These gluten-free donuts are naturally sweetened with maple syrup and topped with an easy 3-ingredient glaze. They satisfy my cravings for a donut, but they are baked instead of deep-fried, for a healthier indulgence.
You can thank my son for this recipe, because he’s currently obsessed with the concept of donuts. He asked me to make him some “healthy donuts” so he could eat them more often. Clearly, he inherited my sweet tooth!
For the donuts, I used a recipe that I’ve previously posted here on the blog for Chocolate Coconut Flour Donuts. If you’ve never worked with coconut flour before, don’t be alarmed by the small quantity that this recipe calls for, or the number of eggs. Coconut flour is very dense and dry, and therefore it needs lots of eggs to give the resulting baked goods lift and structure.
If you need an egg-free donut, try my healthy pumpkin donuts instead. (You can change up the flavorings to your taste!)
I’m a big fan of this donut “glaze,” as it’s made with 3 things I always have on hand– peanut butter, cacao powder, and pure maple syrup. You simply stir them together, then add water to thin it out as needed. I love that you can dunk the baked donuts directly into the glaze for an easy coating!
As always, you can easily swap out the ingredients for this glaze as you see fit. If you prefer almond butter or sunflower seed butter over peanut butter, any of those options would make an easy substitute. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Gluten Free Donuts with Chocolate Peanut Buter Glaze
Ingredients
Chocolate Coconut Flour Donuts
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted) plus more for greasing pan
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze
- 2 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons cacao powder
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and generously grease a donut pan with coconut oil or cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, combine the coconut flour, cacao powder, salt, baking soda, eggs, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla, and use a whisk to stir well. (The whisk helps break up any clumps.)
- Pour the batter into a piping bag, or use a ziplock bag and use scissors to cut off one of the corners to create a piping bag. Pipe the batter evenly into the 6 donut wells, then bake the donuts until they rise and are firm to the touch, about 18 minutes.
- While the donuts are baking, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, cacao powder, and maple syrup. Add 1 tablespoon of water for a spreadable frosting, or add another tablespoon of water for more of a glaze-like texture.
- Remove the donuts from the oven and allow them to cool completely. If you greased the pan well, you should be able to use your hands to twist them out of the pan, but otherwise you can run a knife around each donut to help get them out. When the donuts are totally cool, dip each one into the glaze, or use a knife to top them with the frosting, if you prefer. Serve right away.
- Leftover donuts can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Video
Nutrition
Per Donut (with 2 tablespoons glaze): Calories: 263, Fat: 10g, Carbohydrates: 26g, Fiber: 3g, Protein: 6g
Recipe Notes:
- I don’t recommend making any substitutions for the eggs or coconut flour in the donut recipe. For an egg-free and vegan donut recipe, try this healthy pumpkin donut recipe instead.
- If you don’t need a dairy-free recipe, you can swap the coconut oil for real butter with similar results.
- You can replace the peanut butter with almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or any other nut/seed butter you like.
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Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite donut flavor? Apple Spice are a Fall favorite of mine, so I’m going to work on that next!
Wow I could eat every last one of those!!
For the donut,do I use cocoa or cacao powder? The ingredient list states cocoa, the recipe states cacao. These look so yummy.
I use them interchangeably, as I don’t think the flavor is hugely different, but I usually have cacao powder in my house so that’s what I use.
I’m truly a donut addict but actually I’ve never tried to bake donuts 🙈
Anyway, peanut butter and cocoa powder are the two things that should never be lacked in donut glaze as I’m aslo into chocolate xD
Thanks for sharing! I’m thinking to try this soonnn
I am curious about what brand and kind of donut pan you use. Do you use non-stick metal or a silicone?
Could I use almond flour instead of coconut flour?
Loved the recipe, was so yummy!!
I used Tupperware waffle trays as I don’t have donut trays and it worked perfectly!
Would these work in a muffin tin?
Oh, my Megan !!!! This evening I baked these doughnuts and the recipe is spot on! Beautiful, moist, fluffy and delicious doughnut. The peanut butter glaze is amazing, as it cools down it doesn’t stick. Thank you, Megan, for this wonderful recipe!
If i made these as muffins/donut holes instead, by how much would I need to adjust the baking time?did anyone try this?
Currently at my bf and he does not own a pan 😅
My favourite doughnut is the plain vanilla kind with a vanilla glaze and sprinkles… something about sprinkles I tell ya.
Anyone sub Honey for the maple syrup? I’m not a maple syrup fan
the best recipe
Outstanding! Donut was so moist as loved the glaze! My little one loves donuts so this recipe will be a keeper!!
These turned out delicious! I used brown rice syrup for the donuts since I wanted to use up some of that to make space in my cupboard. Even though brown rice syrup is less sweet than maple syrup, they were still plenty sweet, especially with maple syrup used in the glaze on top. The batter was more runny than I anticipated, even after letting it sit for a bit for the coconut flour to absorb, but the donuts baked up just fine and were moist and fluffy. Great recipe!
These are DELICIOUS!!! I sprinkled them with chopped peanuts and they are perfect, thank you for the recipe!
These are amazing and trying not to eat all of them! Ha. I had crunchy natural PB on hand for the glaze and it gave it some great texture!
This was delicious! But would it be ok to substitute baking powder for the baking soda?