These gluten free gingerbread donuts are a delicious holiday treat. These donuts are absolutely perfect with crisp outsides and soft on the inside!! Stack them up and eat them one by one...these bite-sized donuts are full of gingerbread flavor!
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Tis the season for all things gingerbread and these bite-sized (okay maybe two or three bite) gluten free gingerbread donuts. They are a delicious snack everyone will enjoy.
Drizzle a little icing to make them even better :-). These donuts are also dairy-free so dig in! If you love gingerbread as much as we do, check out these gluten free gingerbread linzer cookies or these gluten free gingerbread biscotti recipes.
While I am doing that, I hope you can enjoy these delicious gingerbread donuts :-). This donut recipe is easy to make so you can have donuts all of the time.
Why these donuts are great:
I am a self-prescribed donut fanatic. These gingerbread donuts are bursting with gingerbread flavor. Even better? You can make and eat these donuts in less than 10 minutes!
Drizzle on some icing and dust with sprinkles. If you don't want the added sugar, skip the icing because these donuts have enough bold flavor to stand on their own. Feel free to eat these gingerbread Christmas donuts plain :-).
You can check my list to make sure your sprinkles are gluten free. Many brands are made on shared equipment.
Ingredient notes:
- Gluten free flour blend (I have used several brands including Bob's Red Mill, Authentic Foods, King Arthur, and Pamela's blends for this donut recipe. Make sure the blend you use has Xanthan gum, otherwise add 1 teaspoon.)
- Almond flour. I like almond flour better than almond meal because it is ground more finely. My favorite brands are Anthony's and Honeyville. Costco often carries a good almond flour, but I haven't seen it in our store lately.
- Molasses - you can use regular or blackstrap molasses
- Pure vanilla extract - please do not use imitation vanilla.
Recipe swaps:
- Add in white or chocolate chips to the donut batter.
- Instead of using an icing, dust your gluten free gingerbread donuts with powdered sugar.
- Dip these donuts in melted white chocolate.
Recipe step by step directions:
Step 1: Add the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk to blend.
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients to a bowl. Whisk to blend.
Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
Step 4: Mix up a batter, pour it into each section. Close the lid. Not a great picture, but it shows you how your donut batter should look in the donut maker.
One thing I love about making mini donuts is how easy they are to make. I have been using this Babycakes Mini Donut Maker for a couple of years now and it is a huge time saver for me.
Can you use a donut pan?
You can definitely use a donut pan to make this gluten free gingerbread donut maker. You will want to bake your donuts at 350º F for 15 minutes.
Allow to cool and ice the same as you would using a donut maker. Just spray the pan with coconut oil so the edges get crispy.
Expert tips and recipe FAQ:
You can definitely make this recipe nut-free without the almond flour. Omit the almond flour and add ¼ cup additional gluten free flour blend. Also, use coconut or flaxseed milk instead of almond milk.
These cookies will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
If you want to use coconut sugar to make these donuts low glycemic, that is completely fine.
More Gingerbread Recipes
If you want more gingerbread, you will love this easy Gluten Free Gingerbread Bundt Cake!
📖 Recipe
Gluten Free Gingerbread Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten free flour blend *see note
- ½ cup almond flour *see note
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons molasses
- ⅓ cup almond milk *see note
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
Instructions
- Preheat the Babycakes mini donut maker.
- In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients and whisk to blend.
- In a small bowl, add all wet ingredients and mix well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
- Spoon batter into each little donut hole section of the donut maker.
- Do not over fill. I fill until it is just slightly full.
- Close the lid and allow to cook for 3 minutes.
- Open the lid and see if they are done.
- (If not, cook an additional minute.)
- Cool on a cooling rack, then top and eat.
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF, Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend, and Authentic Foods Multi Blend in this recipe. That doesn't mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- If you are nut-free, you can omit the almond flour and add ⅓ cup extra gluten free flour blend.
- Other non-dairy kinds of milk will work but I do not recommend canned coconut milk.
- If you do not have a donut maker, you can make this in a donut pan. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Spray coconut oil or another light oil on the donut pan. Use a batter filled piping bag (or a plastic bag with the corner cut out) to pipe the donut batter into each donut section. Bake for 15 minutes, or until done.
- To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of a donut. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is done baking. If you see batter or crumbs, the donuts need to bake longer
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn't test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
Fearless Dining
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*Note, this recipe was updated from an 11/16/15 post with more information to help you make the best gluten free gingerbread donuts ever :-).
Jackie
I made these and was confused why there was powdered sugar and butter in the photo of ingredients.
They were very good. I got 22 donuts when I made them.
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Jackie, the powdered sugar and butter was there more if someone wanted to make frosting for the donuts.
Erica
Absolutely wonderful. My daughter ate almost all of them. It is so nice to find gluten free that taste amazing.
Sandi Gaertner
I am so glad you and your daughter loved this recipe. Thank you so much!
Hannah
Just made this last night as a muffin with vanilla icing, it was delicious! Going to make this for my Christmas gifting this year. All my wheat friends will love this and not even realise it's wheat free!
Sandi Gaertner
I love you made these as muffins. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know. I am sure this will encourage others to make these as muffins :-).
Adrienne
how did you make your icing?
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Adrienne, I used a tube by Wilton, but you can easily make it by mixing 1 cup powdered sugar to 1-2 tablespoons water or milk. Add the liquid slowly because it is easier to control how thick or runny you make it by adding a little at a time.
Katherine
Such an awesome holiday donut recipe!! So cute and tasty.
Sandi Gaertner
I am really glad you liked it Katherine 🙂
Marlys (This and That)
I love doughnuts and these look fabulous
Sandi Gaertner
We can join #teamdonut together 🙂
Manila Spoon
I actually love the frosting you added as it gives a holiday-perfect feel to the donuts! Perfect to serve as snacks and certainly as dessert, too! Love these!
Sandi Gaertner
Thank you 🙂 I would eat them anytime LOL.
Hannan Berger
Hi there! I am having trouble finding the icing recipe you used to drizzle on the donuts! What should I search on your site? Thank you!
Sandi Gaertner
Hi Hannan, I actually used a squeezable icing by Wilton that I found at my grocery store. To make your own, all you need is powdered sugar and water. One cup powdered sugar, and add 1 table spoon water. Mix and add another tablespoon. If you need the icing thinner, add a little more water, but add a tiny bit at a time now because it can get runny really quickly. Good luck 🙂
Jillian @ Food, Folks and Fun
These donuts look fabulous! By the way it was so nice meeting you last weekend!
Sandi Gaertner
It was really nice to meet you as well Jillian 🙂