These Vegan Lemon Lavender Donuts are made using homemade lemon lavender sugar and topped with a zesty lemon glaze. Let's just say, they are the perfect vegan lavender dessert to bake this week!
*Recipe shared June 2018 and updated March 2022*
As you can tell from my Vegan Lemon Lavender Cake, I truly love the combination of lemon and lavender together.
I think it's partly because it tastes like Spring in a dessert. With tart winter citrus and sweet and floral lavender, these donuts are such a special treat to bake.
Plus, once you've made these vegan lavender donuts, you can use this doughnut pan to make my Apple Cider Donuts or my Champagne Donuts next!
Ingredients:
Ingredient notes:
- Lavender: When choosing dried lavender it's very important to make sure it's organic and made to be edible. This is the dried lavender I used in this recipe!
- Lemon juice and zest: Must be from fresh lemons for the best flavor! If you want your donuts to have even more lemon flavor, you can also add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract/paste to the donut batter.
How to make lemon lavender sugar
What truly makes these lavender donuts so delicious and unique is the infused sugar you use to bake these vegan donuts. In addition to dried lavender, I added some lemon zest so the tartness of the lemon would help even out the floral notes from the lavender.
To really bring out the flavor of the zest and dried lavender, I actually blend half of the sugar with them to create a powdered sugar texture.
Then, mix that powdered sugar with the remaining cane sugar for a delicious lemon lavender-infused sugar.
I personally let my sugar sit with the lavender and lemon zest in the fridge for 1 week before baking, but it's totally okay to use right away.
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!
How to make lemon lavender donuts
Make the vegan donut batter
Luckily, this vegan donut batter is easy enough to make in one bowl. First, add in the wet ingredients including the oat/almond milk, sugar, olive oil, applesauce, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk together until combined.
Next, add the pastry flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently mix into a thick batter making sure not to overmix.
Add to donut pan and bake
In order to make baked vegan donuts, you really need a doughnut pan to get the perfectly shaped donuts you see in all my pictures.
Simply grease the donut pan and then add the batter. Then, add the pan to the oven to bake for 11-13 minutes until the donuts are cooked through and beginning to brown on top.
Make the lemon glaze
This simple 2 ingredient glaze is the perfect topping for these donuts! Simply whisk together sifted powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice for a slightly sweet and tart donut topping.
Once the vegan lemon donuts have been dunked into the glaze, let them rest on a wire rack to harden.
If adding any toppings, make sure to do it while the glaze is still wet so they stick. Then, dig in and enjoy these delicious lemon lavender donuts.
FAQ & Tips:
Can I make baked donuts with all-purpose flour?
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 super light and tender. If you only have all-purpose flour on hand, replace 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour with 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch for every cup of flour in the recipe for similar results.
How do I store lemon lavender donuts?
Donuts can be stored in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
I highly suggest storing them in the freezer, as the fridge tends to dry out these donuts. To defrost, let the donuts sit at room temperature for 30 minutes-1 hour before enjoying.
Can I make this recipe in a cake pan or as cupcakes?
These lemon lavender donuts are actually very easy to bake as cupcakes. When adding them to cupcake liners just make sure they are about ¾ of the way full before baking. You'll also want to increase the baking time for cupcakes to 20-22 minutes.
I haven't tried making this recipe as a cake, but it may work. I am not sure what size cake pan to use, but you want to make sure the pan is about ¾ full of batter before baking. You'll also have to increase the baking time to 30+ minutes depending on the size of the pan.
If you haven't already gathered, I am pretty obsessed with these vegan donuts. They are so elegant, simple, and fun to make. I know you will love 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 Donuts
Ingredients
Lemon Lavender Infused Sugar
- ¾ cup cane sugar
- 1 tsp dried lavender
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest about 1 lemon zest
Doughnut mix
- 1 cup oat/almond milk or other plant-based 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 ¾ cup pastry flour
- ¾ cup lemon lavender infused sugar *made above
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
Glaze
- 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon zest
Instructions
Lemon Lavender Infused Sugar:
- In a small blender, add in ½ of the cane sugar with all of your dried lavender and lemon zest. Blend 2-3 minutes until a well-blended powdered sugar forms.
- Add the blended sugar mix to a small container and mix in the remaining half of the sugar. You can use the sugar right away or let it sit for up to 1 week for a stronger flavor.
Lemon Lavender Donuts:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Then, add the oat/almond milk and apple cider vinegar to a large mixing bowl and use a fork or whisk to combine. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes until the milk slightly curdles and forms a "vegan buttermilk".
- Once the milk has curdled, add in the lavender lemon infused sugar, olive oil, apple sauce, and vanilla bean paste/extract. Whisk to combine.
- Next, add in the pastry flour, salt, and baking powder. Make sure to add the pastry flour first and pile the other ingredients on top. Then, use the whisk to mix into a thick batter. Do not overmix the batter- some lumps are okay as long as there are no large streaks of flour throughout.
- Next, spray the doughnut pan with non-stick spray. Then, use a spoon or large cookie scoop to distribute the batter evenly. Make sure not to cover the raised middle of each doughnut hole with batter.
- Bake at 350F for 11-13 minutes. For my oven, I found the doughnuts were best at 12 minutes. The donuts should be firm enough to remove from the pan without breaking, yet not browned and crunchy.
- Invert the cooked donuts onto a cooling rack to release. Let cool to room temperature before dipping into the glaze.
Lemon Glaze:
- To make the glaze, add the sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a bowl and use a fork to whisk together until a thick glaze forms.
- Dunk the cooled donuts into the glaze and add on any toppings including lemon zest, dried lavender, or fresh slices of lemon.
- Let the donuts dry on a cooling rack until glaze hardens. Then, serve and enjoy!
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!