Apple Fritter Donut Holes

When fall time comes around, do you favor pumpkin everything, or apple harvest? Well, I’ve done the dirty work, so you don’t have to decide! Personally, if I had to choose, I choose apple, so I had to experiment with my pumpkin recipe to make it apple-y.

Below, I have shared the ingredients and directions and then some useful tips that I found while cooking below that (substitutions, brand recommendations, etc.)

Ingredients:

Donuts:

• 1 Tbsp flax meal¹
• 3 Tbsp water
• 1 3/4 cup sifted flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger (optional)
• 1 large apple, peeled and diced²
• 1/2 cup apple sauce, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar³
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup any non-dairy milk

Topping:

• 1 stick unsalted vegan butter⁴
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the rack is centered.
2. Generously grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan with nonstick spray or some vegetable oil with a paper towel.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 Tbsp flax meal with 3 Tbsp water and let it sit for at least 3 minutes. This allows the mixture to become gelatinous, egg-like.
4. Sift⁵ flour into medium mixing bowl. Mix in baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.
5. Put the diced apple and apple sauce in a separate large mixing bowl and mix in brown sugar. Make sure this bowl is bigger because you’re going to mix the dry ingredients into this bowl!
6. Mix in the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and add the flax egg. Pour in milk, and mix until smooth.
7. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until the dry mixture is completely mixed in, no clumps. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
8. Scoop the batter into a 24-cup mini muffin pan, about ¾ full each cup, and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.⁶
9. While the donuts are baking, melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave (about 1 minute). Allow the butter to cool before dipping the donuts in the butter. Also, mix the sugar and cinnamon together and pour part of the mixture on a plate or leave in the bowl to get ready to roll the donuts. Last thing before the donuts come out, set up a baking sheet or plate with parchment paper to set the donuts on after coating in sugar.
10. Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to cool just enough to handle.⁷
11. Dip the donut holes in the melted butter, and roll to coat in cinnamon sugar.
12. Serve warm if possible. Fall donuts are better warm!⁸ Enjoy!

Makes about 3 dozen donut holes

Tips!

1. Flax meal works best, but flax seed also works! You can also throw flax seed in a blender, bullet, or food processor to get flax meal.
2. Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apples recommended. You can also Google “good apples for baking.” Once they’re diced up, it should be about 2 cups. I think my apple was about 1 3/4 cup and they were perfect.
3. Don’t have brown sugar? In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix 1/2 cup white sugar with 1/2 Tbsp of maple syrup or molasses.
4. You can buy sticks of butter that are vegan brands like earth balance, but brands like Country Crock and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter have vegan butter as well. A quick hack with these brands that aren’t fully vegan, look at the ingredients list to see if it says at the bottom of the list “Contains: Milk.” If it does not say contains milk, you should be good! Milk is an allergen and by law must be clearly labeled.
5. If you don’t have a sifter, you can use a spaghetti strainer or similar to sift. I have a metal spaghetti strainer that I use when a recipe calls for sifted flour.
6. If your last batch of donuts does not fill the whole muffin tin, before popping them in the oven, fill the empty spots up about 1/4 of the way with water to ensure even baking of the batter.
7. After removing the donuts from the oven, I took them out of the tin as soon as I could so they would cool faster and so I didn’t burn my fingers on the pan. I just dumped them out on a clean cookie sheet, but you can also use a spoon to scoop them out onto a plate or pan.
8. If you have leftover donuts, place the donuts on top of a paper towel in a container put them in the fridge overnight. Try to make sure the donuts aren’t touching if you can.