This month we celebrated National Doughnut Day with these Caramel-Glazed Baked Donuts adorned with melted dark chocolate. The good news is this recipe doesn’t require a national holiday to be enjoyed.

It’s easy for vegans to sit back and let everyone else have the fun on days like this. Everyone at work brings in their favorite doughnuts and dances around the coffee break room. Of course, most store-bought or bakery-prepared doughnuts are not vegan. So, when they pass around the Krispy Kremes, we have to take a pass.

“Oh, no thanks. I’m not hungry.” We might say.

Or how about this one.

“I’ve already had my bran muffin for breakfast.”

That’s when your work colleagues all turn and stare at you and think to themselves (or out loud)  how glad they are NOT to be a  vegan.

It’s bad PR, folks. We just can’t have it!

That’s why I went out and bought a doughnut baking pan. Because not only did I want to make my doughnuts vegan, I wanted them with a little less fat. And I provide a gluten-free option for those so inclined as well.

So I say take your greasy, fried, egg-infused doughnuts. I’ll have this vegan, baked and delicious doughnut any day. Now it’s our turn to dance in the break room.

Yeah, I’m sure that will do wonders for our vegan PR efforts.

Caramel-Glazed Baked Donuts

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour*
• 1 teaspoon yeast
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon flax seed meal
• 3 tablespoons water
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• ¼ cup margarine
• ½ cup soy buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Caramel Glaze Frosting (See recipe below)
• Chocolate Topping (See recipe below)

*Make this gluten-free by using 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup buckwheat flour, & 1/4 cup white rice flour…or a gluten-free flour blend)

Preparation:

1. Heat your oven to 350F and coat a baked donut pan with vegetable spray.
2. Place flour, yeast, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, stir, and set aside.
3. In a small bowl combine the corn starch, flax meal, and water. Stir until the ingredients are combined and set aside for the ingredients to thicken.
4. In a food processor add the margarine and sugar. Pulse a few seconds until they’re mixed together. Then add the corn starch mixture and pulse again until combined. Then add the soy buttermilk and vanilla and pulse again until everything is combined. Combination is key!
5. Now add your flour mixture to the food processor and pulse a few more seconds until your dough is formed. It should be a thin, sticky kind of dough. Is that the best kind or what!
6. Now you’re going to want to pour the batter into each doughnut mold in your prepared pan. I used a tablespoon and measured out 3 tablespoons for each doughnut mold. I used a spatula to spread it out a little, while trying to keep everything nice and neat.
7. Let the batter sit in the pan for a minute or two so the yeast can start to get kind of full of itself. Then bake the doughnuts for 15 – 18 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when they get a nice golden color. Remove them from the oven and cool.
8. Add the Caramel Glaze Frosting (recipe below) to each doughnut and drizzle with Chocolate Topping (recipe below).

Carmel Glaze Frosting

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup margarine
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, heat the margarine and brown sugar over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Stir and let the mixture boil for a minute or so. It will start to get a deep, rich color and that’s when you know it’s ready.

Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Stir that around a bit. Allow the mixture to cool for a bit and then add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring between each addition. You’re going to have more of this yummy frosting than you’ll need for these doughnuts. Lucky you!

Chocolate Topping

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• ½ tablespoon soy milk

Preparation:

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and add the agave nectar. Microwave this for 11 seconds (the agave helps it melt fast!). Your chocolate chips should be melted now. Stir the melted chocolate and agave together until you get a nice, thick consistency. Add the soy milk and stir until everything is smooth and creamy and ready to roll.

Enjoy!