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Home » Recipes » Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Doughnuts

Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Doughnuts

By: Gwen Leron Published: May 24, 2019 Last Updated: November 6, 2020 2 Comments

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Baked vegan cinnamon sugar doughnuts that will fulfill all of your doughnut dreams! They're perfectly spiced, soft, fluffy and are coated with cinnamon and sugar. These vegan doughnuts can also be made gluten free!

Soft, fluffy, baked vegan doughnuts flavoured with warm cinnamon and nutmeg. They’re also coated with a layer of cinnamon and sugar. Doesn’t that sound perfect? And one more thing…you can also make them gluten free! I’ve included instructions on how to make them both ways below.

Three vegan cinnamon sugar doughnuts stacked on a small plate.

These beauties are the latest addition to my collection of vegan doughnuts. And like all the others, with this recipe you can choose to make cinnamon sugar vegan doughnuts OR cinnamon sugar vegan gluten free doughnuts.

These doughnuts remind me of my cake doughnut mini muffins recipe. They also remind me a little of churros (vegan churro doughnuts?) because of the cinnamon and sugar mix. Either way, they’re delicious and a favourite. I hope you like them as much as I do, too!

To come up with this recipe, I went back to my chai doughnuts recipe and used it as a base for this one, removing a few ingredients, and swapping a few others.

So let’s go through all the info you’ll need to successfully make this vegan doughnut recipe, shall we?

How to Make Them

(Note: I’ve outlined the step-by-step on how to make this recipe here, but find the full recipe, ingredients, and directions at the end of this post.)

Like all of my other doughnut recipes, this one is also very easy since they’re baked and not fried.

First, you’ll mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix the wet ingredients in another, combine the two and then mix.

Next, you’ll spoon or pipe the batter into your doughnut pan (<– that’s an Amazon Link), smooth the tops, if needed, and then bake.

First sequence of steps needed to make cinnamon sugar vegan doughnuts.

Once the doughnuts have finished baking, let them sit in the pan for a few minutes and then remove and place on a cooling rack. While they’re cooling, make the cinnamon sugar mix.

Once fully cooled, one by one, you’ll lightly brush the tops with a little melted coconut oil, and then dunk each doughnut top into the cinnamon sugar.

I like to brush the tops of the doughnuts rather than dipping them in the oil. This way, less oil is used and absorbed into the doughnut. You really only need a light coat for the cinnamon sugar to stick well.

After you’ve followed all the steps, they’re ready! See? Easy!

Oh, and if you want to coat both sides of the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar, double the cinnamon sugar mixture and dunk both sides in!

Cinnamon Sugar Vegan Doughnuts being dipped in cinnamon sugar.

How Do I Make Them Gluten-Free?

You swap the all purpose flour for the recommended gluten free flour blend, that’s it! All of the info is below in the recipe. And note, I use the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free bland in the blue bag.

Note that if you make the vegan gluten free doughnuts, your batter will be thick, that’s okay, that’s how it’s supposed to be. The result for this version will be a little more dense than the non gluten-free version. But they’ll be just as delicious, so not to worry about that!

Vegan Cinnamon doughnuts on a cooling rack.

What is the Texture Like?

Fluffy, soft, and perfect. A baked doughnut is never going to be like a fried doughnut, the texture will always be different. A baked doughnut is more like cake. Doughnut shaped cake 🙂 And of course, they contain no yeast, so the texture is also going to be different from a yeast doughnut.

Below, you can see the inside of the vegan doughnut on the right and the vegan gluten free doughnut on the left.

You’ll also notice that the one on the left is a little darker inside, that was when I was testing how much cinnamon to add to the recipe, so that one contained a little more cinnamon than the other.

Inside shot of baked cinnamon donuts.

What If I Don’t Have a Doughnut Pan?

That’s okay. If you’re looking to buy a doughnut pan, this is the one I have and I love it. I highly recommend it.

If you aren’t ready to buy one just yet, I have had readers tell me (I have not tested these myself) that they have made my other doughnut recipes in regular muffin pans, mini muffin pans, and even in mini bundt pans with success.

(If baking in a regular muffin pan or a mini bundt pan, you may get less than 6 and baking time will roughly be around 20 minutes. If baking in a mini muffin pan, baking time will remain the same and you will end up with more than 6.)

Six baked cinnamon sugar donuts on a marble surface.

Can I Freeze Them?

Yes, however, they are best when they’re enjoyed fresh, but if you need to make them ahead of time, don’t add the cinnamon sugar topping until after they have thawed.

So bake the doughnuts, cool, and freeze. When ready, fully thaw and when they’ve reached room temperature, you can move ahead with adding the cinnamon sugar topping.

I hope all of the FAQ and info above was helpful. If I missed something, please ask in the comments below. And if you make them, please share a pic with me on Instagram!

You can help others to find this easy vegan doughnut recipe by pinning it to one of your food boards on Pinterest. Click here to pin it now!

If you like this recipe, you may also like some of my other vegan doughnut recipes (they can all be made vegan only or vegan gluten free, too!):

  • Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
  • Baked Lemon Doughnuts
  • Baked Chai-Spiced Doughnuts
  • Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
  • Baked Maple Doughnuts
  • Baked Chocolate Mint Doughnuts
  • Baked Vegan Apple Cider Doughnuts
Three cinnamon sugar vegan doughnuts on a plate.
Print Recipe

Vegan Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Baked vegan cinnamon sugar doughnuts that will fulfill all of your doughnut dreams! They’re perfectly spiced, soft, fluffy and are coated with cinnamon and sugar. These vegan doughnuts can also be made gluten free!
Prep Time:15 minutes
Cook Time:10 minutes
Total Time:25 minutes
Author: Gwen Leron
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: Gluten-Free
Diet: Vegan
Servings: 6

Suggested Equipment:

  • Doughnut Pan
  • 12″ Reusable Piping Bag
  • Glass Mixing Bowls
  • Wooden Spoons

Ingredients:

For the Doughnuts:

  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1 cup (148g) gluten free flour OR all-purpose flour (125g) (see important note about flour below)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup (120ml) non-dairy milk
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons melted coconut oil

Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C)
  • 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 together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  • In a small bowl, mix the non-dairy milk, melted coconut oil, vanilla 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 of your doughnut pan.
  • 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 cinnamon sugar topping:

  • Add the sugar to a small bowl, add cinnamon, nutmeg and mix together.
  • When the doughnuts have fully cooled, one at a time, brush the tops with a little of the melted coconut oil and dip each one into the sugar topping until the top is coated. Repeat with all the doughnuts.

Recipe Notes:

  • Please read all of the helpful info and FAQ above before making this recipe to ensure your doughnuts turn out perfectly.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Coconut sugar can be used instead of regular sugar in the doughnut batter, they will just turn out a little darker.
  • 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. If you have leftovers, refrigerate them but know that the sugar cinnamon topping melts into the doughnuts if kept for too long.
  • Nutrition info is based on 1 vegan only doughnut and is only to be used as a rough guide. Calorie count for 1 doughnut using the vegan gluten free recipe is 207 calories. Click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.

Nutrition Info:

Serving: 1doughnut | Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 215mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 50IU | Calcium: 500mg | Iron: 1.4mg
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!


Filed Under: Dessert, Diet, Doughnuts, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Recipes 2 Comments

Comments

  1. Audrey says

    November 15, 2020 at 10:23 am

    Mmmh so good ! I just made these with my buckwheat sourdough discard of the week (adapted the amount of flour and milk needed). It’s so fluffy I love it ! And I added a bit of ground clove because cinnamon clove and nutmeg is the power of three hahaha. Thanks !

    Reply
    • Gwen Leron says

      November 15, 2020 at 1:40 pm

      Oh wow, that’s great that it worked so well with your sourdough discard! Good to know! And I’m glad you like the result, the addition of cloves sounds delicious 🙂 Thanks so much for your note, Audrey!

      Reply

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Photo of G. LeronHi! 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…

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