Gluten Free Baked Donut Holes

Posted At : January 18, 2012 11:17 AM

photo by recipe author

Servings: 1 dozen donut holes
Preparation Time: 5 minutes

1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup organic butter or organic shortening
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
5 tablespoons coconut flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar or cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a glass baking dish.

In a medium bowl, cream sugar, salt, butter and vanilla extract together with an electric hand mixer. Add egg and mix thoroughly.

Sift in coconut flour and stir to combine. Let dough sit for one minute. Shape dough into 12 1-inch balls. Place evenly on baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden.

Let cool and roll in powdered sugar or cocoa powder

Recipe submitted by Brandon, Houston, TX

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Oh these look so yummy! I have to make these! I love donuts!

# Posted By Angie | 1/18/12 11:48 AM

These are wonderful , very quick and easy. I made them with xylitol instead of sugar and coated them with xylitol ground in the coffee grinder. A little cinnamon added to the coating was also very good. I only baked them 13 minutes as I have a tendancy to overbake gluten free things.

# Posted By Julia Heisey | 1/21/12 7:10 AM

Oh Julia! The cinnamon on the outside sounds like a yummy idea. Maybe a cinnamon, sugar mix. I might try that. Yum!

# Posted By Angie | 1/21/12 1:07 PM

I LOVE these...I substituted:virgin coconut oil for the butter, 1/2 of the sugar with splenda. I also coated them with 1/2 cocoa powder and 1/2 splenda. I love the crumbly texture..they are GREAT cold from the refrigerator. MAKE THESE!!!

# Posted By melody | 1/21/12 1:42 PM

This is a fantastic recipe. I just made these and they turned out really well. Finally an alternative to those Dunkin Donut Holes. :)

# Posted By Alejo | 1/21/12 2:13 PM

These are yummy.

# Posted By Martha | 1/21/12 6:38 PM

Made these twice now as they are so tasty! Second time added 1 extra Tbsp coconut flour and put dough in fridge for 3 mins before rolling to balls. The dough was easier to work with and less sticky. Also rolled in stevia and cinnamon the second time. These are a hit with my family!

# Posted By Joanne | 1/21/12 9:19 PM

My kids would love these! Have to make it sometime

# Posted By Kira | 1/22/12 6:57 PM

I made these yesterday. I doubled the recipe and used half butter, half shortening. They flattened and ended up looking like cookies, but I assume that was because I used half butter. They were delicious! I coated some of them with powdered sugar, some with cocoa powder, and some with a cinnamon sugar mixture. I will be making these again, they were fantastic!

# Posted By Angie | 1/23/12 2:41 PM

I plan to make these but not with splenda.
I actually found coconut flour at the health food store.
Someone posted that they used splenda. See what Dr. Mercola
says about spenda.

# Posted By Teresa Hogan | 1/24/12 3:14 PM

To make a vegan version for my son who has an egg intolerance, I used chia seed meal (1 TBLS meal + 3 TBLS water, mix thoroughly, let sit to gel).

They turned out great!

# Posted By Joann | 1/28/12 11:49 AM

I made these again today and used all shortening and they stayed round this time. I coated them with a cocoa and powdered sugar mix. So delicious! I will make these again!

# Posted By Angie | 2/2/12 4:18 PM

these stay together great when you use NON melted coconut oil and mix it with a stand mixer...plus you get the benefits of the coconut oil. PS..most shortenings are made with GMO soy oil.....

# Posted By melody | 2/3/12 6:36 AM

Splenda is not natural and people shouldn't replace the 100lbs of sugar they eat with a 100lbs of splenda (cloying and bulked up with maltodextrin, which is self-defeating, and it's expensive with no nutritional benefits). But sugar isn't natural either -- actually, it's a liver toxin and together with the mutant strain of "wheat" that's out there and the low-fat dogma we have a perfect storm of disease & malnutrition. If you really want a break-down on it youtube "Sugar: the bitter truth". Talking about sweetness in nature: raw honey is expensive and protected by an army of stingers. Fruit is seasonally available in most places in the world. Naturally, sweetness should make up a small part of the diet (for some, they would have had fruit available much more than what my ancestors had, so probably they can handle more). And to top it, a lot of the fruit we eat today has been modified to be ever sweeter! The onslaught of sweet sweet sweet is not natural to our diet.
But to get back to toxins: there are LOTS of natural toxins (apple & avocado seeds are poisonous for example). The fact that there are so many naturally present toxins that our bodies already have to deal with is the best reason I can think of to avoid the unnatural ones.
With that said, our population is suffering from sugar poisoning...not splenda poisoning. If people can wean themselves off of sugar using splenda, while comprehending the trade-off, I think that's positive. But if people start eating buckets and buckets of it, yes I'm sure we'll start to see some ill-effects appear. But to give you another example: saccharin was invented in the late 1800's, despite being shunned for a couple decades cancer rates are still rising and it was never proven to cause problems. I'd choose both saccharin and splenda over sugar. Or better yet -- some lovely local raw honey which has medicinal benefits...just a bit. Yum.

And this recipe does look terrific; I baked something maybe once last year, but I want to try baking more so I can offer it as a tradeoff to compete with the other not so great stuff that's out there. I'm going to try it with stevia & erythritol.

# Posted By Oly | 2/6/12 12:24 PM

These were an awesome treat for our food allergy filled family!!!! I made a double batch, half coconut sugar, half cane sugar, used chia for egg replacer as well. Thank you for posting this!!!

# Posted By Bridget | 2/9/12 8:07 AM

I also wanted to tell everyone that I made a glaze for them out of powdered sugar and water. Delicious!

# Posted By Angie | 2/9/12 2:23 PM

a glaze ... yes !!!!!!!!! mmmmmmmmm :)

# Posted By melody | 2/9/12 5:42 PM

Just have to add my rave review to all the others. I just melted the butter and stirred every thing else in....so easy. And they are SOOO GOOOOD!! I ate 3 of them and was very satisfied....if these had been made with flour I probably would have eaten them all. It's truly amazing the difference using coconut flour can make with the appetite with something like this. THANK YOU Brandon....got any other recipes this good and simple???

# Posted By Anna | 2/20/12 8:55 PM

I will make these this morning. But I am going to add ground nutmeg and make a powdered sugar and vanilla glace. My hope is that these will mock the donuts I have made for my children for the past 60 years. I get so tired of making them for them and then having nothing for myself.

# Posted By Pat | 2/27/12 12:35 PM

Pat....how did they turn out? And PLEASE share your glaze recipe....that sounds heavenly ;o)

# Posted By Anna | 2/27/12 6:33 PM

I've made these twice now - awesome! My son loves them, and so do I! I made them with palm shortening instead of butter (allergies), and flax gel for the egg. This time around, I actually made three batches: one with cinnamon in the batter, one with cocoa powder. I'm going to roll the cinnamon in cinnamon sugar, and the chocolate ones in cocoa/powdered sugar.

# Posted By Anne | 2/28/12 6:06 PM

These are DE-Licious! I make sure to cream the butter, sugar, and eggs really well, incorporate the coconut flour a little at a time and they come out super smooth...not crumbly. Also, I decided to give them a little twist and added 3tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder to a double batch...SO GOOD!! My kids and husband love them...especially cold! Quick and easy to make too. A definite keeper. Thanks for the recipe!!

# Posted By Sabrina | 3/26/12 2:03 PM

any suggestions on substitutions for sugar? and the amount? I prefer to use raw honey, but I'm open to others, like agave syrup. Thanks!

# Posted By michelle | 4/4/12 12:51 PM

I am wondering if anyone has ever deep-fried these in coconut oil? I got a new Fry-daddy and I nave never fried ANYTHING before. Now that I can use coconut oil, I want to try some occasional treat. Any thoughts?? thanks!

# Posted By Lorraine | 4/13/12 6:44 PM

DO NOT FRY THESE!!! I answered my own question by learning the hard way! They totally dissolved! But luckily I only wasted a few, I baked the rest of them in the oven and these are one of my favorite coconut flour recipes so far! They remind me of this Austrian cookie we make in a crescent shape and roll in powdered sugar. I also thought about using this base and adding some crushed pecans to press into a pie pan and bake for a shell.

# Posted By Lorraine | 4/14/12 3:01 PM

Michelle: Agave syrup is not good for you.

# Posted By Angie | 4/15/12 3:33 PM

Michelle: you could try using fruit sugar (aka castor sugar). the problem you will encounter using liquid sweetener (honey, agave, maple, etc) is that it will turn the dough in a batter... you don't want that.

# Posted By Vincent | 4/16/12 12:20 PM

I made these this morning----awesome!
They really are delicious warm, but even better when cool.
I used 1/2 tsp vanilla instead of 1/4 (because I love vanilla).
I also subbed in ZSweet (erythritol and stevia) for the sugar, and for the coating on the outside, I made a mixture of 1 T dark cocoa powder (unsweetened) + 1 tsp ZSweet + 1/8 tsp stevia...it was awesome! I rolled them when still warm, and they got kind of gooey, which was great!

I highly recommend these. I have one positive review (from the only other taster), and he's super picky and usually won't try any of my coconut flour recipes. So I take that has a big thumbs up!

# Posted By Lisa | 4/22/12 7:40 AM

I used 3 TBSP of Raw Honey in place of the sugar and 2 egg whites instead of the egg (allergies), glazed them with a mixture of 1/4 cup raw honey and 2 TBSP lite coconut milk, gently warmed to combine and loosen, Yummy!

# Posted By Syndisue | 6/29/12 11:39 AM

I just made these, and will be making them again, very soon... maybe even tonight! They were awesome! After cooling a bit I covered them w/ a homemade chocolate glaze, and then put them in the freezer for 10 minutes to set up. Amazing!! Glaze: (no measurements) fat off the top of the canned coconut milk, equal amount of butter, melted together on stove. Then added cocoa, stevia, xylitol and salt to taste. I recommend it!

# Posted By nora | 6/29/12 4:11 PM

I made these today. Friends loved them. To make them taste truly authentic, I recommend adding 1/8 - 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg. This is the secret ingredient that makes donuts so fabulous tasting. I glazed these as well; I covered half of the batch with vanilla glaze and the other half with maple glaze. Setting them in the fridge or freezer for ~15 minutes helps to set up the glaze.

Simple glaze: mix together 1/2 C organic powdered sugar, ~1 Tbsp half & half, 1 Tsp vanilla extract OR maple flavor

# Posted By Shatldo | 7/7/12 11:04 PM

Does anyone know if I can use all-purpose gluten free flour instead of coconut flour?

# Posted By Sara | 7/16/12 6:52 PM

Thank you so much for the detailed recipe for the glazes. Sounds really yummy...can't wait to try it. And now I know why store bought ones are so good....who knew it was nutmeg!!!

# Posted By Anna | 7/17/12 11:30 AM

Love this recipe! They're definitely better chilled. However, this recipe only makes 7... At last for me. Maybe I just roll big donut holes?

# Posted By Sasha G. | 7/21/12 9:19 PM

I tried these this morning. I used coconut oil instead of butter or shortening. They held their shape perfectly and were wonderful!

# Posted By Beverly | 9/11/12 8:40 AM

THESE ARE AMAZING!!!! SO absolutley delicious! I also used coconut oil in place of butter and added 1/4 tsp of nutmeg. They tatsted like the real thing!!!! LOVE this recipe

# Posted By Kayla | 9/30/12 7:12 AM

splenda causes cancer and all kinds of neurological issues, I"m surprised to see so many people here using it!

# Posted By prudence | 10/12/12 2:10 PM

Wow, these are BAD. I'm familiar with coconut flour and I've made some very delicious baked goods with it, but these were just SO DENSE and a little too sweet. I followed the directions exactly. I don't know why so many people liked these, but they do not resemble anything close to a donut hole - except the shape.

# Posted By Becca | 11/19/12 2:49 PM

Just made these and all that is left is some dust... I made the dough in the food processor. Everything in at once and mixed till smooth. I did add and additional Tbsp of coconut flour and 1/4tsp of nutmeg. I also used palm shortening. They were not dry, not sweet, just lovely! oh just in case it helps I used a Tbsp to measure the balls. I only got 10. still only baked for 14 min.

# Posted By Leah G | 12/10/12 3:28 PM

I used coconut everything: sugar.solid oil and flour. Turned out amazing like everyones. Perfect texture and taste

# Posted By Anick | 1/10/13 6:14 AM

Can we add another type flour in with these? They are a little too rich and coconut tasting for us, but so easy to make. I think with a couple of adjustments these will be a regular item in our house.

# Posted By Susan | 1/16/13 10:57 AM

Awesome! Thank you for providing such a great recipe for my daughter- she doesn't feel so left out while on an elimination diet!!!
She is dairy free, grain free, egg free, nut free, gf, sugar free....for a short time but we made these work!
*Replaced egg with Chia seed- 1 TB chia+3TB water and let gel before adding
*alcohol free, water based vanilla exact
*Coconut oil for butter
*1/4 C applesauce + 1/4 tsp stevia extract for sugar
*Did not roll in sugar or cocoa but sprinkled with cinnamon

They held together, tasted great and are a good replacement if your feeling like you need a treat :)

# Posted By Natasha | 2/2/13 11:25 AM

We love this recipient it has become a staple at our house

# Posted By Denise | 4/12/13 3:21 PM

Judging by the comments I'll be trying these out within the next few days. Hubby is diabetic and since I've also added wheat-free to our diet it's become interesting. I love to cook and he loves to eat! I will be using a small cookie scoop that's 1 tbsp in size. Quick, easy and fuss-free. I'll let you know how they turn out. OH! Nutmeg is the secret in many things!

# Posted By Suzanne | 5/15/13 2:41 AM

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