As I mentioned in my post about home exercise outfits, my Om & Ah t-shirt sums me up pretty well.
So I thought it would be fun to share my go-to recipes for vegan doughnuts and juices/smoothies!
Gluten-free vegan doughnuts
Going gluten free and vegan helped develop my love of baking, and one of the things I love to bake is a big batch of doughnuts in different flavours. Babycakes, a bakery that started in New York, has a great recipe for cake doughnuts in its cookbook Babycakes Covers the Classics. While my copy is packed up in storage, the receipe is available online at Bon Appetit — so I can share it with you here.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup melted refined coconut oil or vegetable oil, plus more for brushing the doughnut trays
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup rice flour
- 1/3 cup garbanzo and fava bean flour (Bob’s Red Mill brand)
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/4 cup arrowroot
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup hot water
Method
Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F. Brush two six-mold donut trays with coconut oil and set aside.
First, whisk together the dry ingredients — the rice flour, garbanzo fava flour, potato starch, sugar, arrowroot, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda. Then add the wet ingredients — melted coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla essence, and hot water. Use a smooth apple puree rather than a chunky applesauce for the best results. Mix with a rubber spatula only until the ingredents are just combined — don’t overmix.
Drop 2 1/2 tablespoons of batter into each doughnut mold and spread the batter around evenly.
Bake in the oven for 8 minutes, rotate, and bake for another 7 minues until golden on top. Remove the trays from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes if you’re sprinkling them with sugar, or 15 minutes if you’re coating them with icing.
Run a knife around the doughnuts to get them out of the trays and put them on a cooling rack of baking sheet. Roll them in cinnamon sugar or coat them with icing and any other toppings.
Some of my favourite variations on the doughnut base are mango — use mango puree instead of apple, chocolate — add 1/2 cup of vegan cocoa powder, and cinnamon — add a tablespoon or two of cinnamon to the batter.
For toppings, you can’t go wrong with the classic cinnamon sugar, and I also love mixing fruit juice (guava, mango and so on) or mashed berries to icing sugar to make a fruity icing. Coloured sprinkles or rose dried petals make them pretty. My favourite chocolate topping is mixing vegan butter and cocoa powder with icing sugar to make a fudgy icing. Drizzle over a contrasting pattern with plain white icing. Delicious.
Vegan juices
One of my favourite ways to start the morning is with a fresh juice or smoothie, and I love to grab one with lunch. I feel all virtuous and energetic, especially after a pilates session! Having dealt with issues related to endometriosis for years, I’ve done a few juice cleanses and always feel better for it.
Here are my favourite combinations in various colours — it’s good to mix them up to get a range of nutrients.
Green juice
They’ve definitely become an acquired taste — I certainly didn’t crave them when I first became vegan like I do now! I usually pick up the green option from a juice bar or vegan restaurant, and often make a green smoothie in the blender at home for breakfast. It’s hard for me to give an exact recipe because I eyeball it, but here’s roughly what I use:
- 1/2 bag of chopped kale
- 1/2 bag of baby spinach
- 1 cucumber
- 1 cup organic pressed apple juice or two chopped apples
- 1 tablespoon spirulina
Those are my go-to ingredients, and then sometimes I like to add any/all of the following:
- 2-3 celery stalks (optional)
- 1-2 kiwi fruit (optional)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)
- 1/2 lemon or lime
I roughly chop the cucumber and celery (if using) into large pieces before putting them in the blender with the apple juice, then while the blender is running I add the kale and spinach by the handful, any of the other ingredients, and maybe a bit more juice until I’m happy with the consistency.
Red juice
I’ve also developed more of an appreciation for beetroot, especially if it’s in a smoothie with ginger. I really enjoy this one for a midday pick-me-up:
- 2 cups fresh pressed beetroot juice or chopped beetroot
- 2 cups orange juice
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 1 piece of fresh ginger (to taste)
- 1/2 lemon
Orange/yellow juice
I was intrigued when I saw this butternut squash recipe online and was surprised by how tasty it is!
- 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 cup organic pressed apple juice or 2 chopped apples
- 2 carrots
- 1 piece of fresh ginger (to taste)
- 1/2 lemon
What can be better than enjoying a fresh juice with an indulgent treat of a doughnut! What are your favourite doughnuts and smoothies?