Grain Free & Vegan Apple Cider Caramel Crumb Donuts

I have been making donuts all week and REALLLLY want to make sure to include one for the grain free crowd.. and the egg free friends too. These gorgeous little donuts are as easy as making muffins. I know you will love them! You wont find a more fall festive recipe than this one.

Lets talk aquafaba! It’s absolutely magical.

This is the first time I have been able to make a grain free baked good fluffy without eggs. All thanks to the aquafaba. Its adds a ton of air and stability to the donuts.

What is aquafaba? In short.. BEAN JUICE. Sounds gross right??

Its just the liquid from a can of garbanzo beans and when you whip it- it behaves just like egg whites! Its wild to see it froth like crazy in the bowl.

So, if you make the recipe using the aquafaba option- be sure to beat it on high for at least 5-6 minutes!

The last thing I need to mention is donut pans.

I don’t find this recipe to be a sticky donut- so any nonstick donut pan should work!

BUT once I got a 3 set of Silicone Donut Molds- I never looked back. If you use them you never have to worry about a single donut sticking.

These are the ones I have:

https://amzn.to/3oGQlkU

Yes, they are ugly. I wish they didn’t come in just bright colors. But they get the job done and really that is all that matters.

Don’t want to buy donut pans? No problem. Make them as muffins instead. The baking time might be a little bit longer. You can pull them out as soon as a toothpick comes out clean!

Trying to watch your sugar? The apple cider itself really cant be swapped out or you’ll lose some flavor. But if you want you could probably get away with changing the sugar in the batter and topping. If you own a copy of my book The Ultimate Keto Cookbook I have an amazing sugar free caramel sauce in there. I will add it to the club at some point.

Kombocha sugar is currently my favorite sugar free option. Usually with sugar free baking I use a bit less sugar than what is called for. Thats where I would start with this recipe too.

Grain Free & Paleo Apple Cider Caramel Crumb Donuts

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Yield: 16

Author: Brittany Angell

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 40 Min

This crumb topping recipe makes a hefty amount. I really like to load it heavily on each donut. If you want a more normal amount you can cut that portion of the recipe in half. As always for best results use the gram measurements

Ingredients

Cinnamon Crumb Topping

• 1 1/2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour
• 1 Cup Potato Starch
• 1 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar or Coconut Palm Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 6-7 Tbsp Melted Butter (real or vegan)

Apple Cider Donut Batter

• 4 ounces of aqufaba (or 2 large eggs)
• 1/2 Cup (119 g)  Apple Cider 
• 2  1/4 Cups (270 g) Blanched Almond Flour 
• 3/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp (143 g) Potato Starch
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar or Coconut Palm Sugar 
• 2 Tsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 3 Tbsp Melted Butter (Regular or Vegan) or Mild Flavored oil.
• 3/4 Tsp Salt 
• 1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder 

Apple Cider Caramel

• 1 1/2 Cups Apple Cider
• 3/4 Cup brown sugar or coconut palm sugar 
• 1/3 Cup Cream (regular or vegan). I use silks dairy free heavy cream. (coconut cream works too).
• 3 Tbsp Real or Vegan Butter 

Instructions

1. Make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl whisk together the flours , sugar and cinnamon. Pour in the melted butter 1 tbsp at a time until perfect clumps form stirring with a fork. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Adjust the shelf to make sure its in the center of the oven or slightly above center. 
3. Add your aqafaba to a large mixing bowl and beat on high 5-6 minutes until its extremely foamy and soft peaks start to form. (Note: If you are using eggs this can be skipped and you can just quickly whisk the eggs by hand).
4. Add in the remaining ingredients and fold them stirring until your batter is smooth. 
5. Spoon batter into 16 donut baking molds (I use silicone as they come out perfect every single time. NO issues with sticking.) If using the molds set them on a baking sheet before filling them.
6. Liberally sprinkle crumb topping on each donut. Bake 20-23 minutes until they are firm to touch & baked through.
7. While the donuts are baking the caramel (this step is optional!) Add all the caramel ingredients to a sauce pan and simmer on medium until it condenses by at least half. Keeping in mind that it will thicken quite a bit as it cools. 
8. Drizzle the caramel on the donuts and serve! Any extra caramel may be saved in the fridge. 

Notes:

If using the aquafaba option- it is the bean juice from a can of garbanzo beans! You'll need to beat it on high until its extremely fluffy and its almost to the point of soft peaks forming. This takes a good 5-6 minutes.

If you opt to use an egg- the beating is not needed and the batter can be quickly mixed together.

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