Recently, I came across a mini donut tin in the back of my kitchen cupboard, that I haven’t used for ages. The last time I used it was re-making an old recipe on my blog; Mini Pumpkin & Cinnamon Sugar Donuts, which I was tempted to make them again but decided to create something stereotypically festive and gingerbread-y instead.

I love how these turned out. Something between an iced gingerbread cookie and a soft, fluffy muffin. However, I’m kicking myself because these photos turned out blurry! I did consider making and photographing these again but I’m trying to be less of a perfectionist so… Enjoy these blurry donuts.

To replace eggs in this recipe, I use applesauce which I think also really adds to the Christmass-y flavour. In the UK, it’s not always something that’s easy to get hold of but I found a workaround – baby food! Check out the baby food aisle and you will usually be able to find apple puree. Or you can just make your own. OR… just use some soy yoghurt in its place. 

Yield: 12 donuts

Mini Gingerbread Donuts (Vegan)

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Baked gingerbread donuts topped with icing for an easy Christmassy treat! 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 200 g self-raising flour, (or plain flour with 1 1/2 tsp baking powder)
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mixed ground spice, (or pumpkin pie spice mix)
• 55 g applesauce (apple puree)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 100 ml dairy-free milk
• 80 ml golden syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

For the icing

• 175 g icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp dairy-free milk, (add more if needed)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C / 350F and grease a mini donut tin with some oil.
2. Stir all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate, smaller bowl or jug, combine all the wet ingredients.
4. Stir the wet into the dry and mix until smooth.
5. For a neat donut shape, I like to transfer the batter into an icing bag with a large, round nozzle and pipe the donuts into the tray. However, you can also just use a spoon and your finger to smooth it down - it's a bit messy this way, though!
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
7. Gently remove from the tins and leave to cool completely before adding the icing.

To glaze

1. Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, adding more milk if too thick or more icing sugar if too runny. 
2. Using a teaspoon, drizzle the icing onto each donut, leaving to set on a piece of parchment paper. 
3. Enjoy straight away or keep in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.