These lemon poppy seed donuts are soft and moist with a sweet lemon flavor. They're made with almond flour, fresh lemons, sweetened with maple syrup and topped with a simple glaze. In addition, these donuts are gluten free, dairy free and paleo friendly.
I'm going all out with the lemon treats this spring! I've been loving everything from lemon cookie bars to lemon poppy seed banana bread and a lemon poppy seed donut sounded like a good idea too!
These donuts are incredibly moist with a soft, cakey texture and sweet lemon flavor. To make these donuts gluten free and paleo friendly, they're made with a blend of almond flour and arrowroot starch and sweetened with maple syrup. The batter also incorporates fresh lemon juice and zest, and of course loads of poppy seeds!
Why You'll Love these Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts
- gluten free and grain free - made with a blend of almond flour and arrowroot starch
- paleo friendly - made with simple, minimally processed ingredients you can feel good about eating
- baked - these donuts are baked in the oven instead of fried
- easy to make - they consist of a simple, one-bowl batter that's baked in a donut pan and then glazed once cooled.
Ingredients
The full recipe for these lemon poppy seed donuts can be found in the recipe card below, but here's an overview of what you'll need.
- blanched almond flour - these lemon poppy seed donuts have only been tested with almond flour, but tigernut flour should work for a nut-free substitute.
- arrowroot starch - this is needed for the proper donut texture. You may swap the arrowroot starch with tapioca starch/flour.
- poppy seeds - optional, but recommended
- baking soda - for the rise
- salt - enhances the flavors
- large eggs - an egg substitute has not been tested, but if you do then let me know how it turns out in the comment section below.
- maple syrup - to sweeten the donuts. You can swap maple syrup for any other liquid sweetener.
- lemon juice - from fresh lemons.
- lemon zest - use a zester or small cheese grater to zest the lemon
- vanilla extract - added for flavor
- icing - the icing is optional. I used coconut cream, powdered sugar and arrowroot starch.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts
To make these donuts, you'll need a large mixing bowl, whisk, spatula, greased donut pan and the required ingredients. Here are the step by step instructions:
- First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 7 slots of a donut pan/s with oil and set aside (I used avocado oil).
- Combine all of the dry donut ingredients.
- Mix in the wet donut ingredients.
- Pour the batter into 7 slots in your greased donut pan. Place in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes.
- After baking, let the donuts cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove them and transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
- Once the donuts have cooled, make the icing. Combine all icing ingredients in a small bowl, slightly bigger than the donuts. Dip the donuts in the icing and place on the wire rack to set.
Storage
These lemon donuts are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge, up to one week.
FAQ
Arrowroot starch is used to create a better donut texture. The best swap would be tapioca starch/flour.
No! These donuts are great without any glaze.
The glaze is sweet and sticky. I used a combination of coconut cream, powdered sugar and arrowroot starch.
More Baked Donut Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts (Gluten Free)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 26 minutes
- Yield: 7 donuts 1x
Description
These lemon poppy seed donuts are made with almond flour and sweetened with maple syrup. They're the perfect baked donut - soft, moist and flavorful!
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour (140g)
- ⅓ cup arrowroot starch (48g)
- 1 Tbsp poppy seeds
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Glaze (optional)
- ¼ cup powdered sugar (or powdered monk fruit)
- 2 Tbsp arrowroot starch
- 2 Tbsp coconut cream, melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease 7 slots of a donut pan/s with oil and set aside (I used avocado oil). If you're using silicone donut molds, I recommend setting the donut pans on a baking sheet so that they're sturdy.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry donut ingredients. This includes the almond flour, arrowroot starch, poppy seeds, baking soda and salt.
- Mix in the wet donut ingredients: eggs, maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla.
- Pour the batter into the slots of your greased donut pan/s, filling each slot nearly to the top.
- Place the donuts in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes.
- After baking, let the donuts cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.
- Once the donuts have cooled, make the icing. Combine all icing ingredients in a small bowl, slightly bigger than the donuts. Dip the donuts in the icing and place on the wire rack to set. (Or, drizzle the icing over the donuts.)
- Store leftover donuts in an airtight container in the fridge, up to one week.
Katie
My family and I love these lemon poppy seed donuts! Enjoy!