Full of sweet exotic flavor and nutrition, these masala-spiced apple donuts are the perfect breakfast for anyone on a grain-free, refined sugar-free lifestyle!
All about breakfast.
Yes, I know. Breakfast. I talk about it a lot. And why should I not? It’s a wonderful meal! The best meal of the day, in fact. Other than dessert…
While I usually start my day off with a glass of water, freshly pressed juice, or tea, breakfast is not far behind. If you’re a breakfast lover, you really should be! Eating breakfast can help kick-start your metabolism, balance your weight, and help you be more alert, focused, and happier! I know it does those things for me!
Getting in the habit of eating breakfast can also help regulate your blood sugar and keep your cholesterol levels healthy. Plus it tastes delicious, so it’s a win-win.
Healthy, grain-free goodness.
I love a good muffin or pancake for breakfast, or bagels. But every now and again, I just really need a donut. Unfortunately, donuts aren’t well known for being the healthiest breakfast food. I’m pretty sure we’d all agree that Krispy Kreme and healthy aren’t very compatible.
So I’ve made it one of my food-blogger goals to make some donuts that are perfect for a healthy breakfast, but still taste like a treat! Thankfully, though they sound like they’d be hard, donuts aren’t really that difficult.
So far, our healthy donut breakfast options are my family’s favorite grain-free banana nut butter donuts, some gluten-free dark chocolate banana doughnuts, and some yummy gluten-free banana bread doughnuts. But trying to stay as close to the GAPS Diet as possible means no grains of any kind. So the hunt for more grain-free donuts continued…
Masala-spiced apple donuts.
And now I have these masala-spiced apple donuts! They’re full of healthy things like applesauce, honey, and eggs, plus they’ve got a special little kick from the garam masala.
Though I’ve always loved Indian food, my first experience using masala was a few months ago. I was reviewing an Indian Instant Pot cookbook for a fellow blogger, and during my remake of her super easy Chicken Biryani in the Instant Pot, I fell in love with garam masala.
If you’re not all up on what’s in garam masala, it’s a mix of peppercorns, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom. Nice an sweet and spicy! And not only does it taste wonderfully warming, it smells DIVINE. Prepare yourself to fall in love.
Deep, deep love.
Since then I’ve been adding it to just about everything. Hot chocolate, muffins, and these delicious masala-spiced apple donuts!
In the recipe card I’ve linked to some of the products from my affiliate partners that I like to use. Purchasing through these links won’t cost you anything extra. Thanks!
Masala-Spiced Apple Donuts
Free from grain, gluten, dairy, and refined sugar.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain applesauce (I usually make my own by pureeing a couple apples in my blender)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-cavity donut pan (this is the one I use).
Puree all the ingredients in a blender.
Scoop 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden browned and slightly springy when touched. Turn out onto rack to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
For the frosting, mix together some nut butter, honey, and a little melted coconut oil until you get a frosting consistency. Mix in a few dashes of garam masala, if desired, then drizzle over cooled donuts (or dip the donuts in the frosting).
Need more tasty grain-free breakfast options? Here are a few of my favorites…
- 3-Ingredient Grain-Free Bagels
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
- Savory Pumpkin Muffins with Apple & Sage
- Banana Lemon Muffins
- Hot ‘n Creamy Pumpkin Flax Cereal
- Dark Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pudding
Â
Such great recipes Raia!! Thank you!
Thank you!
Hey there
My wife just started a gluten free diet on doctor’s recommendation to see if it helps her out. Breakfasts are the worst! This sounds fantastic and would be a great addition to my repertoire (I do mornings).
Just a question: can I blend dried coconut flakes and use it in this recipe? This is a new concept to me and we do not have access to “alternative flours” here in Bolivia, other than corn flour and occasionally rice flour. However, I can usually get small shredded coconut which is very dry.
What do you think?
In order to make coconut flour from shredded coconut, you first need to make it into coconut milk (blend 1 c. coconut on high with 1 qt. water), then strain out the leftover meal with an old t-shirt or cheesecloth. The leftover meal can then be dried and ground in a blender into coconut flour. If you try and just blend the shredded coconut into flour, it will turn into coconut butter, which is delicious, but won’t work for the recipe. 😉 Even though the coconut might seem dry, you need to make sure as much of the fat content is out of it as possible (thus the milk making).
I make coconut flour this way alll the time, and it works great. You might need to use a little more of homemade coconut flour vs. store-bought, since the store-bought stuff is usually packed down from sitting on the shelf. 🙂
Hope it works for you! I’d be glad to help you guys troubleshoot recipes, if you need help. 🙂
Do these freeze well? How long do they last?
I’ve never tried freezing them, because with 8 people in the house they don’t stay around that long. 😉 But I’d say they’d last 3 or so days if you keep them covered on the counter.
Can other flours be substituted for coconut? These would be great for my son but he’s allergic to coconut and nuts and gluten.
I’ve not tried them with a regular gluten-free flour. Since coconut flour has such specific requirements when it comes to liquid and egg ratios, you’d pretty much have to rework the entire recipe to make it work. I would suggest just finding another gluten-free donut recipe and adding in the spices you like here. 🙂
You might like my mini cinnamon pumpkin doughnuts… they’re gluten, nut, and coconut-free. If you want to make them more apple-y, you can sub out the pumpkin for more applesauce, and change the spices to garam masala.
Here’s the link for those –> https://raiasrecipes.com/2012/03/mini-cinnamon-pumpkin-doughnuts-gluten.html