Donuts back east meant Dunkin’ Donuts, and donuts in the Seattle area mean Krispy Kremes. This was a hard one to avoid, especially since there is a drive-through not far from our path home when I shop big. I am guilty of bringing them to class as birthday party treats when the kids were younger. No more though.
I purchased this mini-donut maker on eBay – risky, but it worked out. I tried the donut pans that go in the oven, but it was tough to get them stick-free – place lots of clarified butter in the donut circles in the pan. This mini-donut maker is made by a company called Maxim, but don’t do a web search on this company with kids around – the donut maker isn’t made anymore from what I can tell. If you found a good donut maker, let me know.
12/1/09: King Arthur sells a mini-donut maker. Thanks, Holly!
I use this recipe for waffles as well (in a waffle iron), so I’ll post my waffle recipe another time. This was S’s (my younger son) suggestion – “hey, use the waffle recipe in the donut maker!” Brilliant idea, since we like the waffles too.
Donuts {almond flour}
Yield 6-8 mini donuts
Note: If you're following SCD, don't use chocolate (in the photo).
Ingredients
- 1 cup of almond flour (or other nut flour)
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 2 tablespoons of honey (or other sweetener, such as maple syrup)
Instructions
- Whisk together all the ingredients well.
- Pour the batter into the donut circles in a pan or donut maker. Fill almost to the edge and then close the lid on the donut maker. Whisk the batter between batches. If you are baking them in the oven, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F, and then bake the donuts in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they begin to turn brown.
- In the donut maker, they only take about 3 minutes or so before they are ready, and this depends on the donut maker as well.
- Once they are cooled, you can top with honey and cinnamon, toasted coconut, chocolate, maple syrup, dip in ice cream or yogurt, or just eat them plain! I sometimes sneak chocolate chips in the donuts before I cook them to give them a bit of a chocolate filling.
Tom S
April 16, 2009 at 9:00 amWondering if this would work with/for cupcakes?
Katherine moon
June 16, 2019 at 6:33 amCan you substitute egg protein for 2 of the eggs?
Erica
June 16, 2019 at 9:19 amI haven’t tried it but seems like it should work.
Erica
April 16, 2009 at 2:06 pmI’m not sure since I haven’t tried it. I will be posting a recipe for fluffy cupcakes over this weekend , which might be more of what you’re after. Let me know if you try it.
Karen
June 11, 2009 at 3:54 pmOh My, I can’t wait to try these! thanks for a beautiful website with so many recipes. I feel like I have found a lost treasure chest.
Erica
June 12, 2009 at 7:38 amKaren, let me know what you make them in – I’m always on the lookout for a good donut maker.
Tracee
August 25, 2009 at 10:16 amYeah thanks…now I’ll be obsessing over how I can find a donut maker! We haven’t had donuts in over 18 months. What a fun recipe (and might be another way to sneak carrots into my sons diet).
Erica
August 26, 2009 at 12:08 pmSorry, Tracee… not really :). I’m thinking of trying this recipe with almond butter to get a fluffier outcome.
Bonnie
September 30, 2009 at 8:30 pmDo you think this would work well deep-fried like real donuts?
Erica
September 30, 2009 at 9:08 pmNot sure, but a very interesting question. As long as it can rise a bit in the oil, it seems like it would work.
Michelle Tiede
September 19, 2010 at 12:12 pmThese look delicious! Have you ever thought of making an apple cider donut, since apple cider is SCD legal? If you come up with one, I would love the recipe! 🙂
Erica
September 20, 2010 at 8:46 amMichelle – funny you mention that. I was thinking about it a while ago and then forgot about it. It would probably work well. Stay tuned!
Amy
September 24, 2011 at 12:48 pmI’d love an apple cider doughnut as well! We use to get them (before our food allergies :() every Fall season when we went apple picking. I’ve seen recipes for gluten-free ones, but we are limited to almond flour and coconut flour. Can’t wait to see what you come up with, Erica! 🙂
kapu
March 29, 2011 at 2:28 pmdo have the cal count for doughnuts?
Erica
March 29, 2011 at 4:12 pmsorry, I don’t.
Tiffany B
November 17, 2011 at 6:02 pmYou can find a lot of nutrition calculators online. I use the one at caloriecount.about.com all the time (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/account/flog_add.php?tab=new_recipe). Occasionally you’ll have to guide it to the right food — like choosing one almond flour brand over another — but it’s remarkably good at guessing.
Thomas DeKorte
July 1, 2011 at 2:18 pmWow these look good. Do you have any good glaze recipes to drizzle over these?
Erica
July 1, 2011 at 3:44 pmtry this link: https://comfybelly.wpengine.com/2011/01/chocolate-honey-dipped-donuts-cupcakes/
Marya
November 12, 2011 at 6:44 pmDo you think this recipe would work with an aebleskiver pan?
Erica
November 12, 2011 at 6:54 pmYes. So jealous that you have one! Is it “stick-free”? You do need it to be non-stick, like waffle irons and donut makers.
Marya
November 14, 2011 at 1:21 pmIt’s cast iron.
Erica
November 14, 2011 at 2:06 pmhmm. I’d definitely grease it generously.
Michelle
January 5, 2012 at 8:14 amI just made these and they are pretty good. A little too much egg taste so I will try to tweak it. Besides that they are really good. Thanks for the recipe!
Amy Jo
June 3, 2012 at 7:08 pmas far as taste/texture goes, can you tell me the difference between your almond flour donuts and your coconut flour? thank you!
Julie
October 1, 2012 at 10:39 amThank you for the recipe, Erica! Yours is the first I’ve ever tried using almond flour and they’re absolutely delicious. Made my first two batches today, the second because I didn’t grease the pan well enough for the first batch and they stuck like crazy. Had to hack at them with a butter knife to get them out and boy, they were not pretty. But tasty enough to try again. 🙂 Full of delicious goodness and not too sweet either. Going to attempt your coconut flour doughnuts next. 🙂
Lanie
October 22, 2012 at 10:07 amCould you do this in the oven? I don’t have a donut maker.
Monique
December 20, 2012 at 5:04 amFor the person asking about using an abelskiver pan, this works great but make sure you turn them frequently to avoid burning. I made them and cooked them with a bit more honey and vanilla and added some scd jam in the centre as they cooked so they come out like filled doughnut holes.
Erica
December 20, 2012 at 12:01 pmthanks Monique. I’ve been wondering if they would work.
Ami
January 13, 2013 at 11:20 amMade waffles out of this recipe and both my children loved them! I an thankful I found this web site and for Pinterest to help change us over to gluten free!
Erica
January 13, 2013 at 3:02 pmGreat to hear! Thanks.
Kelly
March 18, 2013 at 4:26 pmI was surprised at how well these baked up! They were nice, light, fluffy donuts in 20 minutes! My almond meal was pretty coarse, so I imagine these would have been even better with a more finely ground meal. I topped them with a glaze made of coconut oil, raw cacao, cinnamon, and a hint of agave nectar (I know, I know). Delicious!
Joelle
April 19, 2013 at 8:36 amI used a nonstick donut pan that I got from bed bath and beyond and they came out perfect and sooo delicious!!
Erica
April 19, 2013 at 8:43 amGreat! Yes, a non-stick donut pan is a must (or non-stick surface)
Chela
August 24, 2013 at 3:35 pmDo you have a coconut flour recipe? I would love to make these for my kids for school, but the school is nut free.
Erica
August 24, 2013 at 3:42 pmI have one on the site, search for “coconut flour donuts” which uses 6 eggs and I’ll have some new recipes in my coconut flour cookbook coming out next year.
London
August 26, 2013 at 8:42 pmHey, thank you for the great recipe. The donuts taste delicious, only one problem: they stick to the pan. I tried spraying with coconut oil spray- they stick, then brushing with coconut oil-they stick? Help please, I want to make them look perfect, not sure why they just keep sticking?
London 😮
Erica
August 26, 2013 at 9:52 pmYes, unless you’re using truly non-stick donut pans or a donut maker, it’s going to be a bit challenging. I gave up on pans for the most part and use an old mini-donut maker, or just turn the batter into cupcakes 🙂
Elizabeth K.
September 12, 2013 at 8:18 pmHave you ever tried to make some sort of rainbow sprinkle to go along with the doughnuts?
Erica
September 12, 2013 at 9:39 pmsorry, I haven’t.
Patti
October 21, 2013 at 2:31 pmI gave made these a few times. Did not have luck with donut pan-stuck miserably even though non stick. Found donut maker up I our garage- sears brand. Worked great. Only can make 2 at a time. I have added SCD yogurt also. Made the batter a little easier to work with. Do you know if we can use date sugar? Bought some before my daughter developed crohns. Says dried dates that have been powdered. Bought at a health good store.
Erica
October 21, 2013 at 6:20 pmI think it’s best to operate as if coconut sugar is not SCD legal because it’s made primarily sucrose (glucose and fructose), which is a double-sugar (which is not allowed on SCD).
Patti
October 21, 2013 at 2:33 pmForgot to mention they tasted great. Love your site!! Have had a lot of fun baking for my daughter.
April
November 3, 2013 at 6:55 amI love your recipes. We are new to cooking and eating gluten free/paleo, my husband didn’t love the almond flour pancakes like I did, but he loved these donuts. The pancakes I had to add another 1/2 cup of almond flour the batter was a little runny for me, but I loved them. I just made these donuts and loved them as well, my hubs even said they were DELISH and eating the rest of them as I type this 🙂
I have a sunbeam donut maker we got last year as a gift, and it has a latch on it to keep it closed, the second batch I put I kinda exploded, there was like a suction on it, which made it hard to open, but when I did get it open, one of my donuts flipped out at me, kinda funny, but delicious 🙂
Erica
November 3, 2013 at 5:58 pmThanks! For the pancakes, if you’re using my almond flour pancake recipe the batter is should be thick, so I would check the ingredients again. See the photo of the batter on the skillet – it sits in a thick circle.
judy
April 23, 2014 at 7:48 pmIs there a way to make these if you don’t have a donut maker? Looks really good!
Erica
April 23, 2014 at 9:29 pmYes, you can try a donut pan, or I prefer these because the donuts come out easily (no sticking): http://astore.amazon.com/comfybelly-20/detail/B004G43WAQ
Sky
May 9, 2014 at 11:59 amHa ha so we have been using your waffle recipe for awhile and have also used it to make donuts. Now I see that it is actually a donut recipe to begin with! My kids call them waff-nuts. We melt down Lilly’s stevia sweetened Choc chips and dip one side in as frosting. It firms up great and gives it that Hostess Choc covered donut feel. Thanks for the great recipe. I’ve shared it and everyone loves it. Plus it’s so quick and easy.
Erica
May 9, 2014 at 9:29 pmThanks! best wishes, Erica
Kolleen
July 10, 2015 at 9:51 pmI’d like to recommend the spice mace to your recipe. I’ve been told it’s what gives plain cake donuts their flavor. I found bulk mace and gave it a sniff. Well I’ll be! Donut spice. Yummo!
frank
August 5, 2015 at 9:10 pmThese came out awesome. I have also added in blueberries in the middle and carob to the recipe and still has come out great… love taking these to potlucks…Cant wait to try the zucchini bread…
Bettty
February 21, 2016 at 3:43 pmCould you fry these in oil like a real doughnut?
This recipe looks a lot like your waffle recipe. Is it the same one?
Pat
December 25, 2016 at 12:53 pmI’m thinking I will use my mini bundt pan and make these like fancy little muffins.
JClark
June 2, 2017 at 9:57 pmI baked mine in a donut tray and they turned out perfect!! I sprayed some non stick spray to keep them from sticking. I used sugar free syrup and mixed cinnamon and stevia for the top. They were so yummy!!! Thank you for this recipe, I was craving donuts so badly but I am diabetic. Happy donut day to me!!!
Erica
June 4, 2017 at 2:30 amawe. Happy Donut day 🙂
Ken
September 6, 2018 at 12:00 pmI thought that Chocolate was NOT SCD Legal.
Erica
September 6, 2018 at 12:13 pmCorrect, chocolate is not allowed on SCD. I made note of it for those who follow SCD.
Zaida
October 5, 2018 at 1:23 pmI just made a batch of these in my mini donut maker and they turned out delicious I topped some with icing, some with cinnamon sugar and some with maple syrup and my allergy free husband and kids enjoyed them too! Thank you soo much for this great recipe! I look forward to trying some more of your recipes.
Erica
October 6, 2018 at 8:55 amThanks for the great feedback!