Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts!

This morning was one of those special ones - I got up and the sun was shining, my body wasn't flaring, and I was ready to take on something new! (Don't you love that?) So, I baked some doughnuts. And oh my goodness, are they good. Stay with me here...

A few days ago I came across a recipe for Apple Cider Paleo Doughnuts over at Paleo Spirit. With a few modifications, I soon had six gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, egg-free, soy-free, Paleo, (vegan,) Apple Cider doughnuts on my counter top.

Now there's only one. And I'm trying to save it for my hubby. But I don't know if I will make it!

What a wonderful sight!

Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts

adapted from Paleo Spirit

What you need:

1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of fine sea salt
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
2/3 cup warmed apple cider (I used a locally produced unsweetened, unfiltered, fresh pressed apple juice)

For the sweet sprinkle topping:

1/4 cup sucanat

1 tablespoon cinnamon

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare your doughnut pan. I used canola oil spray, but I don't condone this for regular use! Next time I'm going to grease the wells with coconut oil and see how that works.

First, make your egg substitute. Put 3 tablespoons of flax meal in a bowl, cover with 1/3 cup warm to hot water. Whisk with a fork and let sit to gel.

Another option is to use homemade cinnamon applesauce* - it would add the binding capabilities of egg, plus more apple and cinnamon flavor! (I'm doing this next time!)

Next, get out two mixing bowls. In one bowl, use a fork to mix together the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda and sea salt. In the other bowl, stir together maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and egg substitute. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and fold together. Pour in the warm apple cider and mix well.

Spoon dough into the doughnut wells, enough to be level with the pan surface. I used a full size doughnut pan with 6 wells, and the amount of dough was exactly perfect to fill each one to the top. Put pan into preheated oven. After 15 minutes have passed, check on the doughnuts. They will be soft to the touch even when done, but when they are ready, the edges will be browned and when you tap the dough with your finger, no batter will come off. My doughnuts were ready after 20 minutes of bake time.

Let sit to cool and "firm up" for a bit, 10 to 20 minutes. I had to feed my little one, and when I returned after 20 minutes the doughnuts were spongey-soft but firm enough that most of them came out of the pan in one piece when I turned it over onto a cutting board. 

For the finishing touch, use a silicone/pastry brush to moisten the doughnut tops and sides with melted coconut oil, and sprinkle on a mixture of sucanat (or coconut sugar, or whatever pretty crystallized sweetener you like) and cinnamon.

These doughnuts are very soft, almost spongey, and remained that way all day. Absolutely no problems with coconut flour-drying out issues here! They have a moist coffee-cake-like texture, but they are fragile; don't expect to pick one up and eat it like a "crap-filled Hostess" doughnut (ok, that quote was from my husband just now). My taste tester said they remind her of old fashioned Dunkin Donuts - the cake style ones that had cinnamon sugar topping. If you are comparing these to that kind, I'd say they are as good if not better! I’ll play around with it some more to see if I can get them firmer (maybe less liquid?), but the taste is in need of NO upgrades! Another day, another reason to be thankful for the food we're meant to eat! :)