Fun and festive Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake Donuts that are soft, fluffy, bursting with vanilla, and smothered in a sweet glaze. Enjoy these gluten-free vanilla donuts plain or top them with sprinkles for an extra colorful treat.
If you like gluten-free donuts, you might also like my Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Donuts. My Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Espresso Donuts are a favorite among many. And my Gluten-Free Gingerbread Donuts are delicious any time of year, not just the fall months.
For more breakfast recipes check out my Gluten Free Breakfast section.
Gluten-Free Donuts
I’ve mentioned this in previous posts – my girls and I enjoy a donut every Friday. It helps us wind down for the week and rewards us for getting up and getting ready for the day on time. These gluten-free vanilla cake donuts are one of our favorite gluten-free donuts.
Gluten-free donuts are an extra special treat that we save for Friday morning’s. We like to make up a big batch of gluten-free donuts and freeze them for the future weeks. When we run out of gluten-free donuts, we bake up another batch.
These Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake donuts are incredible any time and aren’t just for celebrating birthdays. You can decorate them with frosting or enjoy them plain.
Gluten-Free Vanilla Donuts are super easy to make if you have a good recipes, so I hope you’ll try these and see just how simple they are to make. When you do, please stop back by and let me know what you thought and what you topped your gluten-free donuts with.
We rotate the types of gluten-free donuts we make, adding in variety and giving me a chance to test out new donut recipes. My girls like to dip these gluten-free vanilla cake donuts donuts in glaze and add sprinkles.
I love it when they bake with me and they love being rewarded with a sweat treat for helping. The girls and I devoured these Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake Donuts straight from the oven.
The second batch made it to the glaze and sprinkle process and were frozen for the next week. The texture in these gluten-free vanilla donuts is perfect. There is a little give with the pick the donut up. It’s tender, and melts perfectly in your mouth.
Do I have to use a donut pan?
If you don’t have a donut pan, I recommend you get one. But for now you can use a muffin pan or a mini muffin pan. Just note that the cooking time is lower with a donut pan because the donut dough gets contact all around, including in the center with the donut pan.
Can I make these gluten-free donuts dairy-free?
Absolutely. Substitute the butter milk for your favorite dairy-free milk and add in a teaspoon of vinegar. Let them mixture sit for 5 minutes before adding it to the batter. It will help it thicken up and get lumpy. Use dairy-free milk in the glaze. Enjoy!
These gluten-free vanilla cake donuts are insanely simple to make. They bake up in less than ten minutes and are tender, flavorful, and they hit your donut-loving taste buds in all the right places.
You can have fun with the glaze by adding in color, or you can use different types of sprinkles. One year for Halloween we made the glaze purple and topped the donuts with orange sprinkles. They were fun to hand out to friends on Halloween.
Do these gluten-free vanilla cake donuts freeze well?
Yes, these gluten-free vanilla cake donuts freeze well. We often double the batch and freeze the rest for our Friday donut days. That way I don’t have to make a fresh batch each week. Simple take them out the night before, or defrost them in the microwave in the morning.
What gluten-free sprinkles do you recommend?
Sweetapolita makes great gluten-free sprinkles. Let’s do Organic has a couple of varieties as well.
Most sprinkles don’t have wheat or gluten in them but they are usually processed in a facility that processes other glutinous ingredients. Make sure to check labels for allergen information.
Did you make these gluten-free cake donuts? Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Also, if you have a question that I haven’t already answered above please leave a comment and I will get back to you. Happy donut making!
Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake Donuts
Fun and festive Gluten-Free Vanilla Birthday Cake Donuts that are soft, fluffy, bursting with vanilla, and smothered in a sweet glaze.
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour blend
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup oil of choice
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 - 1 cup sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease two six-serving donut pans; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and oil.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared donut pan filling about 1/2 full. The batter should not cover the center of the donut, where the hole will go.
- Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the donuts rise and set.
- Remove from oven and carefully remove the donut from the pan. You may need to use a spoon or a rubber spatula to loosen them if they stick.
- Cool donuts on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
- Place your wire rack over a cookie sheet or piece of parchment paper.
- For the glaze: In a separate small mixing bowl, combine the powered sugar and milk. Heat covered in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir until all sugar lumps are dissolved.
- One at a time, dip the tops of your donuts into the glaze.
- Place your donut back on the rack and repeat until all donuts have been dipped.
- Repeat 1-2 more times until your glaze is white.
- After the last dip in the glaze, dip the donuts into the sprinkles.
- Store donuts in a airtight container at room temperate for up to three days.
Notes
When working with or measuring gluten-free flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level. Do not scoop your measuring cup into the gluten-free flour. The best method really is to weight it but I don't have the ingredient weights for all my recipes yet.
Recommended Products
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Wilton Non-Stick 6-Cavity Donut Baking Pans - Wilton Medium Donut Pan, 12-Cavity
- Chefast Non-Stick Donut Pan Combo Kit: BPA-Free Large and Mini Silicone Doughnut Pans, 5 Pastry Bags, and Spatula - Baking Molds for Full-Size and Small Donuts - Bagels and Doughnuts Maker Set
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. They never cost you extra.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 donutAmount Per Serving:Calories: 303 Total Fat: 13g Saturated Fat: 1g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 11g Cholesterol: 32mg Sodium: 301mg Carbohydrates: 44g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 26g Protein: 4g
Trudy Seim says
I made these with my aspiring culinary son Nick, who”s autistic. He was so excited to see the results of our efforts. We made them just as the recipe said, they were wonderful, and so much fun to make. I had bought the donut forms to make my new IBS diet more fun. So worth it. We found we only needed 2 coats of sugar glaze, though we had to make a second batch. I think we were putting it on pretty thick. lol
chrystal says
Hi Trudy,
Thank you so much for stopping back by and letting me know know that you and Nick enjoy them!
Best,
Chrystal
Leonie says
Thank you so much! My 3 year old granddaughter has celiac and was craving doughnuts. Her 7 year old brother and I made these today and she was so happy to see them and to eat them and the rest of us thoroughly enjoyed them too. My doughnut tray will make many trips to the oven I’m thinking. Great recipe. Thank you again from Australia
chrystal says
Hi Leonie,
I am so glad you and your granddaughter and grandson love these donuts 🙂 Thank you for letting me knows you enjoyed them.
Best,
Chrystal
Elizabeth says
We just made these donuts. They are fantastic. We used krusteaz gluten free flour. Two of our kids have Celiac Disease and have missed doughnuts. They asked me to make some more for tomorrow. Thank you for posting this recipe.
chrystal says
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you for stopping by to let me know that you and your kids loved these donuts and what flour blend you used. I haven’t tried the Krusteaz flour blend yet but I’m glad to know it worked in this recipe.
Best,
Chrystal
Mary says
We can’t do eggs so wondering if we can sub in flax eggs or applesauce?
chrystal says
Hi Mary,
You can do a flax egg in this recipe. The texture isn’t the same, but it’s still quite yummy. I also have a cinnamon sugar donut that I’ve done a flax egg in and I have a gluten-free vegan chocolate espresso donut that used flax egg. You can leave out the espresso and it will be a chocolate donut. Hope that helps!
Best,
Chrystal
Lisa says
I have been trying to figure out which GF flour works best. I decided to split the batch and do 6 with Pamelas Baking Mix and the other Rogers 1-to-1.
Verdict: The Pamelas are toasted colour but crumbled while trying to dip it into the icing and so I ended up with pieces of donut. They did, however, get harder with time so those might be better to ice completely cool. They still are fragile but very delicious!
Rogers: The donuts turned out rising and looking like a perfect donut except they stayed very light in colour. Good too but the flavour of the Pamelas was better 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
chrystal says
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for stopping by and sharing about those two flour blends. I haven’t tried either of them yet 🙂 I usually use my flour blend recipe or Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 in this recipe.
Best,
Chrystal
Asyria says
I don’t have a gluten free flour “blend” will regular gluten free flour work also?
chrystal says
Hi Asyria,
All I mean by gluten-free flour blend is a blend of gluten-free flours. I use bob’s red mill 1-to-1. What gluten-free flour do you have?
Best,
Chrystal
Crystal says
Are these donuts neutral enough to use a blueberry or citrus flavored glaze? In search of a great gluten-free donut base that I can top with multiple flavors of glaze for a party!
*Loved* the chocolate donuts!
-Crystal
chrystal says
Hi Crystal,
Yes, these are your basic vanilla flavored donuts. They can be topped with a variety of flavored glazes 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Christine says
The director for my son’s play asked me to provide donuts that he can eat. I told her there is no such thing. Then I took a deep breath and sent my search engine to work. Thank you for this delicious, easy recipe with suggestions for dairy free!
I substituted 1/2 cup almond flour for an equal amout of gf flour for extra moistness. Delicious!
chrystal says
Hi Christine,
I am so glad you liked these donuts! Thank you for stopping by to let me know. We make donuts each Friday to celebrate the end of the week 🙂 I have a section under recipes called “donuts” if you ever want to try something else.
All my best,
Chrystal
Derval Gaughan says
My 8 year old daughter is coeliac and has never had a donut so we are so very excited to make these this weekend. I bought the Wilton donut pans so we’re all set. Just wondering what type of oil we should consider when you say “oil of choice”? Also I am in Ireland so we have different GF flour blends. I usually use Doves Farm – should I use a self raising {Ingredients: flour blend (rice, potato, tapioca, maize & buckwheat), raising agents (mono-calcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate), thickener (xanthan gum)} or a plain blend {Ingredients: rice, potato, tapioca, maize, buckwheat}? Thank you in advance for your reply 🙂
chrystal says
Hi Derval,
For the oil, you can use canola oil, vegetable oil, avocado oil, or any mild flavored oil. I haven’t used Doves Farms flour but looking at the ingredients, I’d use the plain blend and follow the rest of the recipe. If you don’t have baking powder then you can use the other self rising blend. Again, I haven’t used this flour but I am guessing it will work.
Best,
Chrystal
Derval Gaughan says
I just wanted to let you know that we tried these today using the plain flour and they turned out fab. Thanks so much for such a great recipe. I posted a link to your site on my Irish GF Facebook page if that’s ok.
chrystal says
Hi Derval,
I am so glad you like these donuts! Thank you for stopping by and letting me know you like them.
Best,
Chrystal
Lix says
These gluten-free donuts are absolutely incredible. My kids love helping me and they are so easy to make. I never thought I could make a donut and I was so impressed with these and how they turned out.
chrystal says
Hi Lix,
I am so glad you like them! Thank you for stopping by to let me know 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Jeni says
Do you have a recommendation for a good substitute for the buttermilk? Flax milk or lactose free cows milk maybe?
chrystal says
Hi Jeni,
You can use flax milk or a lactose free cows milk in this recipe.
Best,
Chrystal
Cassidy @ Cassidys Craveable Creations says
Oh my goodness these look so delicious!! I love that you freeze them then eat them with your girls every Friday – I need to adopt your tradition! Thanks for the recipe!
Teronia Wilson says
These doughnuts are delicious! I used King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour Blend and an egg replacer and they came out just fine. I also used melted butter in my glaze and oh boy!
Teronia Wilson says
P.S. I also used coconut milk just to use it up.
Shawna says
Did you use coconut milk as a replacement for buttermilk?
chrystal says
Hi Shawna,
You can use coconut milk, just not full fat. You can also use almond milk.
Best,
Chrystal
chrystal says
Hi Teronia,
Thank you for stopping by to let me know that you loved these donuts and what flour blend you used.
All my best,
Chrystal
Amy says
Made these for my daughter’s birthday to go with our ocean themed cake. Put red sprinkles around the edges to make “life preservers.” They were a huge hit with both kids and parents alike. I didn’t have a single donut left.
chrystal says
Hi Amy,
Such a cute idea! So glad everyone liked these donuts. Thanks for taking time to stop by and let me know 🙂
Best,
Chrystal
Anette says
I made these donuts for my hubby’s birthday yesterday. He has a ton of food restrictions, so he is always weary of new recipes I try and if they will work out and taste well.
I surprised him with them and he absolutely loves them! So does my son!
I used almond milk instead of cow’s milk and the Bob Mill’s 1:1 all purpose GF flour.
chrystal says
Hi Anette,
I am so glad all three of you like them! Thank you for taking time to let me know.
All my best,
Chrystal
K Harris says
Has anyone tried using powdered stevia in this? I also have honey…
chrystal says
I haven’t use stevia in this donut recipe but I have used Lakanto monkfruit sweetener. If you normally use stevia as a 1-for-1 you could try it.
Best,
Chrystal
Olivia says
These are THE best gluten free donuts I have ever had. I had so many doubts because all of the other ones I’ve tried have not had the same texture or were too dry. These beat them all. Thank you!! Best donut I’ve had in 13 years.
Olivia says
I also used vegetable oil, almond milk, and a gluten free flour blend.
chrystal says
Thanks for letting me know!
Best,
Chrystal
chrystal says
Hi Olivia,
I am so glad you think so 🙂 Thank you for stopping by. I have many donut recipes you might also like – chocolate and cinnamon sugar, and many more. Happy donut baking!
Best,
Chrystal
Emily A says
Thanks for the inspiration to make gluten free donuts! I’d never thought I could do such a thing. They were nice! The only problem was that as they rose, that rose flat, so I ended up with a flat top. Any ideas what I could have done wrong? Still delish though and simple and fun enough to try making with my 2 toddlers.
chrystal says
Hi Emily,
I am so glad you liked them! A couple of things that could make them fall a bit flat on one side: if they are not cooked through all the way, if you are at a higher elevation, or if the batter was mixed a little too long. Your toddlers might like my chocolate donuts too! Happy baking.
Best,
Chrystal
Emma says
Has anyone tried freezing them? Guessing un decorated then once defrosted them. Then decorated do they taste any different or must you make for the day then eat with 2 thing?
chrystal says
Hi Emma,
We freeze donut all the time. You can freeze them with or without the glaze. When you are ready to enjoy them you can either pull them out of the freezer the night before and let them defrost, or reheat them in the microwave (the glaze melts a little).
Best,
Chrystal
Amy C says
Are these best day of baking or day after? Thanks so much!!
chrystal says
Hi Amy,
I think these are best day of but we freeze the leftovers and reheat when we are ready. I hope that helps!
Best,
Chrystal
Amy says
Thank you so much for this recipe. The donuts are delicious. Sweet and great texture. My son is allergic to wheat and recently has been able to eat baked egg, so these are perfect. We used the tsp of vinegar with almond milk substitution. We’ll be making these to share with friends and family too.
chrystal says
Hi Amy,
Thank you for stopping by and letting me know 🙂 I am so glad you and your son like these donuts. I have around 300 recipes here and I hope you find many more that you love.
All my best,
Chrystal
Brenna says
Thanks for posting this donut recipe! We played around with our own gluten free flour blend by mixing potato and tapioca starch with rice and quinoa flour and got a lovely texture! We also applied some maple syrup with a pastry brush while they were warm instead of making a glaze and it worked out very well as well!
Being the gluten free person in the family it was exciting to find a recipe that stuck together.
Thanks again!
chrystal says
Hi Brenna,
I am so glad you like these donuts! Thanks for stopping by to let me know and to share what methods you used.
Best,
Chrystal