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overhead view of several baked vegan apple cider donuts with cinnamon sticks
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5 from 23 votes

Vegan Apple Cider Donuts (Gluten-free and Oil-free)

Learn how to make the most delicious Vegan Apple Cider Donuts gluten-free and oil-free! These donuts are so soft, fluffy and moist, baked and not fried. It is hard to believe they contain no oil and no butter!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Gluten-free, Vegan
Keyword: gluten free apple cider donuts, vegan apple cider donuts, vegan donuts, vegan gluten free apple cider donuts
Servings: 6 donuts
Calories: 254kcal
Author: Brandi Doming

Ingredients

COATING

NOTE

  • It's important to get accuracy in weight here since we are grinding up pecans and want the right ratios and moisture. So, I always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl and make sure to zero out in between each ingredient.
  • I use this scale.
  • I use this donut pan.

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and spray a 6 regular size donut pan well with nonstick spray. Wipe off any excess if it's pooling at the bottom. If you don't spray them, they WILL STICK. This recipe makes 6 regular size donuts. This may VARY depending on your pan having different donut size holes or depth of each one.
  • First, make the pecan flour by adding a half cup of pecans to a food processor or vitamix. This will happen VERY quickly in a vitamix. I actually find it's much easier to get a flour consistency (that doesn't get too wet fast) in a food processor. You don't want to overprocess or it will turn into paste. Pecans are naturally very oily, so if you overprocess it will quickly go from flour to paste. Process starting on slow and then high until it's a flour, just a few seconds. See photo in post how it should look. You don't want big chunks, but should be a meal consistency. If nut-free, you will use the sunflower seeds option, getting it as fine as you can.
  • Now make sure to measure out just 63 grams from the ground up pecan meal. You may have slightly extra from the processor, so just eat it. Add to a large bowl. If you weighed the correct amount of pecans, it will be the correct amount of flour. If you didn't weigh, make sure to use the correct amount of pecan flour.
  • To the bowl of pecan flour, add the rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, apple pie spice and salt and whisk very well to ensure there are no lumps.
  • Add the apple cider and syrup over the dry ingredients and whisk until completely smooth. It will seem too runny at first, but whisk a good 30 seconds or so until completely smooth and it thickens up a bit. It should be similar to a cake batter, very smooth and pourable. Do not worry about overmixing, this is a gluten-free batter and the smoother, the better. If making the version with the all-purpose flour, whisk gently just until all moistened and smooth, don't overmix or your donuts will be chewy.
  • Be warned if you taste the batter, it's the yummiest batter I think I've ever tasted. The rice flour version will have a gritty texture if you taste the batter, but will 100% not be detected in the baked result. Divide the batter evenly into the 6 donut pan, basically almost to the very top, as in the photo. I like to spoon it in pouring from a measuring cup with a pour spout going around the donut cavity, so it's not messy and catching drippings quickly with my spoon. Smooth out the tops with the back of a spoon or pick up the pan and give it a side-to-side shake to even out the batter.
  • Bake just 10 minutes! Both versions were perfect at 10 minutes. These bake up very quickly, so do not overbake or they will turn dry. But, as always, use the toothpick test, as you know ovens can vary, so yours may be done a minute quicker or later.
  • While the donuts are baking, make the sugar mixture. Combine the apple pie spice and sugar into a wide shallow bowl and whisk until blended.
  • Cool in the pan for 15 minutes only and then use a toothpick to help lift out each donut. This works best to remove them carefully. Use the bottom sides of the donuts (the sprayed side) to coat in the sugar mixture. It will stick perfectly because of the nonstick spray. I did not coat both sides since I felt they had enough sugar on just one side, but if you want to coat both, either lightly brush a little non-dairy milk, butter or oil to help the sugar stick.
  • Let them cool completely and enjoy! Store any leftovers at room temperature covered well so they don't dry out. These actually taste even better a couple hours after they have baked. The apple flavor seems to intensify, as does the moisture, as they sit.

Notes

  • APPLE CIDER: Do not confuse with apple cider vinegar or you will ruin the recipe. Make sure you are using a quality flavorful apple cider. Many brands will label them apple cider but it's nothing more than plain apple juice. You will know the difference by how much darker it is than regular apple juice. I used the Zeigler's brand from Whole Foods and it is SO DELICIOUS. I've seen that Target also has a lot of dark, rich looking apple cider currently, so that is another option. Keep in mind the apple flavor in your donuts will be affected by how strong the cider is.
  • SUB FOR RICE FLOUR: For the gluten-free version, the rice flour gives the absolute best texture here. They turn out amazing and fluffy and slightly dense, similar to cakey donut. Brown rice flour will not work here. It will make them way too crumbly and dry. If you are not gluten-free and don't want to use rice flour, you can make these with regular all-purpose flour. That version is equally as delicious. But please note to use the same WEIGHT amount in grams for the all-purpose flour (120g). This will not be equal to 3/4 cup (like the rice flour), but instead equal to 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons (in cups). But as always, of course, use a scale please, as it's very easy to ruin a recipe by being even slightly off on flour.
  • STARCH: I used potato starch here because it makes these fluffy and soft. It is the best starch for these donuts. Since it can be hard to find in stores these days, I always order it off Amazon (linked above). It is super cheap and arrives quickly. I do not recommend other starches so that the texture is not compromised. However, if you absolutely cannot use potato starch, use cornstarch instead, but again, the weight/tablespoon amounts are different for the 2 starches. Since cornstarch weighs less than potato starch, you will use the same weight in grams or if using tablespoons, you will need 5 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Please keep in mind that the donuts will be slightly more chewy and less soft/fluffy as with the potato starch.
  • NUT-FREE: If allergic to pecans, I would suggest trying to make this with ground up raw, unsalted sunflower kernels instead, using the same weight amount. Get it as fine as you can. Keep in mind, this will obviously change the flavor and not be as buttery/moist since pecans are much oilier than sunflower kernels. The donuts may be more dense too, but should still be yum.
  • MUFFINS: While I strongly recommend these as donuts, they are perfection, you can make these as muffins. I just prefer the texture of a donut. You will bake them as 6 donuts, 12-15 minutes. These cook very fast as muffins also, so start checking at 12 minutes. Remove once a toothpick is clean. You can sprinkle the sugar mixture on the batter before baking or when removing them, cool 15 minutes and then brush the tops with milk or light oil and then sprinkle on top. The sugar will not stick otherwise since the tops will be dry.
  • Nutrition does not include the sugar coating since there will be varying amounts used by each person and not all is possibly used.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1donut | Calories: 254kcal | Carbohydrates: 44.3g | Protein: 2.2g | Fat: 7.9g | Saturated Fat: 0.8g | Sodium: 141mg | Potassium: 247mg | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 17.5g | Calcium: 83mg