These Paleo donuts have the most delicious cake-like texture thanks to the perfect mix of almond flour, coconut flour, and tapioca flour. They are topped with chocolate frosting and taste just like bakery cake donuts, but are made with healthier ingredients!
These almond flour Paleo donuts are seriously my favorite baked good to date! They are soft, fluffy, have the perfect amount of sweetness and are crave-worthy with the decedent chocolate frosting! These donuts are pure happiness!
This gluten-free donut recipe is perfect on a weekend morning and you can feel good knowing these are made from all clean food ingredients... I wouldn't go as far to say they are "healthy", but they are MUCH healthier for you than the alterative!
Other weekend baked goods we love around our house include my gluten-free mini chocolate chip muffins, almond flour blackberry muffins, and gluten-free apple cinnamon oat muffins.
How to Make
1. Start by mixing all the dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, salt, baking soda) together in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, dairy-free milk, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla).
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
4. Fully mix all ingredients together. The batter for these Paleo donuts will be on the thicker side.
5. Scoop batter into a piping bag, or plastic sandwich bag, and cut the tip of the bag (or corner if using a sandwich bag) about ½ inch to ¾ inch. Grease a 6 cavity donut pan, then pipe the batter into each donut donut mold. Each cavity should be filled about ¾ full.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned and begin to pull away from sides.
7. Allow donuts to slightly cool and then carefully remove from pan and place on cooling rack to fully cool.
8. While donuts are cooling, whisk together coconut powdered sugar, cocao, vanilla, and dairy-free milk to make the chocolate frosting.
9. Once donuts have cooled, it's time to add the chocolate frosting! Dip the top half of each donut (on the rounded side) into the chocolate frosting. The frosting will be thick, so be careful when dipping and pulling the donut out of the frosting. Place donut back on cooling rack to let frosting settle.
And if you think these almond flour donuts would be better with sprinkles, you can add some after you've dipped in chocolate (just know sprinkles aren't Paleo).
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
A complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below. Here are some specific call-outs, and when needed, some tips on keeping the ingredients clean.
ALMOND FLOUR - Use almond flour and not almond meal.
TAPIOCA FLOUR - Also called tapioca starch. You can use arrowroot starch/flour in it's place if needed.
COCONUT OIL - You'll need melted coconut oil.
Clean food tip: You can buy either refined or unrefined coconut oil. I typically opt for unrefined (think less processing), however, there are some refined that are clean/good for you too!
EGGS - Use room temp eggs. They mix up better and help the batter to rise while baking.
Clean food tip: I always recommend pasture-raised eggs, both from a nutritional and animal welfare standpoint.
DAIRY-FREE MILK - If you're not looking for these to be Paleo, or aren't dairy free, you can use regular cow's milk.
Clean food tip: Look for milk that contains just the source of the milk (i.e. almonds), water, and potentially salt and/or vanilla flavor. Make sure it's unsweetened, too! I love Malk and Elmhurst.
COCONUT SUGAR - Also called coconut palm sugar. I haven't tried, but you should be able to replace the coconut sugar with pure maple syrup.
POWDERED COCONUT SUGAR - Powdered coconut sugar is considered Paleo and is a cleaner alternative to regular powdered sugar (also called confectioner's sugar). If you don't need Paleo, you can sub regular powdered sugar.
CACAO - I recommend cocao powder, NOT cocoa powder. Cocao is Paleo approved, but if using cocoa powder ensure there are no additives and that it's Paleo friendly (if you need these donuts to be Paleo).
Clean food tip: Cacao and cocoa both come from the cocao tree, but cocao is the raw/minimally processed form and contains the nutrients and antioxidants that chocolate is known for. To keep it clean/real, look for cocao powder.
FAQs
I have only used silicone donut pans and love the Chefast donut pan I have. I don't personally like non-stick pans due to the chemicals they can release in your food, but with that said, you can definitely use a non-stick donut pan.
At simplest form, the Paleo diet focuses on real/whole nutrient dense foods and avoids grains, beans, processed sugars, and dairy. While I do not strictly follow a Paleo diet, I do like the approach and love how clean Paleo baked good are!
Can I replace the eggs with an egg substitute?
I have not tried and wouldn't recommend. Paleo flours need the structure of the eggs to bind the ingredients, so I can't guarantee an egg replacement would work. If you try one, let me know how it turns out!
How to Store
These Paleo donuts are really best eaten the day you make them. However, they can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 2 days or you can store in the fridge to extend freshness.
Expert Tips
GREASE YOUR DONUT PAN WELL! You don't want your Paleo donuts sticking to your pan. Use a decent amount of coconut oil and spread in the inside of each donut cavity before adding the batter.
USE A PIPING BAG (OR PLASTIC SANDWICH BAG) to pipe the batter into the donut pan.
DON'T UNDERCOOK. If you don't bake long enough you won't get the nice cake-like texture these Paleo donuts deserve. They are done when the edges are light golden brown and they start to pull away from the edges.
IF USING A NON-STICK PAN as opposed to a silicone pan, you may need to reduce baking time.
LET DONUTS COOL BEFORE REMOVING FROM PAN. Allow donuts to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and then carefully remove them. I flip the pan over and very softly push the underside of the silicon molds until the donut falls out (if needed, you can gently run a knife around the outside edges before removing).
More Better-for-You Baked Goods to Try!
If you make this recipe, please let me know what you think! I would so appreciate you leaving a star rating and/or comment below. And don't forget to share a photo on Instagram or Facebook and mention @CleanPlateMama!
Eat Clean.Be Healthy!
-Sara
Paleo Almond Flour Donuts {with chocolate frosting}
Equipment
- 1 donut pan (6 cavities)
Ingredients
Ingredients for Donuts
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 2 TBSP tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
- ½ TSP baking soda
- ⅛ TSP fine sea salt
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 2 TSP apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 TSP pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup coconut palm sugar (also just called coconut sugar)
- ¼ cup unsweetened dairy-free milk
Ingredients for the Chocolate Frosting
- 1 cup powdered coconut sugar
- 2 TBSP cacao
- 2.5 TBPS unsweetened dairy-free milk or water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and generously grease a 6 cavity donut pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca flour, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, vanilla, coconut sugar, and milk.
- Make a well in the flour mixture and then pour in liquid ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are fully incorporated. The batter will be thick.
- Transfer donut batter into a piping bag, or plastic sandwich bag. Cut the tip/corner of the bag about ½" - ¾". Pipe batter into donut pan, filling each cavity about ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown and they start to pull away from the edges (see notes).
- Allow donuts to cool slightly before removing them from the pan. If using silicon, you can flip the pan over and loosen the donuts by very carefully pushing on the silicone. Transfer donuts to a wire cooling rack and allow to fully cool before adding the chocolate frosting.
- While donuts are cooling, make the chocolate frosting. In a small shallow bowl, whisk together the powdered coconut sugar, cocao, and milk (or water). You want the bowl shallow enough that you can dip the donuts in it.
- Once donuts have cooled, carefully dip each donut in the frosting. Dip the top half of each donut (on the rounded side) into the chocolate frosting. The frosting will be thick, so be careful when dipping and pulling the donut out. Place donut back on cooling rack to let frosting settle.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If you are using a silicon pan, the baking time will be roughly 16 minutes. If using a standard non-stick pan, you may need to reduce the baking time; check donuts around 12 minutes. Regardless of pan, donuts are done when they start to pull away from the edges and are golden brown (don't undercook).
- For a silicon donut pan, you can place on a cookie sheet while baking for extra stability.
- Be very careful when dipping donuts in chocolate frosting. Gently dip the donuts and slowly pull out of frosting so donuts don't break. You will have leftover frosting - extra is needed simply so you can dip the donuts.
- You can add sprinkles if you'd like, just know sprinkles are not considered Paleo (I recommend naturally dyed sprinkles).
- Donuts are best eaten day of but will stay fresh in an air tight container for 48 hours.
- Note the total nutritional content is based off of all frosting being used. You will have a lot leftover frosting, so the nutritional content isn't super accurate. Without any frosting, each donut has 7g of sugar.
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