These healthier baked gluten-free Lemon Donuts are fluffy and filled with sweet and tart lemon flavor! These make a great Summer breakfast or treat for kids.
Do you like baked donuts?
I love them. Simply because they’re easy to make at home and much healthier than fried donuts.
We do have a place not too far from us that has gluten-free fried donuts one day a week. I LOVE visiting every once in a while! Fried donuts still have a special place in my heart.
But in the meantime, and so I can eat more donuts (without feeling miserable), I make baked gluten-free donuts instead. You’ve probably guessed by now how much I love making things myself. So why not donuts too?
I’ve shared recipes for gluten-free healthy Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry Donuts so far.
Now, I’m excited to share a new Summer flavor with these baked gluten-free Lemon Donuts!
They’re bursting with sweet and tart lemon flavor, and topped with a lemon glaze. There are a few options if you’d like to color your glaze yellow, and don’t forget the sprinkles on top!
These donuts are always a hit with my family. My husband and son love lemon flavor, so anything lemon disappears pretty quick around here. My kids prefer to pick their own sprinkles and top their own donuts, so it becomes a fun Summer treat and activity.
If you haven’t made lemon donuts before, you’ve gotta try some this Summer!
Let’s talk donut details.
First, these donuts are “refined sugar-free,” so instead they’re sweetened with maple syrup or honey. I like to use more natural sugars when I can. If you only have white sugar, you can use an overflowing scoop of 1/4 cup of white sugar in it’s place.
Second, these Lemon Donuts are fluffy and moist because of the plain Greek yogurt. I recommend using a whole or 2% fat plain Greek yogurt. You could also use vanilla yogurt, and omit the vanilla extract in the recipe.
Lastly, be sure to use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend for these donuts. You could also use certified gluten-free oat flour instead, or a 50/50 blend of the two. And of course, plain white flour works too.
The rest of the ingredients for these gluten-free Lemon Donuts are pretty simple, and are probably things you already have on hand: butter, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, egg, baking powder, and salt.
But what about decorating the donuts?!
The lemon glaze is a simple recipe made with milk, lemon juice, vanilla and powdered sugar whisked together.
You can choose to leave the glaze white (and maybe do yellow sprinkles on top!).
Or, you can dye your glaze yellow. If you are okay with using food coloring, 3-4 drops of yellow food coloring should do the trick. A little goes a long way!
If you prefer to use a more natural dye, try turmeric powder! It gives the Lemon Donuts a beautiful earthy golden color. Not a classic lemon color, but a beautiful color nonetheless.
(Pictured below, I’ve used yellow food coloring for the brightest yellow color.)
If you’re looking for a fun Summer treat to make with your kids, give these gluten-free Lemon Donuts a try! They’re sweet, tart, fluffy, moist and so much fun to decorate.
After you try them, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and star rating, below, and/or find me on Instagram and tag me in a picture of your donuts. I love to hear from ya’ll!
If you’re craving more lemon, before you go be sure to check out my healthy Lemon Blueberry Muffins, Lemon Energy Balls and healthier Lemon Cheesecake Bars (all can be made gluten-free!).
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey)
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I prefer Fage 2%)
- 3 tbsp milk of choice (skim, 2%, whole)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3-4 tsp milk of choice (skim, 2%, whole)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- a few drops of yellow food coloring (optional)
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To begin, preheat your oven to 350 and spray two donut pans with non-stick spray.
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter, maple syrup, Greek yogurt, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and whisk together till well combined. Add your egg and briefly whisk it in.
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To the same bowl, add your flour, baking powder and salt and stir together till you have a smooth donut batter.
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Scoop or pipe it into your donut pan till 2/3 way full (or to just under the top lip). Bake for 7-9 minutes, or till fluffy to touch or a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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Let cool entirely before removing from pan. For easy removal, slide a butter knife around the edge of each donut. Flip them out onto a cooling rack.
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To a small mixing bowl, add 3 tsp of milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Whisk till you have a smooth glaze. If needed, add another teaspoon of milk.
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Drizzle on top of your donuts or carefully dip the tops of your donuts into the glaze.
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Add sprinkles if you'd like and devour!
I recommend storing these in an airtight container in the fridge, where they’ll last about a week.
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