Healthy Chocolate Donuts

Hard to believe I've been sharing recipes on this here food blog for over ten years now.

What's even harder to believe is that I'm just now sharing a doughnut recipe.

Whhhaaaaaaaaat?

I'm just spit-balling here, but I'm thinking - over the course of those 10 years of blogging, I've had ... um ... a LOT of doughnuts.

Plus, I've even had readers specifically ask me to share a chocolate doughnut recipe.

And: crickets.

That is, until TODAY, my friends!  Woohoo!

Yep, I finally got myself a doughnut pan, so I can actually make doughnuts all day long.

Thanks to this healthy donut recipe, I don't even have to wait for a cheat day (which is when treats like doughnuts, fried chicken, and cheesecakes have their time and place).  

These chocolate doughnuts are divine - not too sweet and perfectly rich.  Plus, since they're baked, they avoid all the oils from frying, so that's definitely a plus.  

So, here ya go: healthy chocolate donuts with a dark chocolate glaze.  Thanks for waiting 🙂

Ingredient Notes

• Oat Flour: I use oat flour for these baked chocolate donuts, but you could swap for a different option, like whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour. If you aren't extremely sensitive to gluten, oat flour works great. But, if you are, then I recommend swapping with a 1:1 ratio for gluten-free all-purpose flour
• Collagen Peptides: I love the addition of collagen in these donuts. It adds richness and extra oomph to the donut, and I love how it also increases the protein content. I use my favorite brand, Cleanish's Vanilla Bean Collagen Peptides, and it makes the perfect addition.
• Eggs: I do use eggs for this healthy donut recipe to add more richness to the batter, but you could swap with unsweetened applesauce to make this a vegan recipe. Generally, the rule is to use ¼ cup of applesauce per egg, so you'd need ½ cup of unsweetened applesauce for this entire recipe.

How To Make Healthy Donuts

While donuts are not typically considered a healthy treat, it's shockingly easy to make your own healthy chocolate donuts at home, especially since we're baking them. Here's how you do it:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients (oat flour, dark cocoa powder, collagen, baking powder, and sea salt), and whisk to combine. 
2. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the wet ingredients (almond milk, eggs, melted coconut oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract), and mix together with a whisk.  
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until just incorporated.
4. Grease a donut pan with coconut oil, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Pour the batter carefully into the baking pan, and then bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the donuts are fully cooked and fluffy.
6. The donuts will rise in the last 2-3 minutes of baking. They are done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Then, you can make a chocolate glaze while the donuts are cooling if you'd like. I find the chocolate glaze and chocolate donut combo to be amazing.

For these donuts, I opted to keep them without any additional toppings, but you could make it fun and add chopped nuts (I think almonds or pistachios would be great), sprinkles (look for naturally-colored sprinkles), or flaked unsweetened coconut.

Chocolate Donut Frosting

Okay, can we talk about this chocolate donut frosting for a second? It is amazing—rich, creamy, and deliciously chocolate.

Now, because I'm not adding any confectioner sugar or other highly processed ingredients to this chocolate glaze, it will not set and harden as you might expect. You could place it in the fridge, and it would, given that it has coconut oil in it, but then you'd have cold donuts.

This frosting only uses 3 ingredients: dark chocolate chips, pure maple syrup, and coconut oil. For the chocolate chips, look for anything with a cacao percentage of 70% or higher. I use Ghiradelli 72% dark chocolate morsels.

How To Store

You can leave the donuts at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If you plan on keeping them longer, I recommend placing them in the fridge, also in an air-tight container, to maintain freshness. You could also freeze the donuts, which will last for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Whether storing on the counter at room temperature, in the refrigerator, or in the freezer, I recommend separating the donuts using wax or parchment paper to prevent them from sticking to themselves. You'll thank me later.

FAQ