donuts

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Vegan Challah Cranberry Orange Jelly Donuts

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Donuts how I love thee, let me count the ways….

If I were counting, I would love them a million different ways, including this one.

I make love making vegan donuts and make them often enough and my regular glazed donut recipe is DELICIOUS! I always make homemade vegan donuts for Hanukkah, but never until recently did it occur to me to try and make them with challah dough. I mean why, WHY did this revelation take me so long. They are both yeast doughs and pretty similar, but challah dough is an easier dough to make with less ingredients!

I make challah almost every week for shabbat. I make plain challah, stuffed challah, challah pretzels, challah rolls..all the challah things, but never a donut. I have never until now fried challah dough. And I am from the south and we fry everything down here.

After a week of testing various holiday challah recipe, I was honesty challahed out….I didn’t even think it was possible, but it is. I didn’t want to make another loaf of challah this week.

Never the less it is Friday and I feel like every shabbat NEEDS challah so I went to mix up my dough when it occurred to me to try and fry it up as a donut!! AND further more, try and make a Thanksgiving themed jelly filled donut on shabbat because on this particular year Hanukkah begins 3 days after Thanksgiving! A holiday donut mashup if you will.

Not that you could only eat this vegan challah donut for Thanksgiving or Hanukkah.. This cranberry orange challah donut would be good any and every day.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cranberry and orange together! It might be one of my all time favorite desserts combos. I think I love it so much because the tartness fo the cranberries offsets the sweetness of a desert and that I can appreciate. I don’t love super sweet desserts, and I want frosting in very measured portions. So this donut has now become my favorite that I have ever made, and filing a donut with cranberry is now my favorite vegan donut jelly filling!!

If you don’t want to make cranberry sauce, you can use store bought as well. If using whole cranberry sauce, make sure the cranberries are mashed up pretty well. If you don’t want the cute little cranberry on top, that Is no issue either, but candied cranberries are super easy to make and a real tasty snack. or cute cocktail garnish…just sayin.

So if you love donuts, love challah, and love all things orange cranberry, these donuts are for you. And even if you have never made or had challah, it is an easy dough that fries up to one amazing donut!

And if you are celebrating a shabbat, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or whatever, Happy Challah days, y’all! And if you are making challah donuts just because, then happy eating!!

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Follow instructions for preparing challah dough but add 1 teaspoons of vanilla and zest from half an orange to the dough…follow the remaining instructions up until the first rise.

  2. Prepare cranberry sauce while dough is rising.

  3. Prepare candied cranberries while dough is rising.

  4. Once the dough has finished its first rise, transfer to a lightly floured countertop. I like to divide the dough in half and work it in two batches. It makes it easier to roll out. Roll out one half of the dough to about 1/4- 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 inch circle biscuit or cookie cutter (or donut cutter if you have one) begin cutting circles. Repeat with other half of dough. You should get 14-18 donuts depending on cutter size.

  5. Place donuts on cookies sheets, and let rest for about 25-30 minutes. They will become bigger as they rest.

  6. While they are resting, heat 2 - 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet or medium sized pot to 350 degrees. I’d you do not have a thermometer you can poke a wooden chopstick or skewer to the bottom of the pan. If tiny bubbles form around the tip then the oil is ready.

  7. Once oil is hot, begin adding the donuts to the oil, 2 or 3 at a time. Fry the donuts for about 20 second on each side then flip. Repeat one more time. This helps them cook though and not burn. If you don't have enough oil in the pan, and they are hitting the bottom, they will easily burn. So make sure to use enough oil! If the donuts seem to browning too quickly, reduce your heat.

  8. Allow donuts to cool on a wire cooling rack, placed on top of a paper-towel-lined cookie sheet. Once donuts have cooled, use a long piping/filling tip (we used Witons 230 tip) or use a regular fat piping tip ( #12) and chop stick or skewer to poke a hole into the donut on one side. You can kind of turn the chop stick or skewer inside the donut to widen the hole. This is making room for the jelly. You want to make sure you have created enough room for a good amount of filling .

  9. Fit a piping bag fitted with a filler tip or a large piping tip, and fill with cranberry sauce. I will warn if using a filling tip the cranberry skins will tend to clog it, I had to use a skewer to unclog it every couple of donuts, a large piping tip should not clog as much but the filler tip is easy to use since it is long enough to get to the center of the donut without having to create a hole with a chopstick. Fill each donut with the cranberry sauce.

  10. Mix the 3 cups of powdered sugar with zest from half of an orange and remaining vanilla extract. Using a few teaspoons of milk at a time, mix the frosting for the donuts. I like a thick frosting that needs to be applied with a spreader. You are looking for a cake frosting consistency.

  11. Spread frosting on each donut and top with a candied cranberry. Store in the fridge or at room temperature in an air tight container.

If you like this recipe, try these:

Vegan Jelly Donut

Vegan Jelly Donut

Vegan Maple Bacon Donut

Vegan Maple Bacon Donut

Vegan Key Lime Donut

Vegan Key Lime Filled Donuts

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We love donuts and make a lot of donuts because of said love.

Where we live there are not a lot of vegan donut options, so if we want them, we need to make them.

Once we perfected a vegan yeast glazed donut recipe, we were able to get creative and start making all kinds of flavors to suit our mood.

Recently one of our kids saw that Krispy Kreme had put out a limited time key lime filled donut and requested we make vegan version. Who am I to say no to such a logical request. I mean I love donuts and key lime anything so I didn’t even hesitate to say yes.

We took our vegan lemon curd recipes and replaced the lemons with limes. Now, I did not use key limes. This is beause I could not find key limes at this time, and I live in Florida where the key lime hails from.. And in case you don’t know, key limes are smaller and a little less tart than Persian limes. But for this, a regular ol lime works fine. In the event I can find key limes the next time I make this, I will use them. Key limes are small and that means juicing more limes to get the amount you need.

Fun fact, probably more often than not a key lime pie you are served somewhere outside of Florida is not made with key limes…just regular ol persian limes. This drives my step dad bananas and if you serve that man a key lime pie, by golly it better be made with key limes. Here in Florida you might get smacked trying to pass off a regular lime pie for a key lime pie…you have been warned.

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We used tapioca starch to make this curd…just an FYI, before you think it has all gone wrong. It is going to be stretchy and in all honestly kind of slimy. It gets thick when it cools . You will need to stir it well as it will be pretty gelatinous. We want it extra thick so it won't all ooze out of the donuts. So before the comments start rolling in about said curd’s appearance, I wanted to give this disclaimer. It taste good, but might now look super appetizing before it goes in the donut.

Lastly you just need to glaze and give the donuts a green stripe if you are 100% trying to rip off Krispy Kreme with your vegan version. Plus the green indicates there might be something limy inside…I don’t know why a green stripe says “must be lime in there” but it does…so now that we have covered that, its time to make the donuts, the vegan key lime donuts!

INGREDIENTS:

The Donuts:

  • 4 cups all purpose flour

  • 3/4 cups aquafaba (whipped. click link for easy recipe)

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 2 and 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plant based milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • Lime curd for filling

  • 3-4 cups of oil for frying, I use grape seed but you could use whatever oil you normally fry with

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Lime Curd Filling:

  • 1 cup coconut cream, divided ( heavy coconut cream in the can, shaken well)

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil

  • 1/3 cup lime juice

  • 1/2 cup white sugar

  • 1/4 cup tapioca starch

  • pinch of salt

  • Optional: 2 teaspoons lime zest for extra lime flavor

The Glaze:

  • 3 cups powdered sugar

  • 1/4 cup melted vegan butter

  • 1/4 cup lime juice, give or take

  • splash of plant milk if needed

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INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Heat milk in microwave for 30 - 45 seconds. You want it warm, but not boiling hot. In the neighborhood of 100-110 degrees but not hotter than that. It will kill the yeast.

  2. Add the warm milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. If you do not have a stand mixer, add the contents to a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

  3. After 5 minutes add the aquafaba, and melted butter to the mix. Next add the flour, and salt, and mix for 5 minutes on medium speed if using the stand mixer. If not using a stand mixer, then mix the ingredients together well in a bowl, then transfer to a floured counter top, and kneed the dough by hand for 5 minutes. The consistency of the dough should be soft, but not sticky.

  4. After the dough has been kneaded, place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Pop it in the oven. You are NOT turning the oven on, just leaving it there to rise. If your oven has a dough proof setting you can turn that on. Leave dough to rise for one hour, or until it has doubled in size.

  5. While the dough is rising prepare the curd : In a medium sauce pan, whisk together 1/2 cup coconut cream and remaining ingredients over medium/low heat until the mixture thickens (about 5 minutes.) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools.

  6. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup coconut cream. Place curd in fridge to cool. It will get pretty thick and gelatinous once cooled. Give it a good stir to get to a place it will pipe once ready. Never mind the seemingly off putting texture ( I am really selling this curd hunh?!?!) it needs to be thick to stay in the donuts. It taste great so just stir and move on;)

  7. Once the dough has finished rising, transfer to a lightly floured countertop. I like to divide the dough in half and work it in two batches. It makes it easier to roll out. Roll out one half of the dough to about 1/4- 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 inch circle biscuit or cookie cutter (or donut cutter if you have one) begin cutting circles. Repeat with other half of dough. You should have a total of about 2 dozen donuts.

  8. Place donuts on cookies sheets, and let rest for about 15 - 20 minutes. They will become bigger as they rest.

  9. While they are resting, heat 2 - 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet or medium sized pot.

  10. Once oil is hot, begin adding the donuts to the oil, 2 or 3 at a time. Fry the donuts for about 20 second on each side then flip. Repeat one more time. This helps them cook though and not burn. If you don't have enough oil in the pan, and they are hitting the bottom, they will easily burn. So make sure to use enough oil!

  11. Allow donuts to cool on a wire cooling rack, placed on top of a paper-towel-lined cookie sheet. Once donuts are cooled, use a chop stick or skewer to poke a hole into the donut on one side. You can kind of turn the chop stick or skewer inside the donut to widen the hole. This is making room for the curd. You want to make sure you have created enough room for a good amount of filling .

  12. Once all donuts are done frying, mix all of the ingredients for the glaze. If you find the glaze too thick, you can always thin it with some more milk. Reserve a little glaze if you want to add green stripes. I added a tad of green food color and some more powdered sugar to thicken it up. The stripe gaze will need to be more of an icing constancy.

  13. Dip one side of the donut in the glaze and place back on the wire rack to allow the excess glaze to drip off.

  14. Once the glaze has set, fill a piping bag, set with a jelly tip or larger frosting tip, with the curd . Begin piping the curd into the holes you made in the donuts with the chop stick.

  15. Once all the donuts are filled with curd you can serve as is, or add green stripes with extra glaze along the tops by placing the green icing in a piping bag with a tiny tip, or you can place in a zip lock and cut a tiny hole in a corner to pipe out the frosting.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

IMG_7433.jpg
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Vegan Maple Bacon Yeast Donuts

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IMG_1847.jpg

INGREDIENTS:

The Donuts

  • 4 cups all purpose flour

  • 3/4 cups aquafaba

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 2 and 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plant based milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2-3 cups of oil for frying, I use grapeseed or peanut oil, but you could use whatever oil you normally fry with

The Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • a few splashes of plant based milk

  • Vegan coconut bacon

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: 

  1. Heat milk in microwave for 30 - 45 seconds. You want it warm, but not boiling hot.

  2. Add the warm milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. If you do not have a stand mixer, add the contents to a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

  3. After 5 minutes add the aquafaba, and melted butter to the mix. Next add the flour, and salt, and mix for 5 minutes on medium speed if using the stand mixer. If not using a stand mixer, then mix the ingredients together well in a bowl, then transfer to a floured counter top, and kneed the dough by hand for 5 minutes. The consistency of the dough should be soft, but not sticky.

  4. After the dough has been kneaded, place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Pop it in the oven. You are NOT turning the oven on, just leaving it there to rise. If your oven has a dough proof setting you can turn that on. Leave dough to rise for one hour, or until it has doubled in size.

  5. Once the dough has finished rising, transfer to a lightly floured countertop. I like to divide the dough in half and work it in two batches. It makes it easier to roll out. Roll out one half of the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 inch circle biscuit or cookie cutter (or donut cutter if you have one) begin cutting circles. You will need to find something small to cut the center out with. We used the lid to our vanilla extract. Roll back out the scrap dough and continue cutting. Repeat with other half of dough. You should have a total of 2 dozen donuts.

  6. Place donuts on cookies sheets, and let rest for about 15 - 20 minutes. They will become bigger as they rest.

  7. While they are resting, heat 2 - 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet or medium sized pot.

  8. Once oil is hot, begin adding the donuts to the oil, 2 or 3 at a time. Fry the donuts for about one minute on each side. If you don't have enough oil in the pan, and they are hitting the bottom, they will easily burn. So make sure to use enough oil!

  9. Allow donuts to cool on a wire cooling rack, placed on top of a paper-towel-lined cookie sheet.

  10. Once all donuts are done frying, mix all of the ingredients for the glaze. If you find the glaze too thick, you can always thin it with some more milk.

  11. Dip one side of the donut in the glaze and place back on the wire rack to allow the excess glaze to drip off. Sprinkle with coconut bacon while glaze is still wet

  12. It will only take a few minutes for the glaze to set, and for you to be stuffing your face with delicious glazed donut perfection!

Yields two dozen donuts

If you like this recipe, try these:

Vegan Glazed Yeast Donuts

Vegan Jelly Filled Donuts

IMG_1807.jpg
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Vegan Jelly Filled Donuts

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IMG_0234.jpg

Jelly donuts are almost just as easy to make a regular glazed donuts.

The only extra ingredient you need is the jelly.

Our family makes jelly donuts every year for Hanukkah, and I often think to myself that I should really make them more often, because they are so delicious! You can use whatever jelly or jam you like, just make sure the consistency is smooth enough to pipe into the donuts.

We often pick blueberries in the summer and freeze several bags. I particularly like making a quick blueberry jam with the frozen berries for these donuts. I love using the fruits of our labor (literally) throughout the year!

No matter what jam you decide to use, homemade or store-bought, you really can’t go wrong with these vegan jelly filled donuts!

INGREDIENTS:

The Donuts

  • 4 cups all purpose flour

  • 3/4 cups aquafaba (whipped. click link for easy recipe)

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 2 and 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plant based milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup store bought or homemade jelly or jam. If you are using a jam, just pop it into your blender for a few seconds to make sure the chunks of fruit become smooth. Otherwise it will not pipe easily into the donuts

  • 3-4 cups of oil for frying, I use grape seed but you could use whatever oil you normally fry with

The Glaze

  • 3 cups powdered sugar

  • 1/4 cup melted vegan butter

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup plant based milk, give or take

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Heat milk in microwave for 30 - 45 seconds. You want it warm, but not boiling hot.

  2. Add the warm milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. If you do not have a stand mixer, add the contents to a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

  3. After 5 minutes add the aquafaba, and melted butter to the mix. Next add the flour, and salt, and mix for 5 minutes on medium speed if using the stand mixer. If not using a stand mixer, then mix the ingredients together well in a bowl, then transfer to a floured counter top, and kneed the dough by hand for 5 minutes. The consistency of the dough should be soft, but not sticky.

  4. After the dough has been kneaded, place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Pop it in the oven. You are NOT turning the oven on, just leaving it there to rise. If your oven has a dough proof setting you can turn that on. Leave dough to rise for one hour, or until it has doubled in size.

  5. Once the dough has finished rising, transfer to a lightly floured countertop. I like to divide the dough in half and work it in two batches. It makes it easier to roll out. Roll out one half of the dough to about 1/4- 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 inch circle biscuit or cookie cutter (or donut cutter if you have one) begin cutting circles. Repeat with other half of dough. You should have a total of about 2 dozen donuts.

  6. Place donuts on cookies sheets, and let rest for about 15 - 20 minutes. They will become bigger as they rest.

  7. While they are resting, heat 2 - 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet or medium sized pot.

  8. Once oil is hot, begin adding the donuts to the oil, 2 or 3 at a time. Fry the donuts for about 20 second on each side then flip. Repeat one more time. This helps them cook though and not burn. If you don't have enough oil in the pan, and they are hitting the bottom, they will easily burn. So make sure to use enough oil!

  9. Allow donuts to cool on a wire cooling rack, placed on top of a paper-towel-lined cookie sheet. Once donuts are cooled, use a chop stick or skewer to poke a hole into the donut on one side. You can kind of turn the chop stick or skewer inside the donut to widen the hole. This is making room for the jelly. You want to make sure you have created enough room for a good amount of filling .

  10. Once all donuts are done frying, mix all of the ingredients for the glaze. If you find the glaze too thick, you can always thin it with some more milk.

  11. Dip one side of the donut in the glaze and place back on the wire rack to allow the excess glaze to drip off.

  12. Once the glaze has set, fill a piping bag, set with a jelly tip or larger frosting tip, with the jelly. Begin piping the jelly into the holes you made in the donuts with the chop stick. Once all the donuts are filled with jelly, you can serve as is, or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

IMG_0222.jpg
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Vegan Glazed Yeast Donuts

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Vegan Glazed Yeast Donuts

Who doesn’t love a donut, am I right?

I mean I guess maybe you could dislike donuts, but I am really going to need you to explain, because I am confused!

I grew up eating Krispy Kreme in a small town where every weekend someone would stand at a stop light selling Krispy Kremes as a band, camp, church, footballs, whatever fundraiser! You could always get boxes of red light intersection donuts. Does anyone else know what I am talking about? It was a thing, and I didn't hate it! My parents were far more willing to buy us a box of donuts if it benefited our high school marching band.

So after going vegan my heart was broken to never again get to pull up to a Krispy Kreme when the HOT sign was lit. I could never again dress my kids up for Krispy Kreme’s Pirate day and get a free donut. I was SAD.

Now don’t lecture me about how they are not good for you. I am perfectly aware. But they are delicious and sometimes it’s ok to eat a bad for you thing. It’s not like I am only eating donuts and hate vegetables.

But no matter what, I could not live in a donut-less world. I would not!

So I set out to make a perfectly glazed vegan yeast donut that would make me no longer miss Krispy Kreme every time I drove by and saw the HOT light shinning and taunting me.

And I did! These donuts are the best vegan yeast donuts I have had. Not to toot my own horn, but it’s the truth. If you don’t believe me, then make a batch and see for yourself! Are there better glazed vegan donuts out there somewhere? Maybe, I have not found them where I live. I am always on the hunt for vegan donuts where we travel. I want all the donuts, all the time. But, seriously there is no need to search the internet high and low for a better recipe if you want to make them on your own. This one is perfect.

You can glaze them, dip them in chocolate, cover them in powdered sugar, dip them in coconut. Whatever your little donut loving heart desires. We have even covered them in vegan maple bacon, and filled them with jelly for Hanukkah.

So, may all you vegan donut dreams come true, now! Mine sure have. And we no longer have to be sad when passing a school fundraiser at an intersection selling boxes of Krispy Kreme. I still might hand them a 5 and pass on the donuts. After all they are just trying to go band camp.

INGREDIENTS:

The Donuts

  • 4 cups all purpose flour

  • 3/4 cups aquafaba (we are using and measuring the whipped product, not the liquid, follow link for instructions)

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • 2 and 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons plant based milk

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2-3 cups of oil for frying, I use grapeseed but you could use whatever oil you normally fry with

The Glaze

  • 3 cups powdered sugar

  • 1/4 cup melted vegan butter

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup plant based milk, give or take

Vegan Glazed Yeast Donuts

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: 

  1. Heat milk in microwave for 30 - 45 seconds. You want it warm, but not boiling hot.

  2. Add the warm milk, yeast, and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. If you do not have a stand mixer, add the contents to a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

  3. After 5 minutes add the aquafaba, and melted butter to the mix. Next add the flour, and salt, and mix for 5 minutes on medium speed if using the stand mixer. If not using a stand mixer, then mix the ingredients together well in a bowl, then transfer to a floured counter top, and kneed the dough by hand for 5 minutes. The consistency of the dough should be soft, but not sticky.

  4. After the dough has been kneaded, place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Pop it in the oven. You are NOT turning the oven on, just leaving it there to rise. If your oven has a dough proof setting you can turn that on. Leave dough to rise for one hour, or until it has doubled in size.

  5. Once the dough has finished rising, transfer to a lightly floured countertop. I like to divide the dough in half and work it in two batches. It makes it easier to roll out. Roll out one half of the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 3 inch circle biscuit or cookie cutter (or donut cutter if you have one) begin cutting circles. You will need to find something small to cut the center out with. We used the lid to our vanilla extract. Roll back out the scrap dough and continue cutting. Repeat with other half of dough. You should have a total of 2 dozen donuts.

  6. Place donuts on cookies sheets, and let rest for about 15 - 20 minutes. They will become bigger as they rest.

  7. While they are resting, heat 2 - 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet or medium sized pot.

  8. Once oil is hot, begin adding the donuts to the oil, 2 or 3 at a time. Fry the donuts for about one minute on each side. If you don't have enough oil in the pan, and they are hitting the bottom, they will easily burn. So make sure to use enough oil!

  9. Allow donuts to cool on a wire cooling rack, placed on top of a paper-towel-lined cookie sheet.

  10. Once all donuts are done frying, mix all of the ingredients for the glaze. If you find the glaze too thick, you can always thin it with some more milk.

  11. Dip one side of the donut in the glaze and place back on the wire rack to allow the excess glaze to drip off.

  12. It will only take a few minutes for the glaze to set, and for you to be stuffing your face with delicious glazed donut perfection!

Yields two dozen donuts.