Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (2024)

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Lemon gluten free donuts are the perfect homemade baked donuts to make for breakfast or brunch, and these gluten free lemon donuts are dairy-free too! This easy gluten free donuts recipe is quick; the little lemon donuts are ready to eat in under 20 minutes.

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (1)

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Lemon gluten free donuts are the snack my kids love when they get home from school. Drizzle icing on top, or eat these lemon gluten free donuts plain! They are bursting with delicious lemon flavor!

Just look at those little lemon gluten free donuts, and you can see how moist and delicious they are!

If you love donuts as much as we do, you will check out my BEST gluten free donut recipes!

My gluten free lemon tart recipe and my gluten free lemon bundt cake recipes are other great ways to use up those lemons :-). A delicious breakfast addition would be these gluten free lemon poppy seed muffins.

Why these donuts are great:

These moist and delicious gluten free donuts are so quick and easy to make with thisBabycakes Mini Donut Maker. From start to finish, we had little lemon donuts in under 15 minutes!! If you don’t have a donut maker, I include directions for baking in the oven!

I love to make these donuts for kids. This easy gluten-free donuts recipe is much less guilty because I used applesauce to keep these gluten-free doughnuts super moist and reduce the sugar in this recipe.

For even more delicious lemon desserts, check out my Gluten Free Lemon Desserts roundup!

Top Pick

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (2)

King Arthur, Measure for Measure Flour 3 lbs

This is one of my favorite gluten-free flour blends for cookies, cakes, pie crust, biscuits, and muffins! (Do not use this flour blend for yeast recipes.)

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Ingredient notes:

  • Gluten free flour blend – I tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend and King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work; I have not tested other flours.
  • Almond flour– helps add some protein, so there isn’t a big sugar crash after eating one or two of these….(okay, maybe more like four or five. These are hard to resist!)
  • If your gluten free flour blenddoesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
  • Non-dairy milk – I used almond milk, but other dairy-free kinds of milk will work. I do not recommend canned coconut milk.

Variations:

The beauty of this recipe is that you can easily customize the flavor.

  • Omit the lemon, and you have a delicious vanilla donut.
  • Add white chocolate chips.
  • Add blueberries or raspberries, which would taste delicious with this lemon donut.

Recipe step-by-step directions:

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (3)

Step 1: Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk to blend.

Step 2: In a smaller bowl, add the wet ingredients and whisk to blend.

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (4)

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until “just barely mixed.” This will help keep your donuts light and fluffy.

Step 4: Preheat your donut maker. Add batter to each donut section when the light indicates it is hot. Close the lid and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove the cooked donuts to a rack to cool.

Step 5: Allow the donuts to cool completely. Drizzle icing over the donuts, or dip in white chocolate.

Donut pan baking instructions:

I get this question a lot from my readers. I tend to use this little donut maker in most of my donut recipes. It is easy to use, making my donuts taste like they were fried…but they aren’t!

It takes about 5 minutes to bake donuts in a donut maker. If you prefer to use a donut pan, bake these gluten free lemon donuts at 350º F for 20 minutes. Remove the donuts from the pan onto a cooling rack.

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (5)

Tips and Recipe FAQ:

I suggest spraying the donut pan or donut maker with a little coconut oil so the outside of the donut gets a little crispy.

Can you make this recipe nut-free?

You can easily make this gluten free lemon donut recipe nut-free! To make these NUT FREE, instead of the almond flour, add ¼ extra gluten free flour blend.

Can you make them dairy-free?

This recipe is naturally dairy-free. You can create a delicious dairy-free donut glaze by mixing 2 cups of powdered sugar with ¼ cup of almond milk.

Can you use coconut sugar or another low-glycemic sweetener instead of sugar?

You can definitely use coconut sugar in this gluten free lemon donut recipe. Note your donuts will be more of a brown color as coconut sugar is dark like brown sugar. To make a sugar-free lemonade drizzle, use honey with a small amount of lemon juice.

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (6)

Reader Raves:

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (7)

These were very good. Didn’t have applesauce so used vanilla yogurt. Added a tsp of agar-agar. Used Monk fruit as sweetener. Drizzled with honey and lemon mixture.”

Rachel St. M, Pinterest user.

More gluten free donut recipes:

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (8)

Gluten Free Lemon Donuts

Sandi Gaertner

One bite and you will be hooked on these delicious gluten free lemon donuts! They are full of fresh lemon flavor.

Love this recipe?Give it a star rating!

4.80 from 39 votes

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (9)

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (10)

Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (11)

Print Pin it Save me

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Gluten Free Dessert Recipes, Gluten Free Donut Recipes

Cuisine American

Servings 18 donuts

Calories 167 kcal

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup gluten free flour blend * see note
  • ¾ cup almond flour * see note
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup applesauce
  • cup coconut oil melted
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ cup almond milk * see note

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and whisk together to blend.

  • In a medium bowl, add all wet ingredients and whisk.

  • Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.

  • Preheat the Babycakes Mini Donut Maker.

  • Put a little dough into each section of the donut maker.

  • Cook for 5 minutes until done.

  • Remove and put onto cooling rack.

  • Ice, frost, or eat plain.

Oven Baking:

  • Preheat your oven to 350º F. Add your donut batter to a donut pan. Bake 20-22 minutes until the donuts are baked.

Notes

  1. I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF and Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
  2. If your gluten free flour blenddoesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
  3. I highly suggest using almond flour and not almond meal. Almond meal is more coarse and will make your donuts grainy.
  4. I used almond milk but other dairy-free kinds of milk will work but I do not recommend canned coconut milk. I used ½ cup, but starchier gluten free flour blends may need more milk.
  5. These will donuts keep up to 4 days in an air-tight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 167kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 2gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 38mgPotassium: 36mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 28IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg

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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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Easy Lemon Gluten Free Donuts Recipe {Dairy Free} | Fearless Dining (2024)

FAQs

How to make donuts without a form? ›

Take a square piece of foil and place it over one of your fingers. It needs to be large enough to cover the bottom of each cup in the muffin tin. A 5″×5″ square seemed to work best for me. Fold the foil around your finger, gently folding the sides up, to create a mold.

What is lemon donut filling made of? ›

Prepare the filling: Create a double boiler by bringing a pot of water to boil and placing a heat-proof mixing bowl on top. Whisk in lemon juice, zest, sugar and eggs. Continue whisking on the double boiler until it starts to thicken slightly. Drop butter into the mixture one tablespoon at a time.

Can you get dairy free doughnuts? ›

Choose from some of Krispy Kreme best best-selling vegan doughnuts which are all egg and dairy-free and the perfect sweet treat for those following a vegan, plant-based diet. Learn more about the full range of Krispy Kreme Vegan doughnuts.

What does milk do in doughnuts? ›

Milk adds a certain moooood to the doughnut dough, making it softer and udderly delicious. The lactose in the milk adds a subtle sweetness.

What is the best oil for homemade donuts? ›

Vegetable oil is the go-to choice for many good reasons. Besides being cheap and easy to find, it has no problem handling high temperatures with a smoke point of around 400 degrees Fahrenheit — well above temperatures needed to brown donuts.

What is a substitute for all purpose flour in donuts? ›

Use Bread Flour.

While all purpose works well for this recipe, I much prefer bread flour because of the extra gluten. More gluten means more of a chew and I love a soft and chewy donut! Both can be substituted one for another in this recipe. If you happen to have bread flour, I'd recommend using that for best results.

What are crack donuts? ›

' I'm not entirely sure how offensive that phrase is, so I'll only repeat it once. 'Amish crack' is a yeast-raised donut, fried, dipped in caramel, and sprinkled (heavily) with cinnamon-powdered sugar. It is the single best donut I've ever eaten in my life.

How long do lemon-filled donuts last? ›

Dairy-based fillings are likely to go bad at room temperature, and jelly fillings can grow mold. It's best to refrigerate any leftover filled doughnuts in an airtight container. Refrigerated doughnuts will keep for 3-4 days.

What is a lemon bismark donut? ›

Description. Our Lemon Bismark is filled with our traditional lemon filling and then topped with a sweet white icing and yellow sprinkles. Nutritional Information Sheet.

Which donuts have no dairy? ›

Just about every type and brand of doughnut contain dairy. But the good news is that Krispy Kreme brand has a special limited edition doughnut that is certified by The Vegan Society as having no animal products, and that includes no eggs and not any kind of dairy. Try using Google and find Krispy Kreme online.

Can you get gluten-free doughnuts? ›

All Borough 22 doughnuts are certified gluten-free and plant-based, low FODMAP friendly, low sugar, SKA-certified Kosher and Halal.

Is there such thing as a gluten-free donut? ›

There are some frozen brands of gluten-free doughnuts available, but it's not nearly the same. Sometimes you just have that impulsive need to buy a fresh doughnut.

Which flour is best for donuts? ›

Use real cake flour – not DIY cake flour!

DIY substitutions don't really cut it, and AP flour will not create doughnuts with that same soft texture. Also, bleached cake flour will work best. Unbleached (like King Arthur Baking) won't absorb as much moisture, and you may end up with doughnuts that crumble while frying.

Is water or milk better for donuts? ›

Water makes for a lighter dough with a more delicate bite. Milk produces a tender and soft dough with more of a chewy texture. These are super important in donuts as they provide richness as well as making them fluffy.

Does Krispy Kreme use milk in their donuts? ›

Does Krispy Kreme use milk products or eggs in their doughnuts? Ingredient Information: The only animal by-products used in our doughnuts are eggs (whites and yolks) and dairy products (including milk, butter, yogurt, whey, nonfat milk and nonfat whey).

How to shape donuts without a donut cutter? ›

To create the first shape, after you proof the dough, you can use a cup, a jar, a small bowl, or any other open vessel with a circular shape. Just make sure that the edge of whatever you use is thin enough to cut through the dough rather than smashing it.

How to make doughnuts without a doughnut maker? ›

DIY Donut Pan

To create your makeshift donut pan, start by taking a 5"x5" square piece of foil and place it over your fingers. Fold the foil around your fingers and carefully fold the sides up to create a mold. Fit the mold into a cup of your muffin pan and press into place. Repeat for remaining cups.

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