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    Home » Recipes » Donuts

    Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts (GF)

    Published: Apr 28, 2017 · Modified: Nov 6, 2020 · By: Gwen Leron
    This page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    Your family and friends will be asking for more when you make them these sweet, tangy, gluten free, vegan baked lemon doughnuts with lemon glaze!

    Everyone will be asking for more when you make them these sweet, tangy, vegan baked lemon doughnuts with lemon glaze! Instructions on how to make them gluten-free are also included!

    Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts sitting on a metal rack after being dipped in lemon glaze.

    I didn't have to share a doughnut recipe to know that everyone loves doughnuts. Of course, everyone does! But the response to my baked chocolate doughnuts surprised me a little bit.

    So knowing that you love those doughnuts so much, I'm sharing another recipe with you, but this time they're sweet, tangy, vegan baked lemon doughnuts that can also be made gluten-free!

    Ever since buying my now beloved (ha!) doughnut pan (I bought this one and I highly recommend it! <-- (Amazon Link)), I've been thinking up so many different recipes. Here are those that I've shared here already:

    • Chocolate Doughnuts
    • Chocolate Mint Doughnuts
    • Chai Doughnuts
    • Maple Doughnuts
    • Apple Cider Doughnuts
    • Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts
    • Pumpkin Doughnuts

    Since it's spring, and since I seem to be on a citrus kick lately (have you seen the vegan key lime cups I shared not long ago??), vegan lemon doughnuts won out as the next recipe I wanted to share.

    You can make these vegan and gluten free or if you don't need them to be gluten free, you can just make them vegan. I've included instructions for both, you pick the one you need!

    Overhead shot of Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts and fresh lemons on a burlap placemat.

    Now let's talk about the doughnuts!

    Like my chocolate doughnuts, these took me a few tries to get. More tries than the chocolate doughnuts, actually.

    Have you ever heard the saying baking is a science? It's so true.

    I originally wanted to use fresh lemon juice in the doughnut batter but they way the acid reacted with some of the other ingredients didn't always produce a great result.

    After many tries, I still couldn't get the recipe to work the way I wanted it to with the fresh lemon juice. The doughnuts always tasted delicious and looked perfect, it was the texture that was always off.

    I didn't want to share a recipe that I wasn't 100% happy with, so I pivoted a little and tried lemon extract instead of the juice. Thankfully, this change gave me a result that I'm now happy to share.

    To me, the lemon glaze makes these doughnuts, so don't skip the glaze!

    The doughnuts on their own are delicious but the tangy, sweet, lemony glaze just takes them over the top.

    The lemon zest I added to the glaze is optional  but it does give a little extra "punch" of lemon flavour.

    Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts being dipped into lemon glaze.

    Before you head to the recipe, I wanted to answer a question that I've been asked a lot since I published the last doughnut recipe.

    Readers who have never made or eaten baked doughnuts were curious to get a little insight into what they were in for when they made them.

    The most asked question I received?

    What Do Baked Doughnuts Taste Like?

    I went into this a little in the baked chocolate doughnuts recipe.

    One important thing to keep in mind is that baked doughnuts are nothing like fried doughnuts. Baked doughnuts are more like cake. Doughnut shaped cakes with sweet glaze on top!

    The texture is like cake, they're light, fluffy, and they're a nice alternative if you're aiming to stay away from fried foods.

    Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts on a blue plate to the right inthe background, one doughnut sits on parchment paper in the foregound, fresh sliced lemons sit in the background.

    If you have any questions about baked doughnuts, let me know in the comments!

    I hope you love these as much as you love the chocolate doughnuts!

    If you like this recipe, you may also like these:

    • Chocolate Doughnuts
    • Chocolate Mint Doughnuts
    • Maple Doughnuts
    • Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts
    • Lemon Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
    • Lemon Blueberry Waffles

    And if you make them, let me know in the comments or tag me on Instagram to show me! I'm @delightfuladventures over there.

    Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts on a blue plate int he background, one lemon doughnut sits in the foreground.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe SaveSaved!
    5 from 6 votes

    Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts

    Tart, but at the same time, sweet! You and your family are going to love these vegan baked lemon doughnuts that can also be make gluten-free.
    Prep Time:15 minutes
    Cook Time:10 minutes
    Total Time:25 minutes
    Author: Gwen Leron
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Gluten-Free
    Diet: Vegan
    Servings: 6

    Suggested Equipment:

    • Kitchen Scale
    • Donut Pan
    • 12" Reusable Piping Bag
    • Glass Mixing Bowls
    • Wooden Spoons

    Ingredients:

    For the Doughnuts:

    • 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (I used golden flax seeds, see note below)
    • 3 tablespoons (45ml) water
    • 1 cup (148g) gluten free flour OR all-purpose flour (125g) (see important notes about flour below)
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ cup (50g) sugar
    • 1 ¼ teaspoons lemon zest
    • ½ cup (120ml) unsweetened dairy-free milk
    • 2 tablespoons (30ml) melted coconut oil
    • ¾ teaspoon lemon extract

    For the Lemon Glaze:

    • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • 2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice
    • ½ teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

    Instructions:

    • Preheat oven to 375°F.
    • Grease your doughnut pan (if needed).
    • Prepare your flax egg by whisking together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside to thicken.
    • In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and lemon zest.
    • In a small bowl, mix the milk, melted coconut oil, lemon extract, and flax mixture together.
    • Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Don't over mix.
    • Using a piping bag or a large Ziploc bag (see note below), pipe the mixture into each cavity.
    • Bake for 10 minutes.
    • Remove from oven and let the pan sit for a few minutes before removing the doughnuts.
    • Remove the doughnuts from the pan and place on a cooling rack.

    While the doughnuts are cooling, make the glaze:

    • Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl and add the lemon juice, and lemon zest (if using).
    • Mix until everything has combined into a liquid glaze.
    • When the doughnuts have fully cooled (they don't take long!), dip the tops of each doughnut into the glaze. Repeat with all the doughnuts.
    • Place the doughnuts back onto the cooling rack for the excess glaze to drip off and for the glaze to firm up. (Place a piece of parchment paper under the rack to catch the drips!)

    Recipe Notes:

    • If you are making the vegan gluten-free version, it's important to know that every gluten-free flour blend uses different ingredients and ratios. Results will always vary when different flours are used. I have never used any other brand of flour to make these doughnuts, other than Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour in the blue bag, NOT the red bag, so please know that your results may not be the same as mine if you substitute with a different gluten free flour.
    • Coconut flour will NOT work in this recipe.
    • I used golden flax seeds for this recipe but regular flax seeds can be used if you don't have golden seeds. They both work the same and your results will not be affected based on the type of seeds you use. You'll just have brown (tasteless) specks in your doughnuts!
    • If you are making the vegan gluten-free version, the batter will be very thick. That's OK! Just pipe it into the pan as-is.
    • A piping bag is recommended for getting the batter into the pan. If you don't have a piping bag, use a large Ziploc bag and snip off the end to stand in for a piping bag. If you don't have either, carefully spoon the batter into each doughnut cavity.
    • It's best to eat the doughnuts the same day they were made. The glaze does not hold up well. If you have leftovers, refrigerate them but know that the glaze may melt into the doughnut if kept for too long!
    • Nutrition info is based on 1 vegan gluten-free doughnut with glaze and is only to be used as a rough guide. Calorie count for 1 doughnut using the vegan only recipe is 211 calories. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.

    Nutrition Info:

    Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 150mg | Potassium: 30mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Vitamin C: 3.3mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 0.4mg
    Did You Make This Recipe?If so, please share a picture with me on Instagram! Tag @delightfuladventures and hashtag #delightfuladventures. I can't wait to see!

    More Vegan Donut Recipes

    • Vegan Apple Cider Doughnuts
    • Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Doughnuts
    • Baked Vegan Pumpkin Doughnuts
    • Chai-Spiced Baked Vegan Doughnuts

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Melanie says

      September 01, 2019 at 7:17 pm

      5 stars
      Amazingly good donuts! I made a batch with half almond flour (I ran out of other flour) and they were great. Glaze is also terrific. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Gwen Leron says

        September 03, 2019 at 8:54 am

        You're welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your note, I'm so happy to hear you love them, Melanie! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Britt says

      February 28, 2019 at 11:51 am

      Could these be put in the freezer without the icing, and iced later after thawed?

      Reply
      • Gwen says

        February 28, 2019 at 5:03 pm

        Hi Britt, I haven't tried doing this, but it should be fine to freeze without the icing. Let me know how it goes!

        Reply
    3. Martha Murray says

      February 07, 2019 at 4:30 pm

      Try making your own lemon extract using lemon zest and vodka, there are many instructions on Pinterest

      Reply
      • Gwen says

        February 08, 2019 at 2:59 pm

        Thanks for the tip, Martha!

        Reply
    4. Priscilla says

      December 16, 2018 at 4:27 pm

      Can we replace something else with the white sugar?

      Reply
      • Gwen says

        December 17, 2018 at 10:19 am

        Hi Priscilla, you can replace the white sugar in the doughnut with coconut sugar which is unrefined, but the colour of the doughnut will end up being a bit darker. As for the powdered sugar in the glaze, I don't have a suggestion for a replacement for that. If you try the recipe, let me know how it goes 🙂

        Reply
    5. Leonie says

      June 17, 2018 at 2:15 am

      5 stars
      Can I use oatmeal flour instead of the regular gluten free flour

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        June 17, 2018 at 12:42 pm

        Hi Leonie! I have not tested this recipe with oat flour, so I'm not 100% sure it will work, but based on experience, I don't think it will give you the same results you see here. For this recipe, if you were to use oat flour, you would have to blend it with another flour or a starch to get similar results. However, if you do end up trying it, let me know how it goes 🙂

        Reply
    6. shelby says

      September 19, 2017 at 7:36 pm

      5 stars
      ...THESE sound delish, a " Must try"...! I was looking for a gluten free bread recipe when I came across your site, and I have to order the pan, from Amazon....so I will be baking these as soon as it arrives. 🙂 As for the glaze, I think making more and keeping in a sealed container would be fine, Ive done this with my homemade frostings and works wonderfully. 🙂

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        September 20, 2017 at 11:33 am

        They are really good, Shelby! I hope you like them when you try. I also have a chocolate doughnut recipe on the website that you may like and I have a few more in the works. When my doughnut pan arrived, I wondered why I waited so long to get one 🙂 When you make them, let me know how things go!

        Reply
    7. Liz says

      September 03, 2017 at 9:03 am

      Can I use coconut flour instead of GF flour?

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        September 03, 2017 at 10:01 am

        Hi Liz! No, coconut flour will not work in this recipe as a straight substitute, I would not use it. Other ingredient ratios would have to be changed as well. Coconut flour is a tricky one to work with as it's more dense and requires a lot more moisture to work well. I would stick with a gf flour blend for this recipe. The only one I've tested this recipe with is the one I link to and it works perfectly, but if you try with another blend, let me know how it goes! 🙂

        Reply
    8. Marsha Farmer says

      July 31, 2017 at 12:16 pm

      5 stars
      this is one of the simplest doughnut recipes I have ever learnt, and tasty too, have tried and loved the item.

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        July 31, 2017 at 2:35 pm

        Yay! I'm so glad you tried it and like it, Marsha! Thanks for your note 🙂

        Reply
    9. Katie says

      July 26, 2017 at 12:28 pm

      Can I change lemon extract for something else? I can't find it in my country : (

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        July 26, 2017 at 4:29 pm

        Hi Katie, sorry you can't find the lemon extract where you live. When I was testing this recipe, I really wanted to use fresh lemon juice, but I could not get the doughnuts to rise as high or be as fluffy with lemon juice as I wanted. They were still good and tasted great, though. You can replace the extract with 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, but know that the result will not be as fluffy or rise as high as when the extract is used. Let me know how it goes! 🙂

        Reply
    10. Jessie says

      June 03, 2017 at 2:42 pm

      I used the same gf flour you listed and my batter came out more of a liquid consistency rather than a thick batter that you wrote. Should I be concerned?

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        June 03, 2017 at 7:44 pm

        Hi Jessie! How did they turn out? Yes, the batter should be more on the thicker side rather than the more liquid side. Did you make any wet ingredient substitutions or change any measurements? I hope everything turned out OK!

        Reply
    11. Natalie says

      May 13, 2017 at 10:28 pm

      Can I replace the coconut oil with Earth balance?

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        May 14, 2017 at 11:20 am

        Hi Natalie! I can't say for sure that it will turn out fine since I never tested with Earth Balance, but I think it will be OK. If you do try, please let me know if it worked out 🙂

        Reply
    12. Tami says

      May 07, 2017 at 2:47 am

      I don't have a doughnut pan! Yet! Can they be made in a muffin pan?

      Reply
      • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

        May 07, 2017 at 10:29 am

        Hi Tami 🙂 I haven't tried in a muffin pan but I think it would work. If you do try, please come back and let me know how it went!

        Reply
        • Ali says

          July 07, 2017 at 4:44 pm

          5 stars
          Not sure if anybody ever got back to you about baking these in a muffin tray opposed to a doughnut tray, but I tried these as muffins FIRST since I was also lacking a doughnut tray! SO good. I used a smaller muffin tray, so they weren't your stereotypical muffins with the big tops. Followed your instructions the exact same way and they came out perfectly. Even my "I'd never eat vegan/go vegan" friends raved about them. Awesome recipe, thank you for sharing 🙂

        • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

          July 09, 2017 at 4:52 pm

          No one got back to me about the muffin tray, so thank you so much for letting me know, Ali! I'm so glad they turned out! I be if you didn't tell your friend these were vegan, they'd never know 😉 Thanks so much for your note!

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