Baked Lemon Donuts with Blackberry Glaze (gluten-free, paleo)
29 Comments
Updated Jan 26, 2020
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These beautiful and delicious baked lemon donuts are gluten-free and paleo-friendly. Even better…they’re topped with blackberry glaze and lemon zest.
Somehow I always think I’ve got everything ready for a trip, but then find myself scurrying around last minute, heading to the store, doing laundry, charging electronics, etc. It’s always a bit chaotic! But when I finally get to the airport, I’m like “ahhhh”…and breathe a huge sigh of relieve.
I leave for Portugal tomorrow in the early dawn hours (due to LA traffic!), but it’s all good because 12 hours later I’ll be in Lisbon! Having never been to Portugal before, I couldn’t be more excited. And you guys – I’m there for one whole MONTH! Yes, one month. I’m definitely a lover of slow travel. And with Snapchat all the rage now (even though I’m still gettin’ comfy with it) I’ll do my best to snap away. Make sure to follow me for all the behind-the-scenes fun on my food photography workshop, sightseeing and of course, eating my gluten-free way around Portugal. (username: downshiftology)
A few weeks ago I started thinking of Mother’s Day recipes. Even though I’ll be gone for Mother’s Day (next Sunday!) I wanted to make my mom something special before I left. I pondered cakes. And cheesecakes. But I’ve already got several of those on the blog. So then I started thinking donuts! Can you believe I have no donut recipes yet?!
My mom’s favorite color is purple…as in, she’s slightly obsessed with it. Back in the day, her bridesmaid dresses were purple, I think half her wardrobe is purple and most of her orchids around the house are purple. Seriously, whenever I go shopping with her, if she sees something purple, odds are she’s gonna buy it.
So for this Mother’s day I decided to make some baked lemon donuts with a blackberry (purple!) glaze. They’re the perfect combination of sweet, fruity and lemony bright. The baked lemon donuts are pretty easy to make, especially if you fill the donut mold with a piping bag (otherwise, it gets a wee bit messy). The glaze is a combo of coconut butter (which, to clarify, is NOT coconut oil) and blackberry puree. Heads up – I made the puree two different ways. First, I tried it with the blackberry seeds in, second time, I strained them out. Some may not like chomping on itty bitty seeds, but to be honest, I think the blackberry flavor was stronger with the seeds left in. So that’d be my preference.
You’ll also have some leftover blackberry glaze after all your donuts have been dunked. So feel free to use that on cassava crepes, gluten-free toast…or just eat it out of the jar.
Alrighty friends, I need to get back to packing. ‘Cause tomorrow I’m off on a new adventure!
Happy early Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!
If you make this, I’d love to see! Tag your photo with #downshiftology on Instagram.
Baked Lemon Donuts with Blackberry Glaze (gluten-free, paleo)
Description
Ingredients
Lemon Donuts
- 1 egg white, room temperature
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 lemon, juiced and zested
Blackberry Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups blackberries
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup coconut butter, warmed, stirred and pourable
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp water, to thin to desired consistency
- 1 lemon, zested for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg white with a hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add remaining donut ingredients and use a hand mixer on medium speed, for 30 seconds to blend together. Fold in egg white and stir gently to combine.
- Place the mixture in a piping bag or ziploc bag with the corner cut off and fill the cavities of a 6-donut mold tray 3/4 full. Gently tap the tray on the countertop to settle the mixture. Place in the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes.
- While the donuts are cooking, make the blackberry glaze. Add the blackberries and lemon juice to a food processor and pulse until pureed. If you'd like the blackberry glaze de-seeded, strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve into a small pot. Use the back of a large spoon or spatula to press the puree through the sieve. If not de-seeding the puree, transfer the puree to a small pot.
- Heat the blackberry puree on low heat and add the coconut butter and maple syrup. Add one tablespoon of water at a time to reach the desired consistency and turn off the heat.
- Once the donuts have finished cooking, remove from the pan and let cool for a minute or two. Dip the donuts halfway in the glaze to coat. Sprinkle lemon zest on top.
Nutrition
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Have wanted to try this for a while now, but was wondering – have you (or anyone else who’s tried this) made a muffin version? Did it work out similarly?
Great recipe Lisa – here in Toronto and trying to limit carbs and sugar so this is fantastic !
Q : can you verify total carb load per donut? I see 32 carbs listed below so can I assume the 6 donuts contain 32 x 6 ?
thx!
Hi Marylee – Yes! The nutritional information is per donut :)
All of Lisa’s recipes are always beginner-proof!! they work no matter what!! So thankful for having found her website!
Hello, I used tapioca flour instead of arrowroot, and erythritol instead of honey to reduce calories and it was absolutely fantastic :) Thank you 🙏
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Any chance you might know if I can sub the eggs/egg whites with an alternative?
Please elaborate on exactly how much lemon juice and lemon zest? Our lemon tree produces quite a variety of sizes of lemons. It would be nice to know how much the recipe needs exactly. Im super excited to make this for my mom for Mother’s Day as she LOVES lemons!
I made this for our move up celebration as my little girl was going into third grade. they came out so so good. I was even able to eat them since I have RA therefore I am extremely cautious to what I eat. thank you for sharing. I enjoy all of your recipes because you use very clean ingredients compared to many other sites I had used in the past.
Happy to hear these donuts turned out perfectly Ruth!
Thank you Lisa for this recipe. Kids LOVE! I had to substitute the arrowroot flour for tapioca flour since I did not have any but seemed to work well. I used the frosting from your chocolate cake recipe without the cacao powder for the kids. AMAZING! My child will ask that I make her something and request that I I use your recipes because they are always good. Makes a momma proud!
Hi Renee – Wow! I’m so thrilled to hear your kids love my recipes – especially when it comes to desserts :)
What would be a good sub for the coconut butter in the glaze?
Hi Erin – unfortunately, I don’t know of any other good sub for this recipe.
Found this recipe on Pinterest! Do you think coconut oil could sub for the coconut butter? I don’t have any butter on hand and I’m not sure it’s something I’d use up if I bought it. Thanks :)
Unfortunately no as coconut butter has a different texture/melting point to coconut oil.
Could I sub cassava flour for the almond flour? I have a coconut and almond sensitivity. I read your article on cassava flour and it being a 1:1 ratio w/ wheat flour so I was curious where that stacks up w/ almond.
Cassava flour is not typically a 1:1 with almond flour. Unfortunately, it really depends on the recipe. You’d have to play around with the cassava flour for this recipe. Sorry!
Have a wonderful and safe trip! I know that last minute rush feeling but it’s all worth it in the end!
I love, love, love how many blackberries are in this glaze! It looks and sounds amazing. Have the best time in Portugal Lisa, xx!
I’m ALL about the blackberries. Thanks Sherrie! And I just got settled in Lisbon (yay!)…so I’m off to explore. Just driving through the city already has me in love with it though! ;) x
A question about the oven temperature. 250 degrees Fahrenheit seems awfully low. Did you mean 350?
Hi Roberta – yes, it should be 350. Thanks for the catch!
Beautiful donuts dedicated to your mom! And even though I’m not a fan of the seeds, it’s good to know that leaving them in is the way to get the most flavor. Thanks for the tip! Wishing you safe travels and lots of fun on your trip – looking forward to the great recaps! :)
You could definitely leave the seeds out as well. It’s just personal preference (though I know seeds in teeth is never fun!). ;) Thanks Liz!!