Gluten free vegan chocolate gingerbread donuts, nice and soft inside, covered with dark chocolate and chopped almonds. Delicious and comforting!
Easy and quick to whip together, they will be out of the oven in a little more than half an hour.
Re-tested and updated recipe
When the cold weather arrives, we all crave comfort food and if you are also a lover of anything gingerbread, these gluten free chocolate donuts are the perfect treat.
These gingerbread donuts are light, fluffy and flavorful!
More gingerbread goodies? Check out these gluten free vegan gingerbread cookies, or this gingerbread orange tart perfect for your Thanksgiving and Christmas season!
Ingredients
The ingredients to make gluten free vegan chocolate gingerbread donuts are:
- chickpea flour, it works as a binder for gluten free flours and also makes these baked donuts soft (I promise you won't taste the chickpeas!)
- brown rice flour, I like it for its neutral flavor
- gluten free starch, I use potato starch usually
- baking powder, make sure it is gluten free
- cocoa powder, it has to be sugar free
- sugar, I prefer brown sugar, you can use white or other sweeteners
- spices! Cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg powder
- gluten free plant based milk, I usually go for rice or soy, but almond is ok too (extra flavor!)
- vegan butter or coconut oil
- your favorite dark chocolate for the glaze
- chopped almonds or other nuts, optional, but they sure are a nice crunchy touch
For all quantities and directions check the recipe card below
Instructions
Here's how to make these vegan gluten free donuts:
- pre-heat the oven at 180° C / 350 F
- lightly grease the donut molds
- in a small bowl mix the chickpea flour with water
- in another bowl mix the melted vegan butter (or coconut oil) and the plant based milk
- in a medium bowl combine rice flour, starch, baking powder, cocoa powder, sugar and spices
- add the butter and milk mix and mix well, until you have a smooth batter
- incorporate the chickpea mix in the batter
- fill the molds with the batter
- bake for 20-25 minutes (insert a toothpick, when it comes out clean, donuts are ready)
- remove from the oven and let cool down for 10 minutes before (carefully!) removing from molds
- cover with melted dark chocolate and chopped almonds
Tips and Substitutions
This is a small batch donut recipe, it will make 6 small donuts (3 inch donut molds). Should you have a couple tablespoons of batter left, you can make a cupcake or a small pancake with it.
Yes, a nice alternative may be 50 grams of almond flour + 50 of buckwheat flour (it will add an extra kick to the gingerbread flavors)
For more gluten free starches alternatives, check out this post
These donuts keep a couple of days when stored in airtight container.
They are best served freshly baked. If you don't plan to eat them right away, you can enjoy them warm by reheating them in the microwave for a few seconds and glazing them with chocolate after reheating.
You can omit it and - to add softness to the donuts - you can replace it with a couple tablespoons of apple sauce or 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.
If you make this recipe or have questions, leave me a comment down here! And a 5 star rating if you have loved it would help me grow the blog 😉
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Ciao!
Sonia
📖 Full Recipe
Choco-Gingerbread Baked Donuts | Gluten free * Vegan
Equipment
- 1 small bowl
- 2 medium bowls
- 1 spoon
- 1 donut tray (6 3-inch molds)
- 1 kitchen scale
Ingredients
This recipe makes 6 small donuts (3-inch donut molds)
- 1,5 tablespoons gluten free chickpea flour
- 1,5 tablespoons water
- 100 grams gluten free brown rice flour (can replace with 50 gr buckwheat flour + 50 gr almond flour)
- 50 grams gluten free potato or other gluten free starch
- 1,5 teaspoon baking powder
- 40 grams brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
- 120 grams gluten free plant based milk
- 30 grams melted vegan butter (or coconut oil)
- dairy free dark chocolate, melted (for glazing)
- chopped almonds
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven at 180° C - 350 F
- Mix the chichkpea flour with the water until there are no lumps
- In a medium bowl mix the plant based milk and the melted vegan butter (or coconut oil)
- In a bowl mix flour, starch, baking powder, sugar, sifted cocoa and spices
- Add the milk and butter mix to the dry ingredients and mix well until you have a smooth batter
- Incorporate the chickpea mix
- Grease well the donut molds and pour the batter until you fully fill them
- Bake for 20-25 minutes
- Once out of the oven let the donuts cool down for 10 minutes and remove them carefully from the molds
- Cover the donuts with melted dark chocolate, chopped almonds or anything you want
- {Check the blog post for extra tips and substitutions}
Maren says
I was uncertain about the chickpea flour and thought you could taste it, but I was glad to find out you actually don't. I made them for Thanksgiving and even non-vegan family enjoyed them. Thank you for this lovely recipe
Sweet Sensitive Free says
Thank you for your nice comment! I'm happy you got to share these for Thanksgiving and others appreciated them too 🙂
Emilye says
I made some substitutions so wasn’t sure how they would turn out. Thankfully they came out great! I used (white) rice flour instead of brown, and cornstarch in place of potato starch. I was worried that the batter would be too dry considering there’s not a lot of liquid (compared to dry ingredients). However the flours just managed to absorb all the liquid, creating a very thick glossy batter. They baked up very well in the oven, with rounded tops and a bouncy spongy texture. So good! Perfect amount of sweetness.
I used toasted chickpea flour for the egg-replacement mixture, which gave it a nice nutty flavor.
Next time I will try using brown rice flour, but since brown rice flour is more absorbent than white rice, I wonder if I should increase the liquid too? Even though the original recipe was written for brown rice flour.
Thank you for such a great recipe! I’m happy that you don’t use store bought gf flour blends, and no gums. Look forward to trying your other ones 🙂
Sweet Sensitive Free says
Thank you so much, you made my day! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I have always used brown rice flour successfully for this recipe, so I don't see the need for a different amount of liquid, but if you want to try, just do it by little amounts. Let me know how it goes when you try them again!