Soft and Fluffy Plant-Based Donuts

There are few things that make me happier than a fresh cinnamon donut, straight from the fryer. The temptation to eat it while it is still too hot to handle has proven too much on many occasions. Always resulting in a burnt mouth and only the smallest of regrets. 

The greatest difficulty I have encountered in moving away from animal products in baking, is finding a replacement for eggs. In my years in both savoury and sweet kitchens, I was always taught the great importance of the humble egg. 

Although there are many alternatives out there these days, I find the combination of ground chia seeds and ground golden flax seeds to be the ultimate combination. They seem to give the perfect amount of both rise and structure to the final crumb. Giving you a light, fluffy textured donut. Once coated in cinnamon sugar, it's a perfect treat to satisfy your cravings. 

Making yeasted goods such as donuts, breads and their sweeter cousins like brioche, are not as daunting a task as you might think. 

The mantra of time, temperature and patience could not be clearer than it is in these types of recipes. The ideal temperature for yeast fermentation is 32C - 35C. 

You must allow the dough time to develop and the yeast to grow. 

You must be patient. Letting time work for you, so your dough will rise enough,( but not too much!) giving you a fluffy, delicious final product. 

Turning on your oven or using the heating in your house in colder months can aid in reaching this temperature.

The room itself does not need to be such a high temperature, the use of a conductive bowl such as one made from metal or ceramic material and wrapping the dough tightly with cling wrap will create enough heat and humidity to prove your dough. 

If you are working in a particularly cold environment, you might consider wrapping your bowl in a blanket. This is a trick I have seen used many times in the colder parts of Europe to ferment yoghurt. 

As with all cooking, the quality of ingredients you use will have a major impact on your final product. 

Good flour, a strong yeast and we always find the best results from using filtered water. 

Recipe:

Filtered water 175g

Coconut milk (use kara brand from the carton, not the tin, or milklab) 150g 

Yeast (a good dried yeast is fine for this recipe, we use fermex brand) 7g 

Chia seeds 55g 

Golden flaxseed (whole weight) 30g 

Bakers (strong bread) flour 455g 

Salt 45g

Caster sugar 60g

Neutral oil 150g

Cinnamon Sugar Ingredients

Caster sugar 125g

Ground cinnamon 25g 

Method

Add sugar and cinnamon to a large mixing bowl, using a whisk, mix well until completely combined.

2 Litres of neutral oil (cottonseed, canola, rapeseed, vegetable oil) 

Method:

To begin this recipe, grind the golden flaxseed and the chia seeds in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Once you have a fine powder, mix well with 100ml of water and allow to sit for 10- 15 minutes. The seeds will absorb the moisture and become soft and glue-like. Allowing them to incorporate into the dough easier.

Yeast are tiny microorganisms, part of the fungus kingdom (think mushrooms), they need food to survive and grow.

Yeast feeds off sugar. 

There are natural sugars present in flour, although in small amounts, so to begin with add the rest of the water, the coconut milk, the sugar and the yeast to a medium mixing bowl. If you are unsure of the quality of your yeast, wrap the bowl in cling wrap and leave in a warm place for it to activate. Once bubbles start to form on the surface you know your yeast is alive. 

The general rule with any dough is wet first, then dry, add the flour to the activated yeast, sugar, water and coconut milk mix. 

Now add your chia seeds and ground golden flaxseed mix together. Begin incorporating the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. 

Once the dough comes together turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and begin to knead.

You want to pull the dough towards you with your fingers then push it away from you with the palm of your hand. Turn the dough 90 degrees regularly, after 2 or 3 kneads. 

Continue with the kneading for about 10 minutes to strengthen the gluten strands. 

This will help the donuts with their final structure. Too little kneading and they won’t hold shape when cooked, too much kneading and they will lose their soft texture and be chewy.

The dough should be soft and slightly elastic by now, shape it into a ball and place it gently into a lightly greased bowl. Wrap the bowl tightly with cling wrap and set aside in a warm place until it doubles in size. Depending on the ambient temperature where you are working, this could take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. 

You can mark the bowl with a piece of tape if you need a guide. 

Once the dough has proved the first time, this is known as bulk proving, you will need knock it back (remove the excess air from the dough).

You can do this by hitting the top of the dough with the back of your hand or your fist, depending on your mood. I will leave that up to you…

Once you have knocked back the dough, portion your donuts by cutting pieces of the dough and weighing them at 80g each. Once they are all portioned, roll them into balls, to do this cup your hand gently over the dough portion and push the palm of your hand into the dough gently. Roll them in a clockwise direction and then place them on a lined, greased tray. Cover with cling wrap and leave in a warm place to double in size ( prove).

In the meantime, heat a heavy based saucepan of neutral oil over medium heat, do not heat the oil too quickly as it will burn, if you have a probe bring the oil to 165c, if you don’t have a probe or thermometer, then you can use one of four methods to check your oil temperature.

1. A wooden spoon.

Place the handle of the wooden spoon in the oil. If the oil starts to bubble with small steady bubbles, the oil is hot enough to fry.

If the bubbles are large and fast, the oil is too hot.

2. Use bread.

 If you drop a small piece of bread into the oil and if it  browns in 60 seconds then the oil is at 185C. This is slightly high for donuts, you can still make it work though, you just need to be vigilant.

3. Popcorn.

Drop a single kernel of popcorn into the oil, the kernel will pop at 175c. Again slightly high, still manageable. 

4. Drop a small piece of dough into the oil, if the dough rises to the surface and the oil bubbles rapidly around the dough, you should be good.

The donuts will take between 1-2 minutes to cook on each side, use tongs or a spoon to turn them.

Once they are golden brown on both sides, remove them from the oil with tongs or a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel, making sure to remove any excess oil. 

Roll generously in cinnamon sugar and allow to cool for a few minutes before eating.

Enjoy!