Vegan Baked Banana Donuts
These vegan banana donuts are soft, fluffy, and packed with banana flavor. They’re baked instead of fried and finished with a simple cinnamon sugar topping once they’ve cooled.
They’re also a good way to use up a few ripe bananas when I don’t feel like making another loaf of banana bread. The cinnamon and nutmeg give them a little extra flavor without covering up the banana.
Why Bake Banana Donuts Instead of Frying Them?
Baked donuts are a lot easier to make at home since there’s no hot oil or frying involved. The batter goes straight into a donut pan and bakes for about 15 minutes.
These are more like a soft cake donut than a traditional fried donut, which works really well with the mashed banana.
Ingredients for Vegan Banana Donuts
You’ll want to use ripe bananas for these. The softer and more spotted they are, the easier they’ll be to mash and mix into the batter.
For the Donuts
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Salt
- Mashed bananas
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Almond milk
- Vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
How to Correctly Measure Your Flour
Try not to scoop your measuring cup directly into the flour bag because this can pack too much flour into the cup and leave your donuts dry.
Instead, fluff the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level off the top. If you have a kitchen scale, 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour is about 210 grams.
How to Store Vegan Banana Donuts
Keep the cooled banana donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 days. For longer storage, keep them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
You can also freeze the donuts for up to 2 months. I’d freeze them without the cinnamon sugar topping and add it after they’ve thawed.
Vegan Banana Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 1 ¾ cups 210g all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed bananas about 3 medium bananas
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a donut pan.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas until mostly smooth.
- Add the applesauce, sugar, vegetable oil, almond milk, and vanilla to the mashed bananas. Whisk until everything is well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
- Spoon or pipe the batter evenly into the prepared donut pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
- Remove the donuts from the oven and let them cool before removing them from the pan.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Once the donuts are cool, dust the tops with the cinnamon sugar mixture and serve.
