These rich chocolate frosted chocolate donuts are an easy and crazy delicious Paleo dessert! Kids love them and they’re fun to make. No one would guess they’re gluten free, dairy free, paleo and even nut free.
Want more paleo baking recipes that taste just like the real deal? Purchase my book, Paleo Baking at Home here!
I know I’m not alone in my cravings for frosted chocolate donuts, or at least I hope I’m not!? Either way, I have a feeling you’re going to like what you see today – and taste, of course. Healthier baked chocolate donuts with a frosting/glaze that actually spoke to my soul. Well, I mean the part of my soul reserved for happy dessert memories. We all have that right? I hope? Anyway, these chocolate donuts – which are Paleo and also happen to be nut free – are pure-happy-making, I assure you.
I made these 3 times, mainly because I wasn’t happy with my donut pan the first two times. You see, the problem I have with baking donuts sometimes, is that whole “stick factor”. Since you’re not using parchment liners, the risk of sticking to the pan is anxiety inducing at the very least – the reality of it can actually be crazy making.
My solution? I finally decided to go with a silicone donut pan. I typically reserve silicone molds for things like chocolates and gummies, since the material can increase baking times and change the way baked goods rise in the oven. However, for easy removal (and piece of mind!) plus a perfectly circular, donut-y sort of donut, the silicone donut pan is the way to go. A lifesaver, actually!
Another fun, new, and crazy delicious discovery with these donuts was the GLAZE! On a whim, I decided to purchase Nutiva organic shortening at my local grocery store, since it happened to be right next to everything else I needed for the recipe.
It contains a blend of organic unrefined palm fruit oil, unrefined red palm oil, and unrefined virgin coconut oil, and stays solid at a higher temperature than the regular coconut oil I typically use. Perfect for a glaze! And heck YES – it was!
The glaze/frosting couldn’t be easier – you simply melt the shortening along with raw cacao and maple syrup until shiny, remove from heat and add a bit of vanilla extract. My kids legitimately thought it tasted like “milk chocolate”, whatever that tastes like – I’m not even sure I remember.
But anyway, they LOVED it, along with the donuts – all 3 batches, in fact. I wound up freezing the last batch, since by that point we were on donut overload, and they defrosted really nicely too even with the glaze.
For the final picture-perfect batch, I couldn’t resist adding sprinkles – and if I’m honest, my kids were begging for me to add sprinkles to these to make them legit. If you choose to add them, you can either make your own using shredded coconut, as I did for my chocolate cupcakes, or for the healthiest “most Paleo” store bought organic sprinkles, you can purchase the Let’s Do Organic ones which contain just a few simple ingredients.
I hope you’re craving chocolate now, because it’s time to bake! And make frosting you’ll want to eat with a spoon. Make a double batch, I won’t tell! Are you ready? Let’s go!
Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Donuts {GF, Paleo & Nut Free}
Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Donuts {GF, Paleo, Nut Free}
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 4 eggs room temp
- 2/3 cup organic coconut oil melted and cooled to almost room temp*
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 1/2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1/3 cup raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Coconut sprinkles or store bought organic sprinkles optional
For the Glaze:
- 1/4 cup palm oil shortening or unsalted grassfed butter, or refined coconut oil***
- 2 tbsp raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prepare your donut pan by lightly greasing with coconut oil. (I highly recommend using a silicone donut pan or a proven non-stick pan for easy removal!)
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In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer or whisk to cream together the eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla. In a smaller bowl, combine the coconut flour, tapioca flour, cacao, baking soda and salt.
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Whisk or blend the dry mixture into the wet until fully combined and a thick batter forms. Use a plastic bag with a 1/2-1" cut made in the corner to pipe the batter into the donut molds** - it will make 6-7 full size donuts.
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Bake at 350 15-18 mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 mins in the pan, then release each donut carefully to wire racks to fully cool.
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While the donuts cool, make the glaze. Melt shortening over very low heat until almost melted, then whisk in cacao and maple until a shiny glaze forms. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
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Glaze donuts immediately by drizzling or spreading with a spoon/spatula, allow glaze to cool before serving, it will remain soft but solid at room temp. If using sprinkles, add them when the glaze has cooled about halfway.
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Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to one week or freeze in a sealed container for longer. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*To minimize coconut flavor, you can use organic refined coconut oil
**You can also spoon the mixture into the molds, or use a piping bag. I found the plastic bag to be the easiest option!
***Coconut oil is my least favorite option for the frosting, since it tends to separate, however, it's still good as a last option.
Nutrition
Products I Recommend to Make My Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Donuts:
Want More Paleo Chocolate Dessert Recipes? Try one of these!
Chocolate Chip Donuts with Rich Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Raspberry Fudge Brownies
Tell Me!
Do you have a donut pan?
Have you used organic shortening or palm shortening in recipes?
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Paleo Running Momma!!!!!!!! You are an AMAZING baker! This recipe is so simple my husband… my HUSBAND! was able to make these for my birthday today…and I enjoyed them GUILT FREE! Looking forward to sharing this recipe with EVERYONE I know! So. Good!
delicious!! thank you, my icing seperated. looked good one second and the next it was oiling and clumpy, what did I do wrong? temp too hot? I used low. made due but they don’t look glossy and didnt go on smooth
I can’t wait to make these with my kids as a corona-virus project! What a world.
Please reconsider using palm oil when you cook. Orangutans will go extinct if we keep decimating their habitat for palm oil <3
These were delicious and easy! My husband declared them better than the national-chain donut he had just eaten. I whipped these up while the family made their weekend donut run and felt satisfied and included when they returned with the telltale box. Agree that the silicone pan is a must – came out perfectly. Glaze super shiny and beautiful. Wish I could submit a photo because they were so pretty!
My son wants to make these NOW ?but I don’t have coconut oil in the house. Is it possible to make the donuts with avocado oil? I am a big fan of your blog – thanks for many great recipes!
So so cacao’y. Definitely a dark chocolate flavor. They tasted good! I must have done something off with the icing, mine was not think at all, so I just dipped the top of the donuts in there and added sprinkles on some and shredded coconut on the others
Your recipe calls for palm shortening, which you also used in your book for the donut glaze. However, what you mention here is NOT palm shortening. The Nutiva shortening blend includes coconut oil which will help this glaze re-solidify. I’ve made this recipe several times now using Spectrum palm shortening and finally after reading this post, I realize that the product you are using is not the same as plain palm shortening. You should probably correct this recipe so that others don’t have the same issue.
Can I make cupcakes out of this recipe
It was really good! I didn’t use a silicone pan but with the coconut I dusted it with flour.
( which, yes, breaks the rules) and it came out real easy. Was also really delicious lol. My whole family liked it. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi,
These are amazing but my daughter can’t have maple syrup or honey. Do you know of a way to incorporate Lakanto Monkfruit sugar instead of the maple syrup?