If you love hot cocoa as I do, wait until you try these Gluten Free Hot Chocolate Donuts! They make a delicious winter treat! These mini donuts are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, just like the donuts you had before going gluten free! Even better? These little donuts are ready in about 20 minutes!
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We are getting a lot of holiday baking done early this year…I have been testing out fun recipes each week, and my kids tell me which recipes are worth making for the blog!
These cookies are both perfect for dipping in hot cocoa! They love these Gluten Free Chocolate Mint Madeleines dipped, too! These cookies are both perfect for dipping in hot cocoa!
Why we love these hot cocoa donuts:
- These delicious donuts are like a comforting mug of hot cocoa but in solid form. I am a hot cocoa lover, and by including hot cocoa powder in the donut batter, these little gluten free hot chocolate donuts have the same flavors!
- Make them in 20 minutes!
- They freeze well, so you can enjoy them anytime!
Dip them into melted chocolate and top with mini marshmallows! If you are a donut fanatic like us, you will want to check out all of my Gluten Free Donut Recipes!!
Made these today and they were fantastic! Used the same flour amount as another person commented here since I didn’t have enough almond flour and they turned out well! very light and chocolatey. Yum!”
rebecca, blog comment
Allergen Information:
These donuts are gluten-free and soy-free. See the Substitution section below for nut-free and dairy-free options.
Flour Blends Tested:
1. King Arthur Measure for Measure—This blend works really well in my recipes. I don’t have to let the flour blend rest in the batter.
2. Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Blend—This blend also works well, but this flour blend does benefit from resting the batter for 15 minutes before baking. The rest allows the rice flour in this blend to soften, so you don’t have gritty baked goods.
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain a binder, you will need to add 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum.
- Almond Flour – I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your donuts grainy.
- Hot Cocoa Powder – several brands are gluten free. I suggest Hershey’s or Swiss Miss for this recipe.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter.
- Cocoa Powder – most brands are gluten free. I like Anthony’s and Ghirardelli’s brands best.
- Milk – I used almond milk. Any plant-based dairy-free milk or regular milk works well.
Substitutions:
- Make this recipe nut-free: Use non-dairy milk that doesn’t contain nuts, like rice or coconut milk. Next, omit the almond flour and add an additional 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend. Note depending on your flour blend, you may need to add more liquid.
- Make this recipe dairy-free: Use plant-based butter and ensure your hot cocoa is dairy-free. Also, note that Cup4Cup brand flour has dried milk powder.
Step-By-Step Photos and Directions:
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Step 1: Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl. I used a lot of almond flour in my donut recipe. I like that the protein helps balance out the sugars in these donuts.
🔑 Sandi says: If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t include xanthan gum, make sure you add one teaspoon!
Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients into a semi-thick batter.
Step 3: Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix.
Step 4: Add the donut batter to a BabyCakes Donut Maker. (*Note: I have an older model. The newer ones make four donuts at a time.)
Step 5: Allow the gluten free donuts to cool. Once cool, dip each donut in melted dark chocolate. Add your favorite sprinkles and the little marshmallows for decoration!
Donut Maker vs Donut Pan
If you don’t have a donut maker, you can easily bake these donuts in a donut pan. I like to use this donut maker because it makes the outsides of the donuts slightly crispy and delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions:
I used these dark chocolate melting wafers to dip my donuts in, but you can also melt chocolate chips or shake things up and use white chocolate!
These donuts will keep fresh for up to 4 days in an airtight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Which Sprinkles Are Gluten Free?
There are many brands of gluten free sprinkles out there, but some, including a very popular brand, use shared equipment. If you are Celiac or very sensitive to gluten, try one of these gluten free sprinkles brands:
- Rainbow Sprinkles by Unpretentious Baker.
- Funfetti star-shaped sprinkles by Supernatural.
- Classic bright sprinkles by Sweetopia.
Enjoy a cup of Rumchata Hot Chocolate with these donuts!
More Gluten Free Donut Recipes:
- Love ripe bananas? This Gluten Free Banana Donuts recipe is full of yummy banana flavor!
- These special Gluten Free Gingerbread Donuts are perfect for the holidays or year-round!
- You will LOVE this Gluten Free Jelly Donuts recipe (these are fried and filled with jelly!)
- No grain, no refined sugar…no problem with this Paleo Apple Cinnamon Donuts recipe.
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. Please include which flour blend you used. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the BabyCakes Donut Maker. (If using an oven, preheat to 350º F.)
- In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients and whisk to blend.
- Add eggs, melted butter, and almond milk to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Add a dollop of donut batter to each section in the donut maker. (If baking in a donut pan, add batter to each donut section.)
- Cook in the donut maker for 3-5 minutes until done. (Bake in oven for 20 minutes.)
- Melt dark chocolate in a bowl and microwave for 45 seconds to melt. Dip each donut into the melted chocolate.
- Optional, add sprinkles.
Nutrition
Video
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.
- Make sure to use a sweetened hot cocoa powder with this recipe.
- I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your donuts grainy.
- Other dairy-free kinds of milk will work but I do not recommend canned coconut milk.
- To make these donuts dairy-free, use vegan butter.
- These donuts will keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
Nutritional 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.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
This post was updated with more details from an older 1/2020 post.
(*This post was updated from an older 12/2018 post with more pictures and better step by step instructions.)
Made these today following the recipe as written, using Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Oh how yummy!!!! Really satisfied my craving for a chocolate donut.
I am so glad you loved these donuts, Elle. I hope you are having a great weekend!
Made these today and they were fantastic! Used the same flour amount as another person commented here since I didn’t have enough almond flour and they turned out well! very light and chocolatey. Yum!
I am so glad you loved them. Thank you for sharing your photos on Facebook. I loved seeing the colorful sprinkles you used on top!
This made my husband’s father’s day! My 9 year old son and I felt like we knocked it out of the park when we made these donuts tonight.
Made these with my Dash Express Mini Donut Maker.
I did a few substitutions and additions and added 1 step:
Substituted 1 and 1/2 cups of Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 instead of almond flour.
Substituted 3/4 cups of hot cocoa powder instead of 1/2 cup and adding cocoa powder (I searched for a hot chocolate-based recipe because I was out of cocoa powder 😅)
Sifted sugar, flour, hot cocoa powder, and baking powder after mixing them together. I REALLY wanted to do whatever I could to make sure the donuts would be fluffy, and it worked!
Added 1 teaspoon of imitation vanilla extract. My son insists no recipe is done without it and he was right.
We also made icing by melting a Hershey kiss and half of a dark chocolate Cadbury bar (yep, all the solid chocolate in the pantry 🤣) and adding milk, hot cocoa powder, and confectioner’s sugar to make enough to cover most of the donuts.
When we ran out of icing, we cinnamon-sugared the last batch of donuts and they were pretty great too!
You are a rock star! Your husband is a lucky man. I am so glad this donut recipe helped you make Father’s Day extra special!
Yep! These’ll do. I’ve been eyeballing this recipe for a while now and finally bought $12 Wilton donut pans on Amazon. They hold 12 donuts, and the molds are on the smaller side, so I ended up with a little extra batter that I threw into cupcake papers to bake. The donuts are awesome! I struggled a bit with dipping the chocolate but covered them in sprinkles to hide any delicious flaws. Thanks for posting this recipe! Can’t wait to try others.
I am so glad you loved them, Kelly. Thank you so much for coming back to let me know!
Is there a way to substitute the hot cocoa mix? Maybe adding more cocoa powder & sugar? We don’t have a dairy free mix and I want to try these soon! Thanks.
Hi Christy, I am sure you can use cocoa and sugar, but I haven’t tried it so I am not sure what proportions to recommend. If you try it, please do come back and let us know how it turns out. I also have a delicious gluten free chocolate donut recipe on my blog.