Now that fall is here, I’ve started to crave spices. Like the spices in pumpkin pie, gingerbread, eggnog, and the rest of the off-limit foods on my list.

My parents went grocery shopping today and came home with the most delectable looking cake donuts. Glazed sour cream cake donuts. Glazed sour cream give-me-a-pill and watch-me-groan cake donuts. I resisted the urge to grab one and instead starting hunting for a recipe so I could make my own.

As I’m highly allergic to animal dairy byproducts, I read a lot of vegan websites. These websites are my favorite destination when hunting a good baked goods recipe. The absence of milk, eggs, and cheese makes converting a recipe to gluten-free much easier.

During my search, I stumbled upon VeganYumYum, an amazing food blog whose author has even been featured on the Martha Stewart Show. The following recipe is based on her mini donut test kitchen tutorial.

Gluten-Free Spiced Baked Mini Donuts

This recipe makes 20 mini donuts. It is gluten, egg, and dairy-free. You can find the pumpkin adaptation here.

Dry Ingredients:
1 cup* Gluten-Free Pantry Muffin Mix (You could probably use any gluten-free flour mix, but if it does not have some type of leavening agent, try adding 1 1/2 tsp baking powder)
1/3 cup Sugar (You might want to add more sugar if using a regular flour mix without a sweetener)
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Dash of Salt

Wet Ingredients:
1/3 cup Rice Milk
1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
4 tbs Oil

*You may need to add a few tablespoons more of flour, depending on your mix. The dough should be thin, but not liquid.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, blend the wet ingredients together.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined. It should form a very soft, moist dough.

To have smooth donuts, use a pastry bag or a ziploc bag with the end snipped off to squeeze the dough into an ungreased mini donut pan. Fill the sections until just below the edge of the pan. Smooth the filled sections with a knife or spatula.

Bake for approximately 10-11 minutes. The bottom (visible part) will not be brown, but you will see brown edges around the top. Remove from oven and let pan cool for 5 minutes on baking rack before attempting to remove donuts. If donuts do not flip out of the pan, gently loosen edges with a butter knife.

After donuts completely cool, you can optionally dip them in glaze and sprinkle with decorations.

Glaze:
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
2 tbs Rice Milk
1/4 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Combine all ingredients in bowl and whisk until smooth.

Bon Appetite!