Baked birthday cake donuts

No birthday cake this year, Cooper asked for donuts. So I came up with these healthy and vegan birthday baked donuts. They are soft and pillowy, speckled with sprinkles and then dipped in healthier icing and more sprinkles.

These baked donuts are so festive! The kids love them. And they are pretty healthy too, so I love them as well! The best birthday treat in my opinion! Let’s bake some donuts!

How I make these birthday baked donuts?

You’ll pop these birthday baked donuts in the oven in less than 10 minutes! And while they are in the oven, I usually prepare the icing, so these donuts can be served within 30 minutes (including cool off time!).

The vegan donut batter

In a medium sized mixing bowl I add all the wet ingredients – milk, apple cider vinegar, pure vanilla extract, maple syrup and coconut oil – and whisk it all together. I set the bowl aside.

In another mixing bowl, I stir together the flour, salt and baking soda (so all the dry ingredients except for the sprinkles).

Now I pour the wet ingredients into the mixed dry ingredients and, with a wooden spatula, I mix it all together. I make sure not to over mix the batter. Just combined is best. Lastly I fold in the sprinkles. And again, I don’t over mix, because I don’t want to sprinkles to bleed and turn it into a purple-grey batter.

Bake the donuts

I pour the batter for the sprinkled donuts in a ziplock bag and cut the tip off. How much do I cut off? The same (or actually just a bit narrower) as width of the donut mold.

Now I squeeze the bag and pipe the batter out into the donut mold. The batter should be enough for 6 donuts. I make sure to not overfill the mold other wise the donuts won’t be rounded, but have an edge (the overflow of the mold). Cutting off the ziplock bag just a bit narrower than the donut mold will make sure I don’t overfill it.

Once all 6 holes are filled they are ready to be baked in the oven.

Glazing and sprinkling the donuts

Once the donuts are in the oven, I start making the glaze. It is a simple glaze elevated with a few drops of natural food coloring. I mix all the glaze ingredients – powdered sugar (or xylitol), milk and lemon essence – in a wide bowl (wide enough to dip the donuts in). Once I get a fairly thick but smooth consistency, I add 1 or 2 drops of food coloring. If I want to make more than 1 color, I first divide the white glaze into 2 or 3 batches and than add a different color food coloring to each batch and stir until smooth.

In another wide rimmed bowl I add sprinkles (non pareils, jimmies, rainbows, hearts, shiny pearls, stars).

When the donuts are baked, I take them out of the oven and let them cool off on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes to slightly cool them off before glazing them.

Now I dip one side of the donut in the glaze and gently shake off the excess. Immediately after I dip the glazed donut in the sprinkles and place it back on the wire rack so (more) excess can drip off without forming a puddle underneath my donuts.

Very quickly the glaze will set and these birthday baked donuts are ready to serve! Would you like one? These boys sure like them:

These birthday baked donuts have been approved here! We are sure you will love them too. They are

so easy to make – on the healthier side – fun and festive – and SO delicious

Looking for more festive treats? What about this easy vanilla sheet cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, wholesome and fun birthday cake, chocolate brown pie, or these gooey brownie muffins.

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

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