Inspired by these chocolate ones, I decided to make some Vegan Matcha Baked Donuts. They’re easy to make, and also happen to be gluten-free and refined sugar free too!
I love using matcha in baked goods as it adds a lovely green colour, earthy flavour and multiple health benefits.
I’m really pleased with how the texture of these donuts turned out – tender and fluffy as opposed to hard and crumbly, which I find is often the case with gluten-free or refined sugar free baked goods.
The base for the batter is a mixture of gluten-free flour (you can use your favourite homemade or store-bought blend) and ground almonds, which help create that essential moisture and fluff-factor.
The combination of vinegar and bicarbonate of soda is really key for this batter too, as the acidic vinegar and alkali bicarb will react in the mixture and make the cake rise – this is how you can make a sponge rise successfully without eggs!
I found the amount of batter I used was just enough to fill the whole of the donut tin I have, but if you have some left over you can put them into cupcake cases and make some cupcakes.
And of course, if you don’t have a donut tin, this batter works really well for cupcakes, just remember to adjust the cooking time as necessary!
The final (optional but highly recommended) step for these donuts is a delicious 3-ingredient glaze – it’s shiny, perfectly sticky, and melts in your mouth – what more could you ask of a glaze? Then if you fancy, you can finish it off with a flourish of rose petals, desiccated coconut or freeze-dried berries!
I hope you’ll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Matcha Baked Donuts! Looking for more matcha recipes? I love using matcha in healthier sweet treats, and have used it to make things like:
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Helpful tools to make these Vegan Matcha Baked Donuts:
glass mixing bowl
measuring jug
cooling rack
Vegan Matcha Baked Donuts (GF)
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 30 g (1/8 cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 115 ml (1/2 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 6 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 75 g (2/3 cup) ground almonds* (almond meal)
- 75 g (2/3 cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 1 heaped teaspoon baking power (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1/2 teaspoon matcha powder to taste
For the glaze:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon matcha powder
To decorate (optional):
- Freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries
- Rose petals
- Desiccated coconut
Instructions
For the donuts:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other type of oil)
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and ground almonds
- Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and matcha green tea powder
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry
- Transfer mixture to the greased donut tin**
- Bake in oven for around 10 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean
For the glaze:
- Melt the coconut oil in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water or a microwave
- Mix in the maple syrup and matcha green tea powder
- Once out of the oven, remove the donuts from the baking tin and place on a wire rack
- Dip them into the glaze one by one and place back on the wire rack to cool
To decorate:
- If you wish to decorate, scatter over freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries, rose petals or desiccated coconut whilst the icing is still wet
Notes
almond flour
**If you don’t have a donut tin, this batter works really well for cupcakes, just remember to adjust the cooking time as necessary!Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you click through and purchase any of these films, a small percentage will come to me, with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Melissa Novotny
I’m so gonna make these for my friends! Been challenging myself to make some food I’ve not try making so I invited my friends over just to taste test the food, hahaha! :3 I was wondering if you have a salted caramel version for the glaze? Are there any substitution for pure gluten free flour? :O
Rhian Williams
Hi Melissa, thank you so much for your interest in the recipe! For salted caramel, you could try making date caramel (by blending up dates), thinning out with water until you achieve the right consistency and adding a pinch of salt? I’ve never tested it with rice flour instead of the gluten-free flour blend but I think it would probably work with rice flour or brown rice flour in place of the gluten-free flour. But as I’ve said I haven’t tested it this way so can’t guarantee results…please let me know how you get on if you do try this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
faim83
Hi
Can we sub the almonds with more gf flour due to tree nuts allergy
Rhian Williams
Hi, unfortunately the ground almonds are pretty essential for the fluffy texture. Other readers have told me they’ve substituted the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds or ground pumpkin seeds, which appears to have worked well. Hope that helps!
Sabrena Genrich
These are amazing! However they aren’t even close to the green color you got in the photos
Rhian Williams
Thank you! Oh no sorry about that – the colour can depend on the brand or type of matcha used, as well as how fresh it is. For a brighter green colour, you could also try adding a tiny pinch of spirulina. Hope that helps!
Anna
Can I make these without the matcha?
Rhian Williams
Yes!
Beccs
These were delish. I used whole wheat flour and no icing.
Rhian Williams
Yay amazing thank you! So glad you liked them!
asia
Looks delicious. Any idea how to make matcha filling to go inside these donuts?
Rhian Williams
Thank you! What sort of matcha filling are you thinking? You can add a bit of the donut batter at the bottom of the tin, then pipe in some filling then cover back up with more donut batter? That should work!
Anonymous
Are they usually sticky and chewy?
Rhian Williams
No! Did you add the right amount of baking powder?
LJ
Very excited to make these!
How long would I bake them if i did them in a mini muffin pan instead? and also would organic flour have the same effect?
Rhian Williams
I think in a mini muffin pan they would take between 10-15 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Yes organic flour should be fine!
Anonymous
Great texture and taste!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!