Love donuts? Try these delicious Paleo donuts - they're grain-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free. Most importantly, they taste amazing!
I love donuts. L-O-V-E donuts. My family likes to splurge on local donuts on the weekend sometimes. And we love making these Cinnamon Donuts with three glaze options from time to time.
When I went through an elimination diet a few years ago, however, I came up with a paleo donuts recipe that rocked my world. I still love it several years later!
Paleo donuts
These donuts are SO soft and scrumptious -- not too cakey, but not too buttery or oily either.
These paleo donuts are:
- grain-free
- gluten-free
- dairy-free
- nut-free
The recipe below includes two different glaze options:
- chocolate glaze
- cinnamon sugar glaze
You can use one or the other, do a half batch of each, or make your own glaze! The recipe below calls for refined sugar-free options as well as dairy-free ingredients.
You can, of course, use regular sugar and regular chocolate chips for the glaze, if you wish.
Refined Sugar-Free Option
To make these refined sugar-free, I used maple syrup as the dough sweetener.
For the cinnamon sugar topping, I used coconut palm sugar instead of white granulated sugar on my donuts. Coconut palm sugar is reportedly low carb, has a low glycemic index, and has more nutrients than refined white sugar. I want to reiterate that I am not a nutritionist, so please consult your doctor if you have questions or concerns about refined sugar substitutes that are right for you.
My kids, who are still a hard sell when it comes to completely switching out refined sugar in their sweets, had theirs with regular sugar, which are the ones pictured here:
How long do donuts stay fresh?
Donuts are best eaten fresh from the oven. I mean, within an hour or two, when they are still hot, the outside has a slight crunch, and the inside is fluffy and light. You can place them in an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Paleo Donuts Recipe
Awesome Paleo Donuts Recipe (Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Paleo)
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 Tablespoons full fat coconut milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 5 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 4 Tablespoons coconut oil melted
Chocolate Glaze (dairy-free option)
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Cinnamon Sugar Topping (refined sugar free option)
- 2 Tablespoons coconut palm sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350’F.
- Lightly grease your donut pan with coconut oil.
- In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs with the coconut milk, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, and vanilla.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, stirring until all ingredients are well combined.
- Place the batter in a piping bag. Or, spoon the batter into a large plastic bag and snip off one of the corners so that there is about a ½ inch opening.
- Gently squeeze the batter into each donut slot until it's just about ¾ of the way full.To help even out the batter, I gently tap the pan against the kitchen counter a couple of times to make sure the batter settles evenly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. The edges will be slightly browned when done.
- After removing the donuts from the oven, allow them to cool for just a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your choice of topping.
- CHOCOLATE GLAZE
- Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil together in a small bowl in the microwave just until melted. Stir to blend.
- CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING:
- In a medium shallow bowl, mix the coconut palm sugar and ground cinnamon until the cinnamon is well combined with the coconut palm sugar. This will be your cinnamon sugar topping. Set aside.
- Slowly turn the donut pan over onto a cooling rack to let the donuts fall out.
- Dip as many donuts as you want into the chocolate glaze OR into the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Notes
PIN IT:
Trust me: these are delicious even if you are in no way shape or form trying to cut out grains, gluten, or dairy. Try them, and let me know what you think!
More yummy breakfast recipes
Double Berry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Baked Cinnamon Donuts with Three Glazes
This post was originally published on March 5, 2015. It was updated January 21, 2020 with updated information. Same great recipe!
Annika says
Gosh could have a whole bag of them right now only for breakfast . After several tries making donuts at home and the taste- was let's say nasty, I gave up making my own.
Yours look mouthwatering and they are paleo friendly maybe I should consider to give it another try.
Thanks for sharing....
Xo
Bill Volckening says
They look delicious, although I have to admit the idea of paleo donuts conjured images of cave people discovering a time-traveled box of Voodoo Donuts, and afterwards, inventing the wheel. :)
Monica Louie says
Oh my! These look delicious! Can't wait to try them! :)
Pech says
HAha how did you get such a perfect bite! Gorgeous photos
Warren says
I wasn't sure when I read the title, but I'm sold. I would definitely try these out. Although, I'm with your kids, I love my sugar. :)
Create/Enjoy says
Wow, I am SOOO impressed!! I've never tried grain-free donuts since they sound so complicated, haha! I very rarely make Paleo treats like this but sometime as a post-workout treat would be very yummy.
Congrats on learning your food sensitivities--husband and I have eaten 90% Paleo for the past two years and felt better than ever! We don't feel a need to label it with anything other than "real food," most of the time, mostly think of it as avoiding processed foods and inflammatory ingredients that irritate us. Here's to health through food!
Catherine says
Can I message you my address for a delivery? ;)
Joy | The Joyful Foodie says
I think you've just made my week! I'm not Paleo, but I have quite a bit of family who do eat that way. I do try to keep foods as "real" as possible around here, and I'm so excited to try making these for my family!
Melissa says
Just made these in my mini donut maker (half batch made 9 minis) - sooooo good! I've tried several Paleo donut recipes, and this is by far the best one. Thanks for the keeper, Marlynn!!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Oh Melissa, I am so glad you tried these and loved them!
Stacey says
We don't have a gluten intolerance so I prefer to use organic whole wheat pastry flour? Is there a good way to sub, these look amazing!!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
Hi Stacey! You know, I haven't made this with whole wheat flour before, so I can't give you a good substitution guide. Whole wheat and GF flours are SO different. But usually when I use whole wheat flour in baking other food, I have to up the oil or egg substitute a bit in order to make sure it's not too dense. If you do try it with whole wheat flour, please let me know how it went and what your sub ratio was!
Vee says
Hi
Any substitute for almond flour? We are allergic to nuts ! Maybe cassava flour?
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
I usually use almond flour and haven't tried that other type of flour (have never heard of it!), so I can't vouch for how this recipe turns out with other types of flour. If you try another type of flour, let me know how it goes!
Billie says
I am so pleasantly suprised!!! These are delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, but my donut pan must be smaller than yours as I easily got 9 beautiful donuts! Thank you!
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
I'm so glad they turned out well for you, Billie! And how awesome that you got more donuts from the recipe! :)
Molly says
Just made these are they are very good..made mine into mini donuts.. will be making theses again..
Molly Leon says
Hello . Would you by chance know the nutritional value on these?
Rachel says
Do you think it would work with flax eggs? My son has an egg allergy. These look delicious! Thanks!
Christine says
Pretty good! Do you have the nutritional info?
Melissa says
These turned out great! I subbed the almond flour for oat flour. The mixture turned out very dry so I had to add some extra coconut oil and coconut milk until the consistency looked right. I put the mixture into a sandwich ziplock and cut the corner off to pipe them into the donut pan. All in all my fiancé and I loved them!
Michelle says
To keep these dairy free I subbed butter for coconut oil. They turned out great despite mixing the wet ingredients wrong (coconut oil started hardening with the cold almond milk) & having coconut oil chunks in my batter. They came out buttery with moist light air bubbles.
Michelle says
I meant I subbed coconut oil for the butter.