One day I had a craving for a Tim Horton’s chocolate glazed donut, but of course, they don’t have vegan options (yet?), so I had to make my own. Thankfully, we had some Earth Island (aka Follow Your Heart, for our American friends) vegan sour cream in the fridge, along with enough oil to deep fry a batch of donuts, so I got to experimenting.
I know, I know, sour cream sounds a little crazy, but these are essentially a chocolate version of a sour cream glazed donut and I’m not mad about it. Plus, they have a simple glaze rather than icing, making them not too sweet.
When I first started making donuts, I accidentally ordered a strangely small donut cutter from Amazon, but small donuts are pretty great — you end up with more of them, they’re less filling, and the donut holes are nice and big. However, your frying time will increase, there are just more donut to fry!
When I used the little donut cutter, I made over a dozen donuts with this recipe! When I used my bigger donut cutter, it only made 10 and the donut holes were tiny.
Whatever size donut cutter you have (or cookie cutter, or cup for that matter), you’re going to love these no-rise, rich and chocolatey glazed donuts! And if you’re concerned about the wasted oil, let it cool overnight and strain it through a mesh sieve to make French fries or more donuts later.
Chocolate cake donuts
Equipment
- Dutch oven or deep fryer
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp ground flax
- 2½ tbsp water
- 1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour plus more for rolling.
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp vegan sour cream or plain vegan yogurt
- ¼ cup plant milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 8 cups neutral oil (vegetable or canola) for frying
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup plant milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Fill a heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven (or a deep fryer) with 8+ cups of vegetable oil and heat to 350° (use a thermometer to ensure accurate temperature).
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp ground flax and 2.5 tbsp water and set aside to gel.
- In large mixing bowl, combine 1 ⅓ cups of flour, ½ a cup of sugar, ¼ cup of cocoa powder, ½ tsp baking soda and ¼ tsp salt, and whisk.
- To the flax mixture, add 6 tbsp of vegan sour cream, ¼ cup of plant milk, ¼ cup of vegetable oil, and 1 tsp of vanilla, and whisk.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Stir together using a spatula or wooden spoon until a dough forms.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and work into a ball using your hands.
- Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it's roughly ½" thick, then dip your donut cutter into some flour to prevent sticking and cut out donuts. If you don't have a donut cutter, use a water glass or round cookie cutter to cut out the circles of dough and a smaller cookie cutter or a chopstick (poke it into the centre and keep the tip pressed against the counter, then hula hoop the donut around the chopstick) to make the hole in the centre of each donut.
- Continue cutting out donuts until there are only scraps left, then form a new dough ball with the scraps and roll out again to cut out additional donuts. Alternately, make the scraps into donut holes and fry them after you're done frying the donuts.
- Before you begin frying the donuts, place a cooling rack over a baking sheet or a paper towel on a plate, so the donuts have somewhere to cool and drain.
- Once your oil is hot, carefully place two-three donuts max in the oil. They will sink to the bottom and slowly rise up. Fry the donuts on each side for 1½-2 minutes before flipping over and frying for another 30 seconds. Remove them from the oil using a spider or tongs and place them on the rack to cool completely.
- Once you've fried all the donuts and the donuts holes, it's time to make your glaze. Whisk together the icing sugar, plant milk, and vanilla until smooth. Add an extra tablespoon of milk if your glaze is too thick.
- Once cooled, dip the donuts and donut holes in the glaze and return them to the rack to drip dry.
