These Vegan Lemon Lavender Donuts are made using dried lavender & lemon zest infused sugar and topped with a sweet sugary glaze. Let's just say, they are the perfect vegan lavender dessert you need this week!
The inspiration behind baking with lavender
It may surprise you that my original inspiration for these baked vegan donuts came from walking around my neighborhood. I feel very fortunate to live in a beautiful neighborhood in Seattle where each home is more pristine than the next. Even more pristine that the homes, though, are the gardens. Living here has introduced me to flowers I previously didn't know existed: Ranunculus, Peonies, Rhododendrons, the list goes on and on.
However, one flower keeps popping up that I can't walk by without stopping and smelling- Lavender. These purple beauties are everywhere in Seattle this time of year and the smell is absolutely divine. This smell inspired me to go out and buy dried lavender to start baking with. Even though it might not be the lavender straight from my yard, it brings me so much joy knowing this recipe was inspired by my neighborhood.
How to make a homemade lemon lavender infused sugar
What truly makes these lavender donuts so delicious and unique is the infused sugar you use to bake these vegan lemon lavender doughnuts. In addition to dried lavender, I added in some lemon zest so the tartness of the lemon would help even out the floral notes from the lavender.
Making infused sugar is much easier than it sounds too! It's really a matter of buying the right ingredients and letting them sit and absorb flavors over time. While 4 hours is definitely enough time to get some lavender and lemon flavor, the longer you let infused sugar sit, the better it tastes! I personally let my sugar sit with the lavender and lemon zest in the fridge for 1 week before I baked with this sugar.
If you have leftover sugar after making this recipe, you could even try using it in my Vegan Lemon Cupcakes! Whatever you do with this sugar, it's the absolute perfect way to create any vegan lavender dessert recipe!
Ingredients & tools for baked vegan lavender donuts
In order to make vegan doughnuts at home, you really need a doughnut pan to get the perfectly shaped donuts you see in all my pictures. This recipe makes 15-18 donuts so, while you can get away with just one pan, I have two on hand to speed up my baking. Plus, once you've made these vegan donuts, you can use this doughnut pan to make my Apple Cider Donuts or my Champagne Donuts next!
You may notice this recipe calls for pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. I use pastry flour for most of my baked goods to get an ideal light and delicate texture. Pastry flour has less protein in it than all-purpose flour and makes baked doughnuts, cupcakes, and cakes so tender. If you only have all-purpose flour on hand, simply remove 2 Tbsp of flour per 1 cup of all-purpose flour to make sure you use the right amount.
Also, don't forget to buy some high-quality organic dried lavender. The brand linked here is what I use in this recipe and it truly gives off such a lovely flavor. If you can't find dried lavender, another option is to use lavender paste which I recently used in my Vegan Lemon Lavender Cake!
To make the glaze for these doughnuts you're going to use the infused sugar, organic powdered sugar, and coconut milk. I will say, this recipe makes a thinner glaze than I normally use, so if you are looking for a thick glaze simply mix together 1 ½ cups of powdered sugar with 1-2 Tbsp of coconut milk. This will make a much thicker white glaze than you see pictured.
If you haven't already gathered, I am pretty obsessed with these vegan donuts. They are so elegantly simple and fun to make. Whether you call them Vegan DONUTS or Vegan DOUGHNUTS, I know you will enjoy these perfectly sweet Vegan Lemon Lavender Baked Donuts!
-TSG
More lemon & lavender vegan dessert recipes you will love:
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Vegan Lemon Lavender Baked Doughnuts
Ingredients
Lemon Lavender Infused Sugar
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1 tsp dried lavender
- 1 tsp lemon peel chopped or zested
Doughnut mix
- 1 cup almond milk or other milk alternative
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil must be liquid oil
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1.5 cup pastry flour using pastry flour is important for right texture
- ¾ cup lemon lavender infused sugar *made above
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
Glaze
- 2-3 Tbsp coconut milk *more coconut milk leads to a thinner glaze
- ¼ cup lemon lavender infused sugar *made above
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
Lemon Lavender Infused Sugar
- In a small blender, add in ½ cup of your sugar with all of your dried lavender and lemon zest. Blend 2-3 minutes until a powdered sugar is formed.
- Add the blended sugar mix to a small container and mix in the additional ½ cup sugar until evenly dispersed. Let sit at least 4 hours before using. The sugar is best when left to sit at least 1 week and will last up to 8 weeks stored in the fridge.
Baking the Doughnuts
- Preheat oven to 350F. Then, add your almond milk and apple cider vinegar to a large mixing bowl and use a fork or whisk to combine. Let sit 5-10 minutes so milk slightly curdles and forms "vegan buttermilk".
- Once the milk is curdled, mix in your infused sugar, coconut oil, apple sauce, and vanilla bean paste/extract. Whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl sift together your flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the mixing bowl containing the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
- Once the batter is mixed, spray your doughnut pan with non-stick spray. Then, use a spoon to distribute the batter evenly. Make sure not to cover the raised middle of each doughnut hole with batter.
- Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes. For my oven, I found the doughnuts were best at 12 minutes and were a little browned by 15 minutes. The doughnuts should be firm enough to remove from the pan without breaking, yet not browned and crunchy.
- Invert the cooked doughnuts over a cooling rack to release. Let cool to room temperature before dipping into the glaze.
Glazing the Doughnuts
- To make the glaze, add all the coconut milk and infused sugar to small pot and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice and powdered sugar. This will produce a thin glaze, so you can always add more powdered sugar if you would like a thicker glaze.
- Dunk the cooled doughnuts into the glaze and let dry on a cooling rack until glaze stiffens slightly. The glaze will remain semi-sticky, but should no longer be dripping off.
Notes
- To store, place in a container between parchment paper. Doughnuts will keep at room temperature in a closed container for 2-3 days or frozen for up to 1 month. I do not recommend refrigerating these doughnuts as it will dry them out.
- Make sure to add the glaze the day you are ready to eat the doughnuts as they store better without the glaze on. If you store doughnuts with the glaze on already they may get soggy.
Kristina says
I never actually sit down and write a review but I want to say that these were delicious! I used oat milk and grapeseed oil and the donut turned out so moist and the perfect texture! The glaze was delicioussss I could really use this lemon lavender sugar in everything ! I absolutely loved this recipe and will make again probably this week to share!
Bryanne says
I have made this recipe twice now and I can’t seem to get it right. They keep coming out half risen... I did buy a regular size donut pan because I thought it looked like small donuts. So I tried to increase the temp to 400 and the consistency of the donut was better (less oily) but still only have risen. I’m not sure if it’s because I need add more baking powder so it rises better?? I also did use the flour I had on hand which was organic all purpose. Would that cause the dough not to rise??
Let me know your thoughts!
I’m hoping to make this for my husband’s birthday!
Thanks in advance!
Megan Horowitch says
Hi! It sounds like your baking powder may not be working- here's an article on how to test it: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-test-if-baking-soda-or-baking-powder-is-expired-tips-from-the-kitchn-111759. That's the only reason the donuts wouldn't rise. Also, I don't recommend changing the oven temperature to 400F. If you have a larger pan than I do, you may just need to increase the baking time and make half the amount of donuts. It'd be hard to say since I don't know what pan you are using, but for reference when I bake cupcakes I tend to bake batter 20-25 minutes. All-purpose flour shouldn't make a huge difference. Since the recipe calls for pastry flour, I recommend removing 2 Tbsp per cup of all purpose flour and replacing it with 2 Tbsp cornstarch for similar results. So 1 cup+ 2 tbsp all purpose flour + 2 Tbsp cornstarch. Hope this helps you out!