Here is the recipe for some indulgent vegan donuts. This was the second time that I have made yeast donuts and I have to say I like this recipe a lot more than the first one I tried. With this recipe I made glazed donuts, donut holes, jelly filled donuts, and bavarian creme filled donuts. I am sure your mouth is watering by now wishing these donuts would just appear in front of you, I know I would. Don’t fret, these are not hard to make and well worth the time to make, although they do not take too much time to whip up.

Vegan Yeast Donuts

Ingredients:

2 envelopes   of active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

1 1/2 cups lukewarm soy milk

1/2 cup vegan sugar

1 tsp salt

2 egg replacers (ener-g brand)

1/3 cup vegan shortening

5 cups unbleached flour

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

Glaze

1/3 cup earth balance

2 cups vegan powder sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

4 tbsp hot water or as needed

Directions:

1.  Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let stand for 5 minutes, or until foamy.

2.  In a large bowl mix together the yeast mixture, soymilk, sugar, salk, egg replacer, shortening, and 2 cups of the flour.  Mix for a few minutes with a mixer for a few minutes on low speed or stir it with a spoon until you see that all ingredients are mixed together.  Beat in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.  Knead for about 5 minutes with a mixer and its proper attachment or with your hands.  Place dough into a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel.  Set in a warm place to let it rise until it doubles in size.   Dough is ready if you touch it and the indention remains.

3.  Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.  Since this dough tends to be on the stickier side make sure you sprinkle enough flour on the dough so it is easy to roll out.  Cut with a floured round donut cutter.   Here are some other cutter options; use a larger round cookie cutter and a smaller round cookie cutter to make the whole in the middle or use the rim of a drinking cup and carefuly make a hole in the middle using your hands.  Do not cut holes if you will be filling the donuts.

4.  Let the cut dough sit on wax paper and let them rise until they double in size.  While you are waiting for them to rise you can start heating up the oil and make the glaze.

5.  Heat the oil in a large deep mouthed pot or a deep fryer to 350 degrees.  You will know that the oil is ready by placing a little piece of the dough in it and if the dough rises to the top then the oil is ready.

6. To make the glaze  you need to melt the earth balance in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Once it has melted turn the heat off and add the powder sugar and vanilla.  Mix everything together and start adding a little bit of hot water until the glaze has thinned out.  It should not be watery just thinned out.  Variations:  To make a chocolate glaze replace 1/2 cup of the powder sugar with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder.  You can also add some lemon juice to the hot water for a lemon glaze.

7.  Now that the dough is ready start putting them into the oil.  Be very careful because the oil is very hot!  The dough will go to the bottom but rise to the top quickly after that.  Once they rise flip them over using a hot oil safe utensil.  You know that they are done once they are golden brown on both sides.  Place the donuts that are done frying onto wire racks.   For the donuts that you will be glazing, you want to do that while they are still hot.  For the donuts that you will be filling, let them cool down some before you start to handle them.  You can also place a cookie sheet or towel under the wire rack for easy clean up.

8.  If you are filling your donuts you can use a pastry icing bag that has a metal tip attachment, the pointier the better.  The metal tips make it easier to make a hole in the donut.  Just put the tip into one side of the donut and squeeze the filling into it.  You can do this on both sides for maximum filling yumminess!  For jelly filled, I just used my favorite organic raspberry jam and then coated them with the organic powder sugar.  You can play around with different flavors to make it more interesting.  For the bavarian creme, I just made up some vegan boxed vanilla pudding and then dipped the tops into the chocolate glaze.

If you have any questions about this recipe feel free to contact me.

Enjoy!!!