I posted a photo of my gluten-free (and almost paleo) doughnuts on my Instagram feed with the teaser that the recipe would be coming soon. I didn’t mean to tease! I just hadn’t typed the recipe up yet, and I was super excited to show off these tasty treats. Sorry for anyone who was kept in suspense for a few days. But it’s worth the wait I promise!
So a few cool things about these doughnuts:
- You can jazz them up however you like – I’m including two flavor options below but you can add anything – fresh blueberries and lemon zest or white chocolate and chopped dried cherries. Whatever your mind and your taste buds want to concoct!
- These use coconut flour but not a ton of eggs, which is atypical for coconut flour bakes since coconut flour is super absorbent. We temper the amount of eggs by using full-fat coconut milk as a binding agent.
- They are gluten-free and *almost* paleo. Actually, the base doughnut recipe IS paleo; the frosting is not. So skip the frosting or use one that is compliant and ta da! These delicious little doughnuts are now 100% paleo and gluten free.
- There aren’t any hard to find ingredients. Tapioca starch can be replaced with arrowroot powder. But either one should be found in your grocery store’s baking aisle. If the store has a gluten-free or natural foods section, these starches may be located there.
Okay, enough talk. Let’s bake!
Gluten Free (and Almost Paleo) Doughnuts - Two Ways
Add any flavor combos to the base doughnut or use the chocolate chip with chocolate ganache or pumpkin spice with browned butter frosting ideas below! Also note, the base doughnut recipe is paleo and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- ½ c coconut flour
- 1/4 c tapioca starch or arrowroot powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 eggs
- ¼ c honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ c coconut oil melted and cooled
- ½ c full-fat coconut milk
For chocolate chip doughnuts:
- 1 c chocolate chips divided (I prefer the Enjoy Life brand, divided)
- 1 TBS heavy whipping cream
For the pumpkin spice doughnuts:
- 1 ½ tsp pumpkin spice
- 2 TBS coconut sugar or regular brown sugar
- ½ c unsalted butter softened
- 1 c powdered sugar sifted
- 1-3 tsp heavy cream
Instructions
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For the donuts: Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 6-cup doughnut pan with coconut oil and set aside.
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In a small bowl, mix together the coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, and salt.
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In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, honey or maple syrup, vanilla extract, melted coconut oil, and coconut milk.
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Stir the dry ingredients into the coconut milk mixture and stir until well combined.
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If making the chocolate chip doughnuts, fold 1/2 cup of chocolate chips into the batter.
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If making the pumpkin spice doughnuts, in a small bowl stir together the pumpkin spice and coconut or brown sugar. Fold this mixture into the doughnut batter.
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Fill the doughnut pan to 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then carefully remove the donuts from a pan and place on a wire rack to completely cool.
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Once the doughnuts are cooled, make your frosting of choice. For the chocolate ganache, in a sauce pan, melt remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the heavy cream over medium heat, whisking constantly. Set aside to cool slightly and then drizzle over the chocolate chip doughnuts.
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For the browned butter frosting, in a sauce pan, melt the 1/2 cup butter over medium heat, stirring constantly until the butter begins to cook and turn a golden brown with a nutty aroma. Be careful not to burn the butter! Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a large bowl, combine the browned butter and powdered sugar and mix with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add one teaspoon of heavy cream at a time until desired consistency. Frost the doughnuts.
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Both kinds of doughnuts keep best in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before serving.
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Eat and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Note: The batter will be thick so you can either spoon it into the prepared doughnut pan OR scoop the batter into a large zip top bag, snip a small hole in one corner and pipe the batter into the pan.
If you bake these, drop a comment below and let me know how they turn out. And I’d love to hear your flavor combo ideas if you go with any others besides chocolate chip / pumpkin spice!
