Paleo Chocolate Donuts - Forget The Dose of Bad Fats and Refined Sugar, Make Your Own

Just in time to get ready for the weekend, here’s a great recipe to make on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

So after reading about how we ditched processed food, you’re probably thinking my kids are totally deprived. Now, they’re not getting Dunkin’ Donuts anymore and believe me they love a good trip to the Double D as much as anyone. They used to practically fall out of their car seats begging to get Munchkins or a donut slathered in frosting and sprinkles. This could be any time of the day. The best excuses we had were no, you’ve just had breakfast or they were stale, at night. They don't care about the issues I have with partially hydrogenated oil, canola or soybean oils, corn syrup, propylene glycol and artificial flavors. At least Double D is dropping titanium dioxide from their powdered sugar, but there's still lots of ingredients I'd rather they not eat. So recently, I’ve had a better solution, let’s make our own.

The kids love cooking, since they get to make a mess. They love to toss the ingredients into the bowl and mix it up. It’s much more fun to work together than sitting in the car watching them end up with frosting on their faces and thinking about how much sugar and who knows what else they just ate. What is that blue frosting doing to his insides? Hopefully, not what the Thomas the Tank engine birthday cake did one year coming out in the same rainbow of bright colors as it went in. Although that might be a blessing in disguise, that none of it was actually digested.

To undertake our own donuts we found a donut baking pan at Target. They only had one and I keep forgetting get another, so we end up making a couple of batches. It’s all about alternatives - Trade Dunkin’ Donuts, donuts for our own, substitute dates and maple syrup for refined sugar. Try different “frostings” rather than a confectioner’s sugar concoction that will have the kids bouncing off the walls in a blood sugar haze.

We also tried and adapted quite a few Paleo donut recipes. None were fabulous, they’re fun to make, but they have a bit of a wet taste to them and certainly don’t taste like a great donut. Until, one day I was running low on eggs, had no motivation to go to the store at 7 am on a freezing cold day and was forced to look up an egg substitute for half of the eggs. Applesauce or banana would make it too wet, you shouldn’t heat flax, so that was out. Vegetable oil like canola turns to trans-fats when heated, so that doesn’t even enter the house. The best option was the water + coconut oil + baking powder + flour substitute. To substitute a single egg you’ll need two teaspoons water, one teaspoon of coconut oil, and one teaspoon of baking powder and one teaspoon of tapioca flour. As weird as it sounds, it does something to the donuts that makes them more crisp and more like a cake donut. If you don’t want to try it out, go for the full 6 eggs. (Note, these were made in cold weather, it might help to put liquid coconut oil in the fridge for a few minutes in the egg substitute.)

These are good with or without the coconut on top. Some of them haven’t made it to the frosting station before being swiped off the counter.

Paleo Chocolate Coconut Donuts

3 eggs

Substitute for an additional 3 eggs:
6T water
3T coconut oil
3 tsp baking powder
3 tsp tapioca flour

½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
11 pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla extract (in glycerin)

½ cup coconut flour
¼ cup almond flour (substitute cassava flour)
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp Pink Himalayan salt or Celtic sea salt

Frosting
3 strawberries
1 T maple syrup
1 tsp water, more if needed

Topping
1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

Donuts
Add eggs, egg substitute (mixed prior), maple syrup, coconut oil, dates and vanilla extract to a blender. (I use the Ninja Pro). Blend until well mixed and dates are smooth, not chunky. Mix coconut flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix well. Pipe or spoon into donut pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Remove donuts from pan when done and cool for a 2-3 minutes on a wire rack. Spread with frosting and sprinkle coconut on top.

Frosting & Topping
Add strawberries and maple syrup to blender and process until smooth. Add water by the teaspoon if it's too chunky. Spread with a knife on partially cooled donuts. Put shredded coconut in a bowl and spoon over donuts shaking off any excess.