I just had the urge for doughnuts today. And, as is my custom, I wondered if I could make them just a bit healthier, but still just as delicious. Turns out I could!

I needed them quite urgently, so no time for yeast, or inventing my own recipe, so I decided to adapt one of Jamie Oliver’s recipes. Can’t go wrong with Jamie, can you?

His Mini Vegan Doughnuts proved to be the perfect recipe to adapt, which I did by replacing the white flour with wholemeal and the sugar with xylitol. I decided against his Raspberry Sauce, because I craved the simplicity of hot doughnuts rolled in cinnamon sugar. I wasn’t sure how a doughnut made without yeast would go, but these turned out surprisingly light and fluffy!

These doughnuts are wholemeal and sugar free, but they are deep fried in canola oil and rolled in a small amount of coconut sugar with lots of cinnamon. So a bit healthier than the average doughnut, but still a treat to have in small quantities (good luck with that one, I just ate five…!)

 

50 g dairy-free spread

120 ml soy milk

2 tablespoons canola oil

250 g wholemeal flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt

30 g xylitol

about 500 ml canola oil for deep frying

 

Optional coating

1 tablespoon coconut sugar, or rapadura

1 teaspoon cinnamon

 

Mix the dairy-free spread, soy milk and 2 tablespoons canola oil in a small saucepan and melt over a low heat.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir in the xylitol. Mix the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the canola oil in a medium large saucepan until very hot, then reduce temperature to medium for frying the doughnuts.

Mix the melted spread, soy milk and oil into the flour mixture and stir well. Tear the dough into small balls, about the size of a golf ball and, using tongs, lower carefully into the hot oil. If the oil is too hot and starts to spit, lower the temperature. If they don’t start to sizzle and brown straight away, turn it up a bit. Fry for about 3-4 minutes, turning once and removing when golden brown and crispy. Hold the doughnut over the oil with the tongs to allow the fat to drop off, then place on a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb a bit more of the oil.

After a few minutes, toss the doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar mixture, rolling around well to coat evenly. Best eaten while still warm!