Author: Sally Nemiroff

This delicious dairy free fall recipe is slightly adapted from King Arthur Baking and is always a hit at my neighborhood clam bake.

Ingredients

Doughnuts:

• 1/4 cup (50g) canola or vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (298g) granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (340g) pumpkin purée
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp ground allspice or cloves, and 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp (291g) King Arthur Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour (sold at Heinen’s and online)
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Topping:

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth.
3. Whisk in the flour and xanthan gum until smooth.
4. Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full (about 1/4 cup of batter in each well).
5. Bake the doughnuts for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into a doughnut comes out clean.
6. While the doughnuts are baking, mix together the cinnamon sugar topping ingredients in a small bowl.
7. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 3 to 5 minutes.
8. After the doughnuts have cooled slightly, but while they’re still very warm, coat them in cinnamon sugar topping. You can do this by hand, just rubbing each doughnut with the sugar coating, or you can gently shake them in a bag with the cinnamon sugar.
9. Place each doughnut on a cooling rack and cool completely before enjoying. Store in a partially covered container at room temperature for several days. Enjoy as is or slightly reheated.

Eating gluten free doesn’t mean having to give up delicious fall traditions. This excellent apple cider baked donut recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring is the perfect gluten free treat for when you come home from the apple orchard or cider mill.

If you don’t have a donut pan, you can try using a cupcake pan to make apple cider muffins instead of donuts, but you’ll need to increase the cooking time a bit.

Ingredients

For the donuts:

• 1 ½ cups (210 g) gluten free flour blend (see Notes)
• ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ¾ cup apple cider

For the topping:

• ⅓ cup (67 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease 2 standard-size 6 well donut pans and set them aside.
• In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and whisk to combine well.
• Create a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add the butter, eggs, and cider, and mix to combine. The batter will be very soft.
• Use a piping bag or spoon to put the batter into the prepared doughnut wells until they are each about 3/4 of the way full. Shake the pan back and forth horizontally until the batter is in an even layer in each well.
• Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the tops of the donuts spring back when pressed gently (about 12 minutes). The underside will be browned, but the tops will still be relatively pale.
• Remove the pan from the oven and allow the donuts to cool for about 3 minutes, or until they are no longer hot to the touch.
• While the donuts cool slightly, place the cinnamon sugar topping ingredients into a small bowl.
• Gently remove the slightly cooled (but still warm) donuts from the doughnut pan with your fingertips and coat in the cinnamon sugar until they are well-coated on all sides.
• Place the finished donuts on a clean sheet of parchment paper. Serve immediately, or at least within a day or two stored uncovered at room temperature.
• Freeze any remaining leftovers in a sealed, freezer-safe container.

Notes 

The following flour blends have been tested to work in this recipe:

• Better Batter Original Blend (the flour used in the original recipe)
• King Arthur All Purpose Gluten Free Flour (sold at Heinen’s)
• Vitacost Multi-Blend Flour
• A blend of 40% (by weight) white rice flour, 30% superfine brown rice flour (MUST be superfine – use Vitacost or Authentic Foods brand, NOT Bob’s Red Mill), 15% potato starch (NOT potato flour), and 15% tapioca starch/flour.

You can also try using the original recipe author’s own flour blend (contains dairy).