Mini Cake Doughnuts
Tender little pillows of sweet goodness, all in one bite. Coat them in powdered sugar, dip them in chocolate glaze, or drizzle with a clear glaze – either way, these are yummy!
It is important for the ingredients all to be at room temperature – especially the milk and egg. The butter will warm sufficiently when it’s been creamed with the sugar. But if you add cold liquids into the warm batter, it will cause the butter to congeal – which will cause the batter to have little pellets of hardened butter (and will affect the finished product). To quickly warm an egg, place in a dish of hot tap water for 5 minutes.
Using a mini doughnut pan is a must for cake style doughnuts with loose batters. They are quite inexpensive (I found mine at a thrift store for $4!), and are invaluable for making the perfect looking gluten free doughnuts. No matter how steady you think you are, don’t skip the step of putting the batter into a pastry bag (or Ziploc). I did, thinking I could gently pour the batter in the wells using a small spoon…it just made a mess, and I ended up putting the whole thing into a Ziploc anyway.
Once all the wells are filled about 1/2 – 2/3 full, gently tap the tray once or twice to make sure any air pockets that formed when you were piping the batter in are removed. How much to fill the wells is a bit of a trial and error for your first batch. You want them to rise just enough, so when they are done they look like little puffy pillows.
To make chocolate cake doughnuts, just add 2 Tbsp of cocoa to the batter. Once they are baked, allow them to cool for a few minutes in the trays, then gently twist out and place on a wire rack. If you want to coat them in powdered icing (or granulated) sugar, put some sugar in a bag and shake with a few of the warm doughnuts. For those you want to glaze or frost, allow them to cool completely first.
Mini Cake Doughnuts
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter or margarine room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- 2⅔ cups
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 cup milk or milk alternative
Topping Ideas
- Cinnamon Sugar - 1½ Tbsp cinnamon ½ cup sugar
- Powdered Sugar – ½ cup icing sugar
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, oil and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla.
- In another bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients. Alternate adding a third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, followed by a third of the milk. Continue mixing on low until all is incorporated.
- Spoon mixture into a large Ziploc bag and seal. Snip corner off and gently squeeze (half full) into the wells of a well greased mini doughnut pan. Bake at 425°F for 7-10 minutes until lightly golden brown (taste one to be sure inside is done).
- Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then carefully turn out onto wire rack.
- While warm gently shake a few doughnuts at a time in a plastic bag filled with the sugared toppings of your choice. For chocolate glazed topping, allow doughnuts to cool completely before dipping.
Notes
Makes 48 mini doughnuts
THANKS FOR ALL THESE RECIPES ! I FEEL THERE IS HOPE FOR ME!
There is always hope 🙂 Glad you found us!
These look delicious ! Thank you for sharing your recipes.
How about the egg substitution? Applesauce, baking powder, Ener-G?
If you don’t have xthan gum is there a subsitute or do you have to have it??
looks good . will try it
Thank You Angie, I will try this tonight. I want some Doughnuts.
If you are allergic to eggs, use whatever egg substitute you have the best success with. Just remember the donuts may not rise as well without the real thing.
Gluten has the ‘magical’ properties of making stretchy and high rising product baked goods. Gluten-free flours will never reach those heights, but we can definitely make a good effort! Which is why we use xanthan gum (or guar gum). It has similar properties to gluten, which works to bind all the ingredients together and thicken the mixture. You can find out more information about it in this article.
There are other substitutes you can use like psyllium husk powder, flax seeds, chia seeds, egg whites, however each has their own good and bad points (in terms of the baked goods outcome). I am working on an article right now about xanthan gum substitutes, so stay tuned!
Im allgeric to Gluten, Dairy eggs, tree nuts and Peanuts….i want a donut, a cookie… I miss Pizza 🙁
Diane
I will definitely try these. They look very good. I like donuts.
Thank you for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for sharing it. Mary Jane
We have a new tool you can use to customize the recipes you see on our site. If you go into the ‘My Account’ tab, then under ‘Do Something’, click on ‘My Preferences’. You can check off boxes for egg free, nut free, etc. Then hit save. Now only recipes that we have identified with those labels will appear. That should help narrow down your recipe choices! As for the pizza, give this crust a try: Classic Pizza Crust, its my favorite!
I am going to make the donuts. It sound easy.
Love it! !!
This looks good. I’m going to try it.
What are the carbs? My wife is diabetic.
17.7g for 2 donuts (that is without any frosting/powdered sugar)
What can be used for a good substitute for rice flour if someone is allergic to it? Would love to try these!
Check out the Flour & Starch Substitution Chart in our Secret to Baking Gluten Free Bread article. Substitute the rice flour for any other flour you like where it’s listed in the same column. Or you can always just add more sorghum.
These sound amazing! I’d like to make them at Christmas and take some home for my mom. She’s gluten free but not much of a baker lol. How should these be stored and how long will they last? (If I can stay out of them! Lol) ????
Most gluten free baked goods taste the best the day they are made. If made a day or two ahead, store the unfrosted donuts on the counter – chilling gluten free baked goods tends to try them out. Or you can freeze the unfrosted donuts for up to a month, then thaw and frost. Of all the donuts I’ve made, these are my favorite!