-15 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then overturn the pan and tap the bottom to release.
Make the icing:
- Place the vegan buttery spread in a bowl, and add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
- Drizzle in some water, and use a mixer to mix on high speed. Add more water if needed to reach the desired consistency.
- Frost the cooled donuts. Allow the frosting to sit on the donuts for a bit – it will get that little bit of a hardened coating like a bakery donut.
Katie
Delicious recipe!