There’s a cute little food company called Peas of Mind that makes appealing foods for kids, like Veggie Wedgie Fries. The founder, Jill Litwin, is an amazing food creator. And beyond her products, Jill has a great collection of recipes. Not all of Jill’s recipes (or products) are dairy-free, but many are, and some are quite easy to adapt to a milk-free lifestyle. One recipe in particular that caught my eye was for Vegan Baked Sweet Potato Donuts.
Jill originally shared this recipe with us back in 2009, but I thought it was time for a big update! I’ve added more tips and options to make them suitable for more households. These breakfast treats are actually oil-free (save the buttery spread topping) and have lighter ingredients than your average donuts. They’re also a safe option for most food allergies, but they haven’t been tested gluten-free yet.
Baking Tips: Vegan Baked Sweet Potato Donuts
Do You Have a Donut Pan? Jill rolls out the dough, cuts it into donut shapes, and bakes it on a baking sheet. But for those of you with a donut pan, I’ve added a donut pan option. They will be just a little fluffier since you’re adding less flour.
Want More Wholesome Sweet Potato Donuts? You can swap in whole wheat pastry flour for all or part of the all-purpose flour. The flavor will be just a little nuttier, and the texture will be just a touch more dense. You can also swap coconut sugar for the sugars, but it will be a little less sweet, and might produce a slightly dryer donut.
Enjoy While Hot! Fat free baked goods can have a slightly gummy texture. People who are used to fat-free baked goods won’t notice a difference, but if you aren’t, it’s best to enjoy these baked sweet potato donuts when freshly baked. For a more tender texture, you can swap in oil for all or part of the applesauce.
Special Diet Notes: Vegan Baked Sweet Potato Donuts
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
- ½ large sweet potato (peeled, cut, boiled, and mashed)
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon dairy-free buttery spread, melted
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease 12 wells of a donut pan.
- Put the mashed sweet potato and applesauce in a large bowl, and mix with a spoon or hand mixer until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir or beat with a hand mixer (start on low to avoid a flour bomb!) until combined. It should be a slightly sticky dough.*
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Gently knead the dough a couple of times to incorporate a bit more flour.
- Roll out the dough to about a ½-inch thickness. Use a donut cutter or two round biscuit cutters (one large for the outside, one small for the inside) to form the donut shape. Gently place the dough rings on your prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 6 to 9 minutes (do not over cook).
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon.
- When the donuts are fresh out of the oven, and still warm, brush the tops with the melted buttery spread. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
For More Vegan Pastry Recipes Get Go Dairy Free!
11 Comments
They need about 15 minutes. Quite dense but so good.
Thanks Cindy, glad you enjoyed them!
Delicious my daughter and I had fun making them and eating them lol I used a ripe banana instead of apple sauce since I didmt have any and coconut sugar and brown sugar turned out great
That’s wonderful! Thanks for sharing your feedback and changes Carmen.
Thank you for the recipe 🙂 Do you think whole wheat flour would work? Also, is it easy to sub date or coconut sugars for the sugar called for?
You can, but keep in mind that it will be a touch drier with those sugars and heartier, less tender with the wheat flour. Couple that with the fat-free nature, and they won’t be very donut like. You might still like them, but they’ll veer even further from a pastry. If I were personally making those substitutions, I would probably add some form of fat to the recipe to tenderize a little.
Do you have an approximate measurement for the sweet potato
I wish she had provided a more specific amount Martha, but I don’t have this. By “large” I would assume a fairly standard sized sweet potato. I find most on the large side. You want the dough to be a bit sticky, so you can always start out adding about 1 cup mashed sweet potato, and add more as needed. Better yet, I would personally start with that, and then add a little oil as needed. But I prefer baked goods with a little fat.
these sound amazing, especially a sugar sprinkle… I’ll let you know if I try them gluten free!
I hope you get the chance to Kristina!
Kristina did you ever try these GF? I’d love to know what flour you used. Thanks
Anyone else?