Vegan Carrot Cake Donuts (Gluten Free, Paleo)

These vegan carrot cake donuts are made with almond butter and cassava flour, loaded with freshly shredded carrots and lightly sweetened with maple syrup. This healthy carrot donut recipe is not only vegan, but gluten free, dairy free and paleo as well!

While I love carrot cake, cakes can be quite a commitment! That's why I'm all about these vegan carrot cake donuts. You can have your "carrot cake" but without all the hassle of making an actual cake.

These donuts are soft and tender, baked in the oven and made with healthy ingredients that are all gluten free, dairy free, vegan and paleo friendly.

In addition, these carrot donuts take little prep time, bake in just 30 minutes and they're much easier to frost than a cake 😉

Why You'll Love these Vegan Carrot Cake Donuts

• paleo and vegan friendly - no gluten, no grains, no dairy, no eggs, no vegetable oils and refined sugar free
• made with cassava flour, a great alternative to wheat flour
• topped with a simple vanilla icing
• baked, not fried
• lightly sweetened with maple syrup and ripe bananas
• kid approved - all my kids gave these donuts two thumbs ups!

Ingredients

These healthy carrot cake donuts require a few simple, every day ingredients. The full recipe is located in the recipe card below, but here's a list of what you need for the donuts:

• bananas - mashed ripe bananas
• carrot - shredded using a cheese grater
• almond butter - from dry roasted almonds (no added sugar, oil or salt). For a nut free option, you can use sunflower seed butter.
• water - to thin the batter.
• maple syrup - or honey if you prefer, however I think the donuts taste better with maple syrup.
• avocado oil - adds to the donut texture. The best replacement would be a light olive oil.
• vanilla extract - for flavor
• apple cider vinegar (ACV) - this helps with the rise and adds fluff to the donuts. You may omit this ingredient if necessary.
• cassava flour - this is a great grain free baking flour. I have not tested an alternative, but it's possible that a gluten free blend will work in place of the cassava flour (measured by weight).
• cinnamon - for flavor. Feel free to add in extra spices like nutmeg, allspice or ground cloves.
• baking soda - to get the batter to rise.
• salt - to enhance the flavor

If you want to add the icing, then you'll need coconut cream, powdered sugar (or powdered monk fruit sweetener), coconut oil, vanilla and ground ginger.

How to Make Carrot Cake Donuts

To make these vegan donuts you'll need a large mixing bowl, a donut pan/s (preferably silicone donut pans), a whisk, spatula and the listed ingredients.

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place your silicone donut pans on a baking sheet and grease 7 donut slots with oil or butter (I used palm shortening). I like to place my silicone pans on a baking sheet since they're so flimsy. If you're using metal pans this isn't necessary.

Next, combine the mashed banana, grated carrot, almond butter, water, maple syrup, avocado oil, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined.

Add in the cassava flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix with a spatula until well combined.

Scoop the batter into your greased donut pan, filling each slot nearly to the top. You should get 7 donuts.

Place the donuts in your oven and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

After baking, allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire cooling rack.

If you want icing on the donuts, be sure to cool them completely. You can speed up this process by placing them in the fridge to cool.

Carrot Cake Donut Icing

For the icing, you'll need coconut cream, coconut oil, vanilla extract, powdered sugar and ground ginger.

Simply combine all icing ingredients and whisk until smooth. Then place the icing in the fridge for 20 minutes to thicken.

Then, dip the donuts into the icing, coating the entire top half.

Donut Decorations

I decorated these donuts with cinnamon and bee pollen (note: bee pollen is not vegan). Some other great options include: chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans, sprinkles, crushed freeze dried fruit, miniature chocolate chips or shredded coconut.

Storage

These carrot cake donuts are best kept in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 5 days. They are moist and tender and stay that way during storage. The icing will turn a little gray in color after a day or so, but it's perfectly fine to consume.

Donut Alterations

Because I wanted to make these donuts kid friendly, I went mild on the spices. However, if you're one that likes a nicely spiced carrot cake, then feel free to mix in more spices or even add chopped nuts into the batter. Here are some ways to alter these donuts:

• Add in nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves and/or allspice to the donut batter.
• Mix chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter.
• Mix in dried fruit such as raisins.
• Add more ginger and a squeeze of lemon to the icing for more flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

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