How to Make Traditional Gluten Free Whole Grain Donuts

Traditional gluten free whole grain donuts.

This was something I had wanted to create for so long. I had been making gluten free cake donuts for years and everyone was satisfied with them. Baked donuts are good but they weren’t like the traditional donuts that everyone else could get from the donut shop. Sometimes the donut pan wouldn’t get buttered well enough and they would fall apart when I was taking them out. 

It was so frustrating, not to mention I always felt like we were missing out. 

A few months ago I shared my gluten free whole grain bread recipe. I wanted this recipe to be a staple that could be turned into hamburger buns, dinner rolls, pizza dough and more.

So I got thinking…. why I can’t I just make donuts with this recipe as well?

So that’s exactly what I did to make this delicious recipe!

What’s the difference between a cake donut and a yeast donuts?

There are 2 types of donuts, although my girls don’t really care which kind you make them as long as they are getting donuts. 

There are cake donuts and yeast donuts. Cake donuts are exactly how they sound. It is a cake batter that you will pour into a donut pan. Bake them and frost or glaze when cooled. They don’t have yeast in them and the donut batter rises with baking powder. Cake donuts are delicious but not what you are thinking of when you think of a traditional donut.

A yeast donut is leavened with yeast and fried in oil to get a crisp outside with a soft moist inside. What you get at a donut shop is a yeasted donut. And that was what I was out to make!

Up until a few months ago my girls and I had never had a yeasted donut. Since I was diagnosed with celiac disease at age 5 I have been gluten free for over 33 years. I don’t ever remember having a donut before then and when I was young gluten free was so new that you couldn’t just go buy a gluten free donut in the freezer section like you can now. I knew this was something I wanted my girls to experience so I started experimenting!

I use my gluten free whole grain bread recipe with a couple modifications for the dough of the donuts.

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Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 3 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 30g psyllium husk powder, NOW brand
• 280g brown rice flour (I start with brown rice and mill it fresh)
• 100g sorghum flour (I start with sorghum grain and mill it fresh) 
• 120g tapioca starch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted. To make this dairy free use 5 TBSP of avocado oil or olive oil
• more warm water if needed
• Avocado oil for frying (or oil of choice)

For the Glaze: 

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Splash of milk, more or less as needed
• ½ tsp vanilla

How to Make Traditional Gluten Free Whole Grain Donuts:

1. Mill your grains into flour.
2. Add 1 ¾ cup warm water into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in yeast and maple syrup. Turn your mixer on for about 10 seconds just to mix. Let it sit to proof.
3. In a separate bowl using a digital kitchen scale, weigh out all your flours in a large bowl. Add the salt and baking powder to your flours.
4. Once your yeast is proofed, add in 30g of psyllium husk to your stand mixer. Whisk it for a second or two and let it sit for a minute until it gels up. 
5. Add your dry ingredients to the bowl of the stand mixer with your wet ingredients.
6. Now add the eggs, apple cider vinegar, and melted butter to your stand mixer. 
7. Turn your mixer on and let it run for 3 minutes. Add in splashes of water as needed to get the right consistency. 
8. You want your dough to come together pretty well. It will still be slightly sticky but not too much. 
9. Lightly dust your work surface with brown rice flour. Dump out dough onto the floured surface and sprinkle the top with a little brown rice flour. Let the dough rest on the counter for a minute or two.
10. Roll out your dough to 1” thick. Using a circle cookie cutter, the size you want your donuts plus a small one for the center hole, cut each donut out. I like to use a wide mouth canning ring for the big circle and I use a small flower shape cookie cutter for the center hole. Get creative and just use what you have in your kitchen!
11. Place all your donuts along with the center cut out (for donut holes) on a cookie sheet and let rise for 15 minutes.

Fry the Donuts:

1. While donuts are rising, fill a cast iron pan or dutch oven with 2-3 inches of avocado oil to fry your donuts in. You can use any oil you’d like but I prefer to use avocado oil. Heat oil to 375 degrees. Do not place donuts in until oil is hot. If your oil is not hot enough, your donuts will absorb oil instead of fry.
2. Once your hot oil has reached 375 degrees, place donuts in one at a time to fry. Fry on one side for about 1-2 minutes, flip over and fry on the other side.They should be golden brown on both sides. 
3. Let your warm donuts cool completely on a paper towel lined plate or baking sheet. It’s ok if you stack your donuts, I do!
4. Place glaze ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together. Once donuts are cooled, dip each one in the glaze and set on a wire cooling rack to cool completely. The glaze will harden when cooled. Now it’s time to enjoy these fluffy donuts with a crispy outside and soft texture inside. 

Can I make these dairy free?

You can absolutely make these donuts dairy free. I don’t want anyone to have to miss out just because of food allergies! So if possible I will always give options to make them dairy free.

To make these dairy free, replace the melted butter with 5 TBSP of avocado oil or coconut oil in the dough recipe. 

For the glaze, replace the milk with a non dairy milk of choice or even water.  Almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk or cashew milk are all good substitutes.

What other glazes can I use?

We love these donuts with a traditional white glaze on them but sometimes we are in the mood for something a bit different. 

Try making these donuts and topping them with a yummy chocolate glaze instead. Simply melt 1- 1.5 cup of chocolate chips, 2 TBSP of butter, and a dash of milk in a pot. Whisk constantly until smooth. Add more milk as needed to get the right consistency. The chocolate chips will harden back so the tops of your donut have a hard glaze. 

Another option we love is a maple glaze! Place 2 TBSP butter, 1/3 cup maple syrup, and 1 cup of powdered sugar into a saucepan and whisk completely. Add in dashes of milk to create the right consistency. For an added maple kick, add in a dash of maple extract. This is optional but really brings out the maple flavors. 

Can I make these donuts ahead of time?

I know that it is not always convenient to make donuts the morning of. You want fresh donuts but the time just isn’t there. I do have a solution to cut down on the time it takes to get these donuts made.

You can make the donut batter the night before and roll/cut them out. Place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper and cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pop the tray in the fridge overnight to have a slow rise.

The next day, take your tray out an hour before frying to let the donut dough come back to room temperature. Heat your oil and fry them up. You will find the most time consuming part isn’t the frying. It is making the dough and letting them rise. If you do that step the night before, it saves a ton of time in the morning!

You can also make these donuts the night before completely and put them in an airtight container. They are definitely still good but of course are the best on the same day.

How to store left over donuts?

Just like most gluten free products, yeasted donuts are always best on the day you fry them. As the days go on they get a little more dry and dense on the inside. My girls definitely don’t seem to mind! 

You can store the left over donuts in the freezer in a ziploc bag for 3-4 months. When you are ready to eat them, take them out and let them de-frost for about an hour on your counter. You can freeze them with the glaze already on or just the donuts and glaze them right before eating. 

Either way works! 

The best traditional gluten free whole grain donuts!

My goal is to never have my girls have to be left out of a delicious food because of a food allergy. There is just no need for that.

You can make delicious traditional gluten free whole grain donuts right in your kitchen and they taste just like donuts you would get at a donut shop. Those are the kinds of recipes I’m looking for for my family. 

So the next time someone says they are going to bring donuts to a gathering, wow everyone with your homemade donuts that will impress even the hardest critic! All donut lovers rejoice even if they have to be gluten free!