Delightful Adventures

Plant-Based, Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes

  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Snacks
    • Supper
  • About
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Recipes / Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts (GF)

Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts (GF)

April 28, 2017 16 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
Pin31K
Share329
Tweet5
Flip
Stumble72
Buffer7

This page contains affiliate links. Click to learn more.

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!), I’ve been thinking up so many different recipes.

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 optionalΒ  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
  • Lemon Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
  • Lemon Blueberry Waffles
  • Cherry Berry Coconut Limeade Smoothie

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

How to Make Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts with Lemon Glaze

5 from 3 votes
Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts on a blue plate int he background, one lemon doughnut sits in the foreground.
Print
Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
25 mins
 

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.

Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten-Free, Vegan
Serves: 6
Calories: 232 kcal
Author: Gwen @ Delightful Adventures
Ingredients
For the Doughnuts:
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (I used golden flax seeds, see note below)
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup gluten free flour OR all-purpose flour (see notes below)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
For the Lemon Glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375Β°F.
  2. Grease your doughnut pan (if needed).
  3. Prepare your flax egg by whisking together ground flax seeds and water. Set aside to thicken.
  4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and lemon zest.

  5. In a small bowl, mix the milk, melted coconut oil, lemon extract, and flax mixture together.

  6. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Don't over mix.
  7. Using a piping bag or a large Ziploc bag (see note below), pipe the mixture into each cavity.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes.
  9. Remove from oven and let the pan sit for a few minutes before removing the doughnuts.
  10. Remove the doughnuts from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
While the doughnuts are cooling, make the glaze:
  1. Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl and add the lemon juice, and lemon zest (if using).

  2. Mix until everything has combined into a liquid glaze.
  3. 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.
  4. 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, 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.Β 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 Facts
Vegan Baked Lemon Doughnuts
Amount Per Serving
Calories 232 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g 8%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Sodium 150mg 6%
Potassium 30mg 1%
Total Carbohydrates 44g 15%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 23g
Protein 2g 4%
Vitamin A 1%
Vitamin C 4%
Calcium 4%
Iron 2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.


Family and friends 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 vegan or vegan and gluten-free are included! #vegandoughnuts #vegandonuts #glutenfreedougnuts #glutefreedonuts #veganglutenfree
Pin31K
Share329
Tweet5
Flip
Stumble72
Buffer7

Filed Under: Dessert, Recipes, Snacks, Sweet Things Tagged With: donuts, doughnuts, lemons 16 Comments

Never Miss a Thing, Receive New Posts In Your Inbox!

Comments

  1. Tami says

    May 7, 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 7, 2017 at 10:29 am

      Hi Tami πŸ™‚ 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 7, 2017 at 4:44 pm

        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 πŸ™‚

        Reply
        • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

          July 9, 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 πŸ˜‰ Thanks so much for your note!

          Reply
  2. 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 πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Jessie says

    June 3, 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 3, 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
  4. 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! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. Marsha Farmer says

    July 31, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    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 πŸ™‚

      Reply
  6. Liz says

    September 3, 2017 at 9:03 am

    Can I use coconut flour instead of GF flour?

    Reply
    • Gwen @ Delightful Adventures says

      September 3, 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! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. shelby says

    September 19, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    …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. πŸ™‚ 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. πŸ™‚

    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 πŸ™‚ When you make them, let me know how things go!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi!I'm Gwen and if you're looking for easy-to-make, delicious plant-based and gluten-free recipes you'll want to make over and over again, you've landed in the right place! Read more...

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Looking for something?

Receive Delicious Recipes In Your Inbox!

Navigation:

β€’   Home
β€’   Recipes
β€’   About
β€’   Contact
β€’   Disclosures & Policies
β€’   Privacy

Receive New Posts In Your Inbox!

Trending:

  • Beet Carrot Apple Juice
    Beet Carrot Apple Juice
  • Vegan Gluten Free Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
    Vegan Gluten Free Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
  • Garlic Herb Vegan Almond Cheese Spread
    Garlic Herb Vegan Almond Cheese Spread

Copyright © 2014–2018 Delightful Adventures
Delightful Adventures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca, and amazon.co.uk. Click to learn more.

Back to Top


ALL IMAGES AND CONTENT ON THIS WEBSITE ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED. FULL RECIPES MAY NOT BE DUPLICATED. IF YOU WANT TO REPUBLISH A RECIPE, PLEASE REWRITE IN YOUR OWN WORDS, GIVE FULL AND CLEAR CREDIT TO DELIGHTFUL ADVENTURES, AND LINK BACK TO THE ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE ON DELIGHTFUL ADVENTURES. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.