These baked Chocolate donuts with Candy cane glaze are soft and moist and packed with rich chocolate flavor. Topped with a vegan peppermint glaze and sprinkles of candy canes, they are the best holiday treat ever! You won’t believe they are healthy too.
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Every season and every holiday needs a donut recipe, right!? So here you go, these Chocolate Donuts With Candy Cane Glaze are the perfect winter and Christmas treat!
These baked donuts are soft and moist and packed with chocolate flavor and sprinkled with peppermint candy canes.
Each bite is an explosion of rich chocolate, creamy cashew frosting, and bits of candy canes. YUM!
They are so good you won’t believe that these donuts are healthy! They are, including the cashew icing, dairy-free, gluten-free, and grain-free.
If peppermint chocolate is one of your favorite holiday flavors, you have to try these Sweet Potato Peppermint Brownies and these Peppermint Chocolate Truffles too! They are both insanely good and are a Christmas staple in my house.
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Baked or Fried Donuts?
Which is better, baked or fried donuts?
Personally, I love both! However, it kind of depends on what I’m in the mood for, and also if I’m making it myself, or buying it.
When it comes to homemade donuts, baked is the obvious answer!
Baked donuts are
- Easier to make – No need to mess around with a deep fryer, or a hot boiling pan of oil
- Healthier – Baked donuts are a lot healthier than traditionally fried donuts since they aren’t drenched in oil.
- Better texture – I love the cake-like texture that a baked donuts has. And honestly, I find it hard to achieve the light and fluffy texture that you can get from a commercially fried donut at home.
- Better flavor – When omitting the frying step for baked chocolate donuts, you won’t get that oily fried flavor, which I think is a big plus!
With that being said, I too love a fried donut every once in a while, but then I’ll go out buying it.
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Are baked chocolate donuts with candy cane cane glaze healthy?
As mentioned above, baked donuts are a lot healthier than fried donuts due to the fact that they aren’t deep-fried.
However, there are a lot of other reasons why I consider this chocolate donut recipe to be healthy.
Naturally sweetened chocolate donuts with candy cane glaze
This peppermint donut recipe is sweetened by a little bit of maple syrup, making it naturally sweetened. Compared to white caster sugar, maple syrup has some minerals and antioxidants while regular sugar has non. Maple Syrup is also Paleo-friendly.
Unsweetened apple sauce is also added to the donut recipe, which will not only provide moisture, but plenty of sweetness, even though it’s unsweetened.
Gluten-free Chocolate Donuts with candy canes
These holiday donuts are made with almond flour making this recipe gluten-free, grain-free, and Paleo.
No butter but nut butter
The only butter added to these chocolate donuts with candy cane glaze is almond butter, making them dairy-free. The almond butter also adds a nutty flavor, moisture, and a high-quality protein boost to this healthy chocolate donut recipe.
The peppermint icing is also dairy-free. It’s even vegan, making it perfect for all your vegan holiday baking as well.
Cacao powder is a superfood
There are tons of health benefits of cacao powder! Among others, it may lower blood pressure, help with digestive issues, reduce the risk of heart disease as well as overall inflammation.
Cacao powder is also rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, potassium, and fiber.
Told ya, chocolate is healthy!
To sum up, The baked chocolate donuts are paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free and grain-free. The Cashew Cream icing is vegan, dairy-free, and paleo as well.
With some crushed candy canes on top, we have a perfect balance, which is much needed for the holidays!
And remember, balance is healthy!
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Ingredients needed for Chocolate Donuts with candy cane glaze
This healthy baked chocolate donut recipe is made of only 9 ingredients that you might already have at home in your pantry.
Chocolate Peppermint Donuts
- Egg (room temp)
- Apple sauce (unsweetened)
- Maple syrup
- Almond butter
- Peppermint extract
- Cacao powder
- Almond flour (packed)
- Baking soda
- Salt
Peppermint and candy cane Glaze
- Raw Cashews
- Maple Syrup
- Coconut Oil
- Coconut Cream
- Peppermint extract
- Candy canes
For the full recipe, see this Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting recipe. Just add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract for a holiday twist.
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How to make this healthy chocolate donut recipe
Start with preheating the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a silicone donut pan. You can use a regular donut pan as well, just grease it generously.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, apple sauce, maple syrup, almond butter, and peppermint extract.
In a separate mixing bowl, mix cacao powder, almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift is there are lumps with almond flour and cacao powder.
Now, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Do not over mix.
Lastly, spoon or pipe the mixture into the greased donut pan. If you don’t have a piping bag, add the batter into a Ziplock bag, seal and cut a small hole in one corner, and squeeze the batter into the donut pan. Fill close to the top, but do not overfill.
Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after inserting it in the middle. Set aside to cool.
Make the peppermint icing.
Let the baked chocolate peppermint donuts cool completely before icing them.
Lastly, sprinkle crushed candy canes on top.
Enjoy!
How to store chocolate donuts with candy cane glaze
These baked chocolate donuts can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 2 months.
However, I suggest you store the donuts without glaze and candy cane sprinkles.
Once the crushed peppermint candy is sprinkled on top of the donuts, it will melt after just a few hours. The glaze is also best if it’s added right before eating to prevent it from being absorbed by the healthy donut.
So, store the donuts, glaze, and crushed candy canes separately and assemble them right before serving.
I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR CREATIONS! YOU CAN USE “TRIED IT” ON PINTEREST OR SHARE ON INSTAGRAM BY TAGGING #SHUANGYSEATS
Other baked donut recipes you might like to try:
1. Pumpkin Donuts with Maple Glaze
2. Carrot Cake Donuts
3. Apple Cider donuts
Chocolate Donuts With Candy Cane Glaze
Ingredients
Chocolate peppermint donuts
- 1 egg room temp
- 1/2 cup apple sauce unsweetened
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup almond butter unsweetened
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- 1/3 cup cacao powder
- 1/3 cup almond flour packed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- Pinch of Salt
Glaze
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- Crushed up Candy Canes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a silicone donut pan. You can use a regular donut pan as well, just grease it generously.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg, apple sauce, maple syrup, almond butter, and peppermint extract.
- In a separate mixing bowl, mix cacao powder, almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift is there are lumps with almond flour and cacao powder.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Do not over mix.
- Spoon or pipe the mixture into the greased donut pan. If you don’t have a piping bag, add the batter into a Ziplock bag, seal and cut a small hole in one corner, and squeeze into the donut pan. Fill close to the top, but d not overfill.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after inserting in the middle.
- Blend the ingredients for the cashew cream icing, until smooth and creamy. if too liquidy, you can leave it in the fridge for 20 minutes to get to your preferred consistency.
- Let the donuts completely cool before icing them.
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Nutrition
The Nutrition Facts above are specific to the ingredients I chose to use for this recipe, which may vary.
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