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Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Donuts

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Fun and festive Gluten-Free Vanilla 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 Donuts are a favorite among many.

For more breakfast recipes check out my Gluten Free Breakfast section.

gluten free vanilla donuts with colored icing and colored sprinkles arranged next to a jar of milk

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.

gluten free vanilla donuts with sprinkles on a wire cooling rack Gluten Free Cake Donuts

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.

six gluten free donuts with glaze and sprinkles

Can I make these gluten-free donuts dairy-free?

Absolutely. Substitute the milk for your favorite dairy-free milk. Also use dairy-free milk in the glaze.

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.

gluten free donuts pinterest pin collage

My Gluten-Free Gingerbread Donuts are delicious any time of year, not just the fall months, if you’re looking for a gluten free donut with some spice.

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.

Yield: 12

Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Donuts

a close up of gluten free vanilla donuts with colored icing and colored sprinkles arranged next to a jar of milk

Fun and festive Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Donuts that are soft, fluffy, bursting with vanilla, and smothered in a sweet glaze. You are going to love how easy these gluten free donuts are to make.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Total Time 19 minutes

Ingredients

For the donuts:

For the glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1/2 - 1 cup sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease two six-serving donut pans; set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
  5. 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.
  6. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until the donuts rise and set.
  7. 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.
  8. Cool donuts on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
  9. Place your wire rack over a cookie sheet or piece of parchment paper.
  10. 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.
  11. One at a time, dip the tops of your donuts into the glaze.
  12. Place your donut back on the rack and repeat until all donuts have been dipped.
  13. Repeat 1-2 more times until your glaze is white.
  14. After the last dip in the glaze, dip the donuts into the sprinkles.
  15. Store donuts in a airtight container at room temperate for up to three days.

Notes

  • You can use dairy-free milk to make these gluten free donuts dairy-free.
  • 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.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1 donut
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 303Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 301mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 1gSugar: 26gProtein: 4g
© Chrystal Carver
Cuisine: American / Category: Breakfast
a pinterest pin with three gluten free donuts stacked, with the words gluten free cake donuts in text at the top

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. in the info above it says there’s buttermilk in these – i usually do the dairy free sub. is it in the recipe though? it isn’t listed

    Reply

  4. These donuts are amazing! They got slightly brown on the bottom, but tops stayed pretty light. They are delicious without any toppings at all!!!
    I’m so glad I found such a great gluten free donut.

    Reply

    • I am so glad you liked them. I have other donut recipes if you want to try other flavors. My gluten free chocolate donuts and cinnamon sugar donuts are also big hits.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  7. Hey! I was thinking of making these donuts, they look amazing. I was just wondering how many donuts I would end up with by following the recipe? 🙂

    Reply

  9. This recipe is fabulous! I used coconut oil for the batter and the taste was simply divine. My friends devoured these in minutes!

    Reply

  10. Thanks soooo much for your awesome recipe!!!! My 8yr old celiac child is in LOVE with them! As am I!!! Only thing I did differently was add a little pat of butter to the glaze:) but that’s just us butter crazy people:)
    Thanks again!!! Can’t wait to try your gingerbread ones next:)

    Reply

  11. Can you use this recipe for a donut maker? I have a dash donut maker and was looking for a gf donut batter recipe that would work with that.

    Reply

    • Hi Katherin,
      Several readers have made these and my chocolate donuts in the donut maker. You’ll have to follow the donut makers instructions for cooking time.

      Best,
      Chrystal

      Reply

  13. These were great! (I made them using King Arthur GF Flour blend.) I transferred the batter into a ziplock bag and then cut a small corner off so I could pipe the batter into the donut pans.

    Reply

  14. Hi Chrystal, we made these donuts for breakfast after we ran out of my husband’s favorite store brand and we are never going back! They are fabulous! Unlike him, I’m not gluten free but these donuts are not a compromise, they are a new staple in our household! Thank you

    Reply

  15. These came out great! My husband hasn’t been able to enjoy donuts in years, and he was so excited to have them. And my regular-diet kids all loved them, too. Thank you!

    Reply

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