Healthy Applesauce Donuts (Gluten Free, Paleo)

These healthy applesauce donuts are made with cassava flour, only sweetened with applesauce and baked in the oven. They have a moist, cakey texture that melts in your mouth. This applesauce donut recipe is paleo, gluten free and dairy free.

If you're looking for a healthy applesauce donut recipe, then you're in the right place!

These gluten free applesauce donuts are baked, rather than fried, made with grain free flours (low-inflammatory) and only sweetened with applesauce.

Not only that, but they actually taste amazing. My family agrees that these are the best applesauce donuts! They have a moist, cakey texture that literally melts in your mouth. You can top them with cinnamon sugar for a little extra sweetness, but honestly they're great on their own.

What Makes These "Healthy" Applesauce Donuts?

• paleo friendly - this recipe for applesauce donuts is made with real, whole food ingredients that are minimally processed
• gluten free and grain free - made with cassava flour
• dairy free - no butter or milk
• low in sugar - the donuts themselves are only sweetened with applesauce (no sugar added)
• baked - baking donuts is much healthier (and easier) than frying

Ingredients

Here's a list of what you'll need to make these healthy applesauce donuts:

• cassava flour - a gluten free flour blend may work, but I have not tested that myself
• coconut flour - needed for texture purposes so that the donuts turn out cakey, rather than gummy
• cinnamon
• paleo baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• unsweetened applesauce
• eggs
• shortening or butter - I used Nutiva's palm shortening, but any plant-based butter or grass-fed butter should work
• vanilla extract
• optional topping: cinnamon and coconut sugar

How to Make Applesauce Donuts

Since these paleo applesauce donuts are baked, rather than fried, you'll need a donut pan. I used silicone donut pans, as they are naturally non-stick and it's easy to remove the donuts. Here's what you need to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your donut pan/s and set aside. (This recipe makes 8 donuts.)
2. Whisk together the wet ingredients for the donuts.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients.
4. Pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until well combined. The batter is a bit odd, but it works!

5. Pipe the batter into the greased donut pans. I used a plastic baggie to do this, but you can use a piping bag or just scoop the batting into your pan with a spoon or spatula.

6. Place the donuts in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
7. After baking, cool the donuts for 5-10 minutes in the baking pan, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

Coating the Donuts in Cinnamon Sugar

The cinnamon sugar coating is completely optional, but really adds to the flavor, texture and presentation.

To coat these applesauce donuts in cinnamon sugar:

1. Combine coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl or plate with with edges. Make sure the bowl/plate is slightly bigger than the donuts.
2. Brush the donuts in melted shortening/butter or oil (I used avocado oil).
3. Dip the donuts into the cinnamon sugar mixture, coating the tops and sides.

These donuts are moist and tender, with a soft, cakey texture. While they are best eaten just after baking, you can store leftovers in the fridge

Storage

Store any leftover donuts in a sealed, air-tight container in the fridge. They are best eaten within 3-4 days after baking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are paleo donuts gluten free?

Paleo donuts ARE gluten free, as gluten is not acceptable on a paleo diet. This paleo applesauce donut recipe is made with a combination of cassava flour and coconut flour. These flours are both naturally gluten free and grain free and perfect for those adhering to a paleo diet.

What is cassava flour?

Cassava flour comes from from the cassava (or yuca) root.  The cassava root is peeled, dried and ground to make cassava flour. 

You can probably guess that cassava flour is gluten free, grain free and Paleo friendly since I use it in so many of my recipes.  It also works well as a 1:1 substitution (by weight) for wheat flour and many gluten free baking mixes.

Can I make these donuts egg free?

No, this particular donut recipe requires eggs. However, I do have some egg free donut recipes on my blog. Take a look at my chocolate zucchini donuts or baked banana donuts.

More Healthy Donut Recipes

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