One Bowl Chocolate Donuts | Gluten-Free & Vegan

GFGluten Free

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

These fluffy Chocolate Donuts are made in only one bowl and baked instead of fried! A yummy Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Oil-Free healthy treat.

Hold up — you’re saying there’s a Vegan, Gluten-Free, and Oil-Free baked Donut out there that’s just as fluffy and indulgent as a regular one? Why yes, yes I am.

And not just any donut, but Chocolate covered Chocolate Donuts! I’ve been making these donuts on repeat for my friends and family, so I figured it’s about time I share the recipe with all of you too 😉

close up photo of chocolate covered donut on white plate with chocolate chips

I wanted to create a Donut recipe that’s made from wholesome ingredients, but still decadent and dreamy. After a few rounds of testing, I totally hit the mark! These Chocolate Donuts are:

  • Light and Fluffy, thanks to Oat Flour
  • Perfectly Sweet thanks to Unrefined Coconut Sugar
  • and Rich and Indulgent thanks to Cacao Powder and Almond Butter

Overall, you only need 10 plant-based ingredients and one bowl to make this recipe – now that’s a win-win in my book!

ingredients for chocolate donuts arranged on marble cutting board

I like to use these Silicone Donut Molds to bake my Donuts – not only do the Donuts cook nice and even, but they’re also really easy to pop out post-bake! I do like to place them on top of a regular Baking Tray when they’re in the oven though – it makes them easier to get in and out.

Once your Donuts are nice and fluffy, you’ll transfer them to a baking rack and let them cool while you melt some Chocolate for the topping…

baked chocolate donuts on black wire cooling rack

Note: the Chocolate topping is optional. However, is there really such a thing as too much Chocolate, ever?! The thick Chocolate layer on top of these Baked Donuts really takes this dessert to the next level. Plus, it reminds me of those Chocolate-Covered mini donuts I used to eat as a kid. Only 10,000 times BETTER!

Long Story Short: maaaybe the Chocolate topping isn’t optional after all 😉

12 chocolate covered Chocolate Donuts on black wire baking rack

I left some of my Chocolate-dunked Donuts plain, then decided to top the rest of them with Cacao Nibs for a little extra crunch. Mini Chocolate Chips would also be great here! Now all you have to do is let the Chocolate coating cool and set, then serve and enjoy.

(Sometimes I’m naughty and eat the Donuts while the Chocolate is still melty. It’s a little messy, but totally worth it).

stack of 3 chocolate donuts with bite taken out of the top donut

A Few Final Thoughts:

  • I’ve made these Donuts quite a few times, and have developed some fun flavor variations as well 🙂 See the recipe Notes for instructions on how to make these Mint Chocolate or Chocolate PB flavored! 
  • These Donuts will dry out over time, so if you are making them for friends/family I would make them day-of.
  • If you’d like to keep these Donuts Refined-Sugar Free, both Hu Kitchen and Pacari make some dairy-free Chocolate that’s sweetened with Coconut Sugar.

chocolate covered chocolate donuts arranged on white background with bowl of chocolate chips

If you’re looking for more Vegan & Gluten-Free Dessert recipes, you’ll also love these Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies, this No-Bake Chocolate Raspberry Tart, and these Toasted Coconut Baked Donuts!

Finally, if you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂

Print

One Bowl Chocolate Donuts

These fluffy Chocolate Donuts are made in only one bowl and baked instead of fried! A yummy Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Oil-Free healthy treat.

  • Author: Caitlin Shoemaker
  • Prep Time: 10 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 Minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Donuts 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

For the Donuts:

  • 1 ¼ cup Quick-Cooking Oats, blended into a fine flour*
  • ¼ cup Cacao Powder
  • ½ tsp Baking Powder
  • ½ tsp Baking Soda
  • ½ tsp Sea Salt
  • 2 Flax “Eggs” (2 tbsp Ground Flax + 5 tbsp Water)
  • 1 cup Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk
  • ½ cup (130g) Unsalted Almond Butter
  • ½ cup (75g) Coconut Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Chocolate Topping (Optional):

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease two 6-donut tins. If you have silicone donut tins, you do not have to grease them.
  2. Mix the blended Oat Flour, Cacao Powder, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, and Salt together in a large bowl.  Form a well in the center of the bowl and add the remaining wet ingredients. Begin by mixing the wet ingredients together in the center of the bowl, then slowly incorporate the surrounding dry mix until a thick batter forms.
  3. Evenly distribute the batter between 12 donut molds; I use these molds and a scant ¼ cup of batter for each. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let sit in the tray for 3 minutes, then carefully “wiggle” each tray to loosen the donuts and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before topping with Chocolate. Store leftovers at room temperature in a container with a loose-fitting lid for up to 5 days.
  4. For the optional Chocolate Topping: melt your Chocolate chips in a small bowl with a flat bottom using either the microwave* or a double boiler. Use your hand to carefully “dunk” each Donut into the bottom of the bowl, then twist the Donut in the chocolate in a clockwise motion as you remove it (sort of like opening a doorknob). Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool until the Chocolate has set.

Notes

  • To Make Oat Flour: blend Quick-Cooking or Rolled Oats in a high-speed or bullet blender for 20-30 seconds until finely processed – it should have the consistency of a regular all-purpose flour!
  • To Melt Chocolate in the Microwave: microwave the Chocolate for 60 seconds at full power, then remove and stir well. Continue to microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring between each one. Once 80% of the Chocolate has melted, remove from the microwave and stir continuously until no pieces remain.
  • Substitutions: Make this recipe Nut-Free by using Tahini or Sunflower Butter in place of Almond Butter. Coconut Sugar may be substituted with Brown Sugar or another granulated sweetener of choice; I have not tested this recipe with liquid sweeteners.
  • Flavor Variations: Add in 1 tsp of Peppermint Extract for Mint Chocolate Donuts, or replace the Almond Butter with Peanut Butter for Chocolate PB Donuts!

Keywords: Chocolate Donuts, Baked Chocolate Donuts, Healthy Chocolate Donuts, Vegan Chocolate Donuts

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can't wait to see what you've made!

Want to save these Baked Chocolate Donuts for later? Pin the recipe to your Pinterest boards:

These fluffy Chocolate Donuts are made in only one bowl and baked instead of fried! A yummy Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Oil-Free healthy treat. #vegan #plantbased #glutenfree #chocolate #donuts #dessert | frommybowl.com

About the Author

Hey there, I’m Caitlin! I make easy-to-follow, wholesome, and budget-friendly vegan recipes that are mostly gluten-free and refined sugar-free. I’m also an avid yogi, love the great outdoors, am chocolate-obsessed, and enjoy eating almond butter straight off of the spoon.

Learn More

FREE GUIDE: 5 Tips for Quick & Easy Vegan Dinners

Plus, get all of my recipes sent straight to your inbox!

You May Also Like

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. I’ve made these twice already!! So yummy and I definitely would agree that you need to grind the oats really fine to get the most fluffiness! I have a caffeine sensitivity so I will definitely try carob powder instead next time. However, I’m wondering if you have any tips for using this recipe to make vanilla donuts. I will be experimenting on it but I’m wondering if you’ve tried it at all. Thanks again!!

    1. Yes! Blend those oats up to a complete flour, oat flour is a great ingredient. Carob is a great substitute! We don’t have a vanilla or ‘classic’ donut yet. But maybe in the future!

  2. These are sooooo good! Very light and fluffy. I used date sugar instead of coconut sugar and they are perfectly sweet!

  3. These were so good! I bought Nutella for the 2nd time ever and thought I would use that as a topping. While it’s tasty it’s way too thick for the fluffy donuts. I’ll know next time. In fact I don’t think I would top them. They’re so good!!!

  4. These turned out sooo well! I actually forgot the ACV and realized when I put them into the oven already but they are tasting great and still nice and fluffy.

    1. I think you would need to stick to a flax egg for binding. We haven’t swapped the flax egg out in this recipe. If you give it a try let us know how it works out!

    1. Never tried it but I don’t see why not! Mostly you’ll just be changing the shape and may need a little closer monitoring to make sure the center cooks through!

  5. these were super good! I didn’t have non-dairy milk, almond butter, or cacao powder, and they were still delicious and light and fluffy! instead of non-dairy milk I used water, instead of almond butter I used chocolate peanut butter PB2, and used regular cocoa powder instead of cacao powder! I also used regular all purpose flour and regular white sugar instead of oat flour and coconut sugar. these are so good and easy to make!

  6. I don’t know why but my batter was rather thin. I had some pretty creamy oat milk but maybe my almond butter was a bit “loose” . I decided to add some almond flour to thicken it up. I’ll try and post on Instagram when I ice them.

  7. Hi Caitlin!!

    I made these today and they were a hit. I do have a question though. What nut/seed butter would you most recommend in place of the almond butter? I have a “sensitivity” almonds and peanuts, thus, I can’t have it as my body will only tolerate so much. I used sunflower butter but I felt like I could taste that the most and not so much the chocolatey goodness.
    Love your recipes!
    Thanks!

    1. Hey! I would say you could try Tahini as a substitute for all of those. Also there are butters like pumpkin seed butter, but those can be harder to find and possibly a little more expensive.

  8. I made this recipe last night (thanks Caitlin). I used oat flour and subbed date sugar in for coconut sugar. I did 1/2 a recipe, which made 5 donuts. They came out looking not nearly as nice as Caitlins but they tasted really good. Too bad I can’t leave a pic.

  9. Hi Caitlin, I love your recipe’s. I would love to make this recipe, but unfortunately I have a intolerance for cocoa. Could I make these without the cocoa powder? And should I use something instead?

    1. Hi Lola! I would suggest making my toasted coconut donuts instead then, as the cacao powder plays a big role in this recipe. You could also substitute it for carob powder if you can tolerate that!

  10. We made these today and they are delicious ☺️ we decorated them with melted chocolate and sprinkles. Big thumbs up from my 12 and 3 year olds. I can see these being a regular make ????

  11. Ooh, these look fabulous! I cannot believe the whole batch is just made from oat flour, flaxseed, almond butter, and chocolatey goodness. No oil at all? WHAT?! I’ve fallen in love with my new favorite donut recipe!

  12. Hi Caitlin, I really want to try out the chocolate donut recipe but my blender is broken, I want to know how much oat flour should I use if I am using shop bought oat flour. It would be really helpful if you could add the measurement for shop bought oat flour in your recipes as there are a few I would like to try out. Thank you.

    1. Hi Jasmine – thanks for letting me know, I’ll keep this in mind for the future. For this recipe I would use 1 1/2 cups of Oat Flour

  13. So I love making brownies but they arent the healthiest snack around lol. I made some just like the ones in this post. I know some of my fellow friends like to eat brownies too but sometimes it can be fattening. I would recommend adding some of the ingredients from this recipe too if you want to burn fat while also getting baked! https://bit.ly/2Gk1dyC

      1. If I use oat flour should I still use 1 1/4 cup? or less since it’s already in flour form? Can’t wait to try these!

  14. I am currently making the donuts after I saw your YouTube video! -is it weird to ask what Recipe Sticker you use on your website? I really love it 🙂 Keep doing what you do Caitlyn, you’re amazeballs <3

    1. I’ve made these for my friends and family and they loved them. I also made these for my very non-vegan neighbors who said they were delicious and even asked for the recipe! I printed a copy for them today. Thank you so much for making such an amazing easy recipe!

      I used cocoa powder and subbed water for nondairy milk, and they were still just as good!

      1. Always love hearing when non-vegans enjoy anything vegan. So that’s awesome! Thanks so much for making it!