Vegan Donuts for Dummies
Hello and welcome to your new favourite corner of the internet! I think we can all agree that eating good food is one of the greatest parts of the human experience, and isn't it just wonderful that we can enjoy such delicious things without harming other living beings or leaving a huge footprint on this beautiful planet we call home?! Yes, I'm talking about veganism, but I promise this blog is NOT a preachy, psycho-vegan, omnivore-hating hub. We welcome any and all food lovers with open arms, but if you're looking for recipes that include steak dinners and filet mignon (whatever that is anyway), you might have come to the wrong place. However, if you're ready to treat your tastebuds to exquisite desserts of both the healthy and extremely unhealthy variety, along with tasty ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then you've hit the jackpot! We simply love to make (and more importantly, eat) really yummy foods that just so happen to be vegan. Now that's the last you'll hear about the vegan spiel. Come as you are and stay as long as you'd like! We have so many life-changing recipes coming your way!
First up on the roster: vegan donuts. Heck yeah!! Donuts have always been one of my favourite treats and since going vegan (sorry, that dang V word again) I have struggled with the loss of such easily accessible donuts around every single gosh darn corner thanks to the trusty chain of Tim Hortons sprawling our beautiful nation. Seriously, they are everywhere just taunting me with their mouth-watering array of donut flavours. It's so hard being Canadian. That said, I have not succumbed to such temptations and have instead been holding out to find, or make, vegan donuts that would satisfy my cravings without having to sacrifice my ethical values. At last, my dreams have come true!
Now, be warned: these donuts are not healthy by any means. We went all out and deep fried those bad boys to crispy perfection and we've got no shame about it. There are some things in life that you just can't half-ass and a donut is definitely one of them. A healthy donut? In what world?! You don't mess with donuts. We're all about health and have a lot of tasty recipes that aren't deep fried and coated in sugar, but this one is for our fellow sweet tooths out there who just want a cheat meal... or day, or week, or whatever... who's counting?!
So here it is. The original recipe came from houseoflovelock.com and we give them full credit for this amazing recipe that changed my life, but since we are not the most "conventional" chefs, shall we say, we made some minor changes and pulled a few shortcuts along the way. Beware that it isn't a quick process and requires in total about 2 hours of dough-rising time, which is a total buzzkill when you're just dying for a donut and have to wait for hours as the dough takes it sweet time to double in size, but it is well worth the wait. Or if you're super impatient like us you can just cut the rising time in half (oops), but I imagine if you let the dough do its thang you would get even better results!
Finally, I know our pictures are so far from professional that it's almost funny, so let's just have a good laugh and move on. I also know the donuts may not LOOK perfect (at all) but this was our first time ever making donuts of any kind so I think we did pretty well. And they tasted amazing and that's all that truly matters. Now you go on and treat yourself and thank us later!
Ingredients:
1 package yeast
1/4 cup very warm water (110 degrees to be precise but let's be real, who's really measuring their water temperature?)
3/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegan butter (or margarine)
3 cups flour
4ish teaspoons of egg replacer (look up how to make flax eggs or chia eggs; it's super easy and quick, don't you worry)
Canola oil for frying
Let's get baking!
Whisk together the water, yeast, sugar, 1.5 cups of the flour, coconut milk, butter, and salt until it is well combined.
Add in your egg replacer of choice and beat once again until all combined. Add the rest of the flour (1.5 cups) and beat for 3-5 minutes. If you're a real pro with one of those fancy mixers, it is recommended that you put it to work using the hook. If not, an electric hand beater will work just fine.
You should now have a nice smooth dough. If it's still sticky, add some more flour until it isn't (not rocket science). Once the consistency is right, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place for an hour until the dough doubles in size. (Forewarning: you will have to let the dough rise for another hour later on so don't get too excited when this first rising period is over. We made that mistake and it was rather devastating.)
Once the dough has risen, roll it out into roughly 3/4 inch thickness on a floured surface. If you have a donut cutter, now is the time to whip it out and make some perfect donut shapes. If you're amateurs like us, just use a big glass and a smaller glass to carve out a slightly less perfect donut shape. You can use the little holes and roll them into timbits, which those of you non-Canadians who are not familiar with Tim Hortons lingo may know as "donut holes".
I regret to inform you that once you have all your dough cut into your desired donut shapes, you will have to cover them with plastic wrap and let them rise for a whole other HOUR. I know, it's hard, but you can't say I didn't warn you. Like the amateurs that we are, we only let them rise for about 25 minutes, so follow the recipe as diligently as you would like. If you're a wonderfully patient human and you can hold out for that whole hour, props to you!
Next, heat about 2 inches of canola oil in a pot or pan on medium/high for a few minutes. Make sure your oil is very hot before you start and consider sacrificing a timbit to test it out. If it's ready, you can start frying up your donuts for about 30 seconds per side. They should be a beautiful golden colour.
Pull them out and dry off the excess oil with a paper towel before coating them in the glaze of your choice. Our favourite was simply popping them in a bowl of cinnamon sugar, but another delicious option is mixing powdered sugar with some non-dairy milk or water until you achieve a runny consistency. Adding a spoonful of maple syrup to the mix also adds a nice Canadian kick. Better yet, do half the amount of milk/water and add more maple syrup along with some maple extract to really make it a true Canadian delicacy: the maple glazed donut.
Last but not least, ENJOY! Rejoice because you have (hopefully) just successfully made your very own homemade donuts and your life will never be the same. You're welcome.
xoxo
The Culinary Cousins
PS. we can't apologize enough for the horrible photos... But it's kind of funny right?? Let's keep laughing about it while we work on REALLY stepping up our photography and food-staging skills for future posts. We promise they taste better than they look.
