These healthy air fryer donuts were made with lots of love, hanger and chocolate cravings. After trying a few times I found the perfect combination of ingredients to get both a delicious flavor and a great texture.
This recipe requires a little bit of patience, but believe me, once you try these donuts you’ll know it was worth it. In addition, if you follow my instructions it’ll be easy-peasy, using ingredients that you can easily find in any supermarket.
Their texture is not exactly as fluffy as a regular donut, but more like a very soft and kind of spongy cookie. Anyhow, they are absolutely delicious! Also, the lemon zest and vanilla extract combined with the sweetness from the dates and stevia powder adds an incredible flavor.
Apart from being low sugar and gluten-free, these healthy donuts have a balanced combination of healthy fats, protein and carbs, which makes them the perfect sweet breakfast, snack or dessert. They are filling, healthy and completely delicious! Even the healthy dessert skeptics will love them.
How to make these healthy air fryer donuts
Ingredients (15-16 donuts):
- 7 gr of active dry yeast
- ¼ cup of warm water
- 1/8 cup of warm oat milk
- 1 tbsp of honey or maple syrup
- 1/8 cup of date paste (soak 4-5 pitted Medjool dates in warm water for at least 30 minutes, place them in a high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbsp of coconut oil
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp of lemon zest (grate a lemon’s peel, avoiding the white part)
- A pinch of salt
- Stevia powder (for some extra sweetness)
- 2 cups + ¼ cup of oat flour
- 1 cup of almond flour
- Optional toppings: 35 gr of dark chocolate, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, a handful of chopped almonds
Notes:
- You can also use the oven. In that case bake for 10 minutes at 180ºC-200ºC depending on the oven (356ºC-392ºF) or until the donuts are golden.
- These donuts are delicious on their own, but if you want to go a little bit extra, dip them into melted chocolate and spread some chopped nuts on top
Instructions:
- Mix the active dry yeast, warm water, oat milk and the tbsp of honey in a bowl. Set it aside for about 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast mixture becomes frothy
- Sift the flours and add the rest of dry ingredients (lemon zest, salt, stevia powder)
- Add the coconut oil, vanilla extract, date paste and eggs
- Add the yeast mixture and mix it all together till you get a slightly sticky dough
- Place it in a bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel or cling film and wait for at least 1 hour. The dough should almost double its size
- Spread some oat flour over a clean surface, split the dough into 4 parts and roll them out to about 1,5 cm of thickness. Use a glass or a donut cutter to cut out the donut shapes
- Repeat the same process with the remaining dough
- Preheat the air fryer to maximum temperature
- Place the donuts in the air fryer basket and spray some coconut or olive oil on them
- Place them in the air fryer and bake for 8-10 minutes at 160ºC (320ºF)
- If you choose to dip them into chocolate, it’s time to melt the chocolate with 1 tbsp of coconut oil (instructions at the end of this recipe)
- Dip one side of the donuts one by one into the melted chocolate and spread some chopped nuts on top
- Done! Enjoy these healthy air fryer donuts. You can eat them for breakfast, as a dessert or as a snack. They can be easily stored in a food container at room temperature or in the fridge.
Tips on how to melt the chocolate:
The easiest way is using the microwave. Place the chocolate together with the tbsp of coconut oil in a heatproof bowl and heat at medium power for 1 minute and then in intervals of 30 seconds. Every time you take it out, stir the chocolate and put it back in the microwave. Another option is melting the chocolate over a Bain Marie. For this you need a pot and a heatproof bowl. Cover the bottom of a pot with water, and place the bowl on top. It is important that this bowl doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot. Then, heat it over low power so that the water takes temperature gradually. Stir the chocolate till it’s completely melted.
Let me know if you liked this recipe in the comments below and of course, if you tried it, don’t forget to mention @thecrazypeanut on social media 🙂
Below you’ll find the nutritional values of this recipe (per donut):
With toppings:
Without toppings:
Healthy Air Fryer Donuts
Equipment
- Air fryer
Ingredients
- 7 gr active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/8 cup warm oat milk
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
- 1/8 cup date paste
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- pinch of salt
- stevia powder
- 2,25 cups oat flour
- 1 cup almond flour
Toppings
- 35 gr dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- chopped almonds
Instructions
- Mix the active dry yeast, warm water, oat milk and the tbsp of honey in a bowl. Set it aside for about 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast mixture becomes frothy
- Sift the flours and add the rest of dry ingredients (lemon zest, salt, stevia powder)
- Add the coconut oil, vanilla extract, date paste and eggs
- Add the yeast mixture and mix it all together till you get a slightly sticky dough
- Place it in a bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel or cling film and wait for at least 1 hour. The dough should almost double its size
- Spread some oat flour over a clean surface, split the dough into 4 parts and roll them out to about 1.5 cm of thickness. Use a glass or a donut cutter to cut out the donut shapes
- Repeat the same process with the remaining dough
- Preheat the air fryer at maximum temperature
- Place the donuts in the air fryer basket and spray some coconut or olive oil on them
- Place them in the air fryer and bake for 8-10 minutes at 160ºC (320ºF)
- If you choose to dip them into chocolate, it's time to melt the chocolate with 1 tbsp of coconut oil (instructions at the end of this recipe)
- Dip one side of the donuts one by one into the melted chocolate and spread some chopped nuts on top
