Hearty Granola Doughnuts

     Today’s post was originally supposed to be a cookie recipe.
Although, since I’ve been a little cookie-happy lately, I decided to mix it up and make my cookie into a doughnut.  It’s been awhile since I made doughnuts.

I love baked cake doughnuts.  Don’t get me wrong, I love (and eat) my fair share of fried yeast and cake doughnuts and I absolutely love it.  However, I love to bake (if you couldn’t tell!).  Baking doughnuts gives them a toasty quality that I secretly miss when I eat a fried doughnut.  The two ways of making doughnuts yield such vastly different eating experiences.  What I wanted today was a doughnut that really wants to be a cookie, but can’t quite figure it out.  I think I succeeded.

=P

These doughnuts are faintly pumpkin flavored but I did not put pumpkin pie spice in the batter.  I wanted the granola that I sprinkled on top of the doughnuts to be the focus, and it most certainly is!  Biting into one is a wonderful experience of soft and crunchy textures working together to delight you.
​     Did I sell them? 😉

Yield: about 5 doughnuts (I used a Wilton pan)
Free of: Gluten, Soy*, Refined Sugar*
*Depends on non-dairy milk and optional powdered sugar garnish
Adapted from: Sweet Freedom Bakery‘s Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup gluten-free AP flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 2 T tapioca starch
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk*
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin puree
• 2 T melted coconut oil
• 2 T hot water
• 3 Tb rolled oats (gluten-free, if needed)
• 2 Tb dried cranberries, opt.

Garnish

• granola of choice (GF if needed)
• vegan powdered sugar, opt.

Instructions
Oven 350 F.

1. Oil your doughnut pan.
2. Combine the non-dairy milk and lemon juice in a small cup.  Set aside.
3. Sift together all dry ingredients (except cranberries and oats) until thoroughly combined in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the non-dairy milk mixture, melted oil, vanilla and pumpkin to the dry ingredients.
5. Pour the hot water into the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine with a wooden spoon.
6. Fold the oats and cranberries into the batter.
7. Spoon about 2 Tb of batter into each doughnut mold.  Sprinkle the top of each doughnut with granola.
8. Bake the doughnuts for 7 minutes.
9. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 5 minutes until golden brown and the batter springs back when you touch it.
10. Let the doughnuts cool and gently lift them from the molds.  I used a butter knife to get the centers free.
11. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional) and serve!