Gluten Free Chocolate Spice-Nut Donuts with Vanilla Apple Glaze

I have seen recipes for gluten-free, flour-free cake donuts and I REALLY wanted to make them. You see, I have what one might call a weakness for donuts. It's bad. I also have one heck of a sweet tooth and I gotta say I love me some junk food. That's probably why I had so many health problems in the past. Over time I have learned that certain foods were just going to lead to inflammation or all manner of other symptoms.Here recently I have figured out that gluten might be a culprit of a lot of these goings on. So, I am going to try to cook and eat as gluten free as possible. Do you know how many amazingly awesome baked goods are not gluten free? And I don't just mean sweets like cakes and muffins. I'm taking about all kinds of pastas and baked goods, like hot dog buns. This is just awful for me because I love a hotdog. I think that if I am to be honest with you, the hotdog is my favorite food. But I digress. And drool.

Back to the donut. Ok, so I've seen these little guys made on countless blogs. In fact, GlutenFreeGoddess.com has a great pumpkin donut recipe I want to try next. The problem was, I didn't have one of that fancy donut machines or a donut pan. Ok, sure I could have whipped them up and plopped them in a mini muffin tin but then they wouldn't have been donuts would they. There is just something magical about a ring of sweet dough with a hole in the middle. So alas I could read and wish, but not bake.

One of my hobbies is thrifting. I love it. I am fortunate that I get to travel a lot with work, so I get to explore thrift shops around the country...the bad news is, I can't always buy stuff and carry it with me when I'm traveling, which I guess could be a good thing too ;) Anyway. The other day I was thrifting and I found a mini donut maker!! It just materialized right then and there for me to find and bring home. And so I did. I decided to do a test run on my new toy and so I went with what I had and made these deliciously satisfying donuts.

Also, this is so super simple you won't even believe it! Low-fat, white flour-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, low-sugar; this donut is pretty awesome if you ask me. Here's the recipe:

Donut Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy flour
1/4 cup really good organic cocoa
1/4 cup granulated sucralose powder blend
1/2 cup liquid egg substitute
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp vanilla

Apple Glaze Recipe
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, more or less depending on desired consistency
1/4 cup granulated sucralose powder
1/4-1/2 cup chopped nuts, your choice nuts and amount
3 tbsp cornstarch, tapioca, or potato starch
1/2 tsp vanilla


For the donuts, combine all the things and mix well. Then place tablespoonfuls of batter into each mold of a preheated donut machine, or into lined mini muffin tin (but they won't be donut's, they will be muffins, the lesser cousin of the donut and the kid sister of the cupcake, I'm just saying.) After about 2 or 3 minutes your mini masterpieces will be piping hot and ready to cool a bit before glazing. Repeat with remaining batter.

In the meantime, as you hold your composure and not sample one of these little morsels, mix together all of the glaze ingredients, except for the nuts, in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Your glaze should thicken. Remember, you can add more or less starch depending on how thick or runny you want your glaze to be. Put the nuts into a small bowl and set aside. Pour the glaze into a small bowl and then dip each donut into the glaze, making sure it is covered well. You can be as generous as you want. While your glaze is still tacky, dip the donut into the chopped nuts to top them. These are moist, not too sweet, and awesome!