Lolo's Baked Vegan Donuts, Glazed or Chocolate covered!

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Last weekend, I attended a fabulous potluck organized through Yelp called the "Vegan Brunch Cartel". Although all food had to be vegan, it was attended by a great group of folks, both vegan & non.

I debated what to bring, as the first edition yielded some dishes people were still raving about as the 2nd one was organized. A mention of donuts was received with fanfare, so I started my search for the perfect recipe.

This recipe comes from the amazing Lolo at VeganYumYum! Do yourself a favor & check out her blog & recipes NOW. I voted for her in the 2007 Veggie Awards & she has an upcoming cookbook I'm excited to get my hands on!

Lolo's Baked Vegan Donuts
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 shake of cinnamon (I was out of nutmeg, so I used all cinnamon & more than a shake!)
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Egg replacer for 1 egg (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer.)
4 tablespoons Earth Balance or other vegan margarine

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350º F.

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk to mix thoroughly.

In a small saucepan, combine wet ingredients over medium low heat & mix until margarine is melted. You should be able to stick your finger in the mixture without burning yourself. Don't make this too hot for the dough!

Add wet to dry & mix until just combined, forming a soft spongy dough.

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out dough into an ungreased nonstick mini donut pan & smooth out the tops of them. If using a regular sized donut pan (like I did), fill them until just below the rim. Make sure not to overfill them or they'll have uneven muffin tops. If you under fill them, they'll be skimpy, but still edible.

Bake them for 12 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Invert the hot pan over a cooling rack to release the donuts & allow them to cool completely before decorating.

This will yield 20 mini donuts or 6 to 8 large donuts.
If you don't have a donut pan, you can bake them as donut holes in the bottom of a mini muffin pan or make fun shapes in those molded silicone pans!

Glaze for Donuts & other confections
Ingredients:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon soy milk
my additions:
a splash of vanilla (optional)
a bit of agave nectar (optional)

Instructions:
Whisk all of the ingredients together.

Dip half of the donut into the glaze, let some drip off, then dip glaze-side down into sprinkles.

Transfer the donuts to a wire rack with parchment paper underneath, the excess glaze will drip through the rack onto the paper for easy cleaning later.

My Notes:
This makes a great all-purpose glaze for treats! I added vanilla & agave nectar for some extra sweetness & gloss, but it's good without them as well.

Chocolate topping for Donuts
Ingredients:
Your favorite vegan chocolate, approximately 6 ounces. (I use E. Guittard Semisweet chocolate.)

Melt the chocolate over a double boiler & remove from the heat being careful not to get water in the chocolate.

Dip your donuts into the chocolate until completely covered & place on a wire rack to drip off excess chocolate.

My Notes:
I found the dipping process to be a bit awkward, some of my donuts didn't want to leave the glaze & chocolate easily, so I was afraid they'd break! In the end, I took my offset spatula & glazed them thickly, letting the excess drip off the sides, then threw sprinkles on top. This worked best for me, but you may like the ease & speed of dipping them.

I tried two donut recipes, hoping to bring chocolate cake donuts as well, but the results of the other recipe (from a vegan cookbook) were not to my standards, so I did not bring them along. In the end, I was very happy with Lolo's donuts & will definitely make them again! I had extras, so I dipped them lightly in agave nectar, then coated them with a cinnamon-sugar blend; so delicious!

The Vegan Brunch Cartel was a total success! Not only was the food delicious, but the people were entertaining & the Victorian house it was held in was gorgeous. An open kitchen & vintage stove complete with 6 burners & a hot plate allowed dishes to be made right before the meal, as we all stood around & chatted. Cinnamon rolls, blueberry corn pancakes, samosas, apple brown betty, home fries, french toast, & "egg" salad sandwiches flowed freely; we were all stuffed! If you're ever in San Francisco, get in touch, if one of these events is happening, you shouldn't miss it!