Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Baked Donuts

Sunday marked the first official day of spring and the weather was gloriously spring-like. So I immediately started thinking of spring-time recipes to share on the blog. My first thought was ice cream or anything lemon poppy seed. But by Monday, it was cold AF in Waterloo again and there’s supposed to be a storm coming in the next couple days. So, I decided to share these vegan orange poppy seed baked donuts with you instead.

Why orange poppy seed you ask? Well, lemon poppy seed is one of those flavours that just screams spring. At least to me. And oranges are more of a fall-wintery flavour. So, since the weather can’t make up its mind about what exactly it’s trying to be, I decided to do a little mixing and matching. Which is how these orange poppy seed baked donuts were born.

The second reason for forgoing lemons on pairing oranges with the poppy seeds instead is that I have a friend who absolutely detests anything with lemon. I have no idea why and I’m not exactly sure he does either, but lemon is a definite no go for him. And since I was hoping he’d help me eat the donuts before I left for Trinidad today, I decided to go with something he actually liked.

Spoiler alert: He loved them, cuz they’re epic.

Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Baked Donuts

Okay, now that I’ve exhausted the why, let’s talk about the what’s actually in these vegan orange poppy seed baked donuts. There are oranges, of course, both the juice and the zest. And I used spelt flour for these because I wanted them to be a bit lighter than the pumpkin spice baked donuts I made using whole wheat. I also used ground flax to replace the eggs and had to compensate for the lack of ‘lift’with extra baking powder and apple cider vinegar.

Finally, I topped them with chocolate because everyone knows that chocolate and orange just go together. But, I think an icing sugar/orange glaze would be great as well. But regardless of what you choose to top them with, these vegan orange poppy seed baked donuts are soft, cakey, moist and are a delicious, healthier alternative to regular fried donuts.

Vegan Orange Poppy Seed Baked Donuts

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

27 mins

 

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Vegan

Serves: 12

Ingredients

For the donuts:

• 2 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water
• 2 cups light spelt flour
• 1½ tbsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ginger
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• ½ cup dairy free milk (I used almond milk)
• ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tbsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the chocolate drizzle:

• ⅓ cup dairy free chocolate chips
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp orange zest (optional)

Instructions

Donuts:

1. Whisk together ground flax and warm water in a small bowl and set aside
2. Preheat oven to 350F, grease a donut pan and set aside
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and poppy seeds
4. In another bowl add the flax egg, coconut sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, orange zest, orange juice, milk and apple cider and mix well
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix the dough
6. Pour dough into a ziplock bag and snip the edge off of one corner. You can also use a pastry bag if you have one
7. Pipe the dough into the donut pan. You should fill 10 - 12 cavities. Fill any extras with water for even baking
8. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. Let cool in pan for a couple minutes then turn over onto a wire rack

Chocolate Drizzle:

1. Add half the chocolate chips and all the coconut oil to a small microwavable bowl and microwave in 25-second intervals until the chocolate is melted
2. Remove the bowl from the microwave and mix in the remaining chocolate chips, stirring until completely melted
3. Drizzle the chocolate onto the cooled donuts, sprinkle with orange zest and devour

3.5.3208

Want more vegan donuts? Try these:

Not ready to make these yet? Scroll over the image below and pin it for later!

What about you?

• Have you ever skipped the lemon and made something orange poppy seed instead?
• What flavours come to mind when you think of spring and/or Easter?
• What’s the weather like where you are now?

Join the conversation in the comments below!

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