Vegan Brown Sugar Grapefruit Donuts

These vegan brown sugar grapefruit donuts have a delicate tanginess from the grapefruit mixed with a beautifully rich, caramel flavor from the brown sugar. These cake donuts can be baked or made in the air fryer!

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Why’ll You’ll Love these Brown Sugar Grapefruit Donuts

Looking for a way to use up some cold weather citrus? These baked (or air-fried!) Vegan Brown Sugar Grapefruit Donuts absolutely do the trick. I definitely have a weak spot for donuts. Fun fact, whenever I visit a new city I look up whether they have a vegan donut spot!

• Air Fried or Oven Baked: whether you have an air fryer, toaster oven or full sized oven, you can make this recipe!

• Unique Flavors: These cake donuts are the classic donut you know and love but with a little twist.

• They’re Fast and Easy to Make: ready from start to finish in under 30 minutes.

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Ingredients

You’ll need the following for this vegan donut recipe and the grapefruit glaze:

• Grapefruit
• Brown Sugar
• All Purpose Flour
• Coconut Oil
• Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer
• Almond Milk, or other dairy free milk
• Pure Vanilla Extract
• Baking Powder
• Nutmeg
• Salt
• Powdered Sugar

Air Fryer Donuts

I’m a fan of both baked and fried donuts. I recently got an air fryer which is what inspired this recipe.

Can air-fried donuts come anywhere close to the fried alternative?

I also wanted to see if they were better than baked donuts! In the recipe below, I have instructions for both a baked version and an air-fried version, but I’ll briefly go over the differences here.

Air Fried vs. Baked

I found that the air fryer donut cooked faster and had a bit of a crispier “shell” on the outside. The interior of the donut was also a bit denser.

The baked versions took about 3 times as long to cook and were fluffier on the outside. I honestly really enjoyed both versions, and I found the main benefit of air frying them was saving time. 

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Helpful Equipment

The donut pans I’m using in this recipe are by Bellemain.

I used to use a super inexpensive pan I’ve had for years, but I wasn’t getting the ‘donut-ey’ shape I wanted with it. I never got a defined hole in the center! These donut pans from Bellemain are nonstick and give you the best, cute donut shape.

Step By Step Instructions

STEP 1: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the melted coconut oil, brown sugar, and vegan egg replacer. Add in the grapefruit zest, almond milk, grapefruit juice, and vanilla.

STEP 2: On top of the combined liquids, add the flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients together with a fork before combining them with the liquids. The mixture should come together into a thick batter.

STEP 3: Fill the donut pan with the batter. Make sure to only fill the donut pan halfway with batter. If using the oven, bake the donuts for 15 minutes. If using an air fryer, air fry the donuts for 6 minutes. 

STEP 4: Let the donuts cool completely on a wire rack before icing them. 

STEP 5: While the donuts cool, make the icing by whisking together the powdered sugar, brown sugar, melted vegan butter, vanilla, almond milk, grapefruit zest, and grapefruit juice in a medium-sized bowl.

STEP 6: Place a sheet of parchment paper under your wire cooling rack (for easy cleanup).

STEP 7: Ice the donuts by dunking one side of them into the icing bowl. Place the donuts back on the wire cooling rack. Top the donuts with more grapefruit zest.

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Pro Tips for the Best Vegan Donuts

A few important notes before we begin:

Vegan Egg Replacer

To make a good vegan cake donut, you’ll want to make sure you’re subbing in the right ingredients for the traditional egg and butter. I’ve tried too many recipes where my ‘donuts’ turned out more like a muffin in the shape of a donut.

In this recipe, I’m using Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer. It’s my go-to egg replacer because it really holds the donuts together and keeps them from having too much ‘crumb’.

I’ve tried this recipe with a flax egg, and the donuts came out very crumbly and loose in texture (more like a muffin). 

Coconut Oil

In this recipe, I’m using coconut oil which helps keep the donuts moist. If you’re not a fan of coconut flavor, I promise you can’t taste it once these donuts are cooked.

I’ve tried using vegan butter, but again the texture turned out a bit too loose for my liking. 

Filling the Donut Pan

When you fill-up your donut pan with your batter, only fill them halfway! The first few times I made these, I was a little too generous when filling my pan.

These donuts rise a good amount when baked, so filling the pan halfway helps you achieve the perfect donut shape.

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Serving & Storage

You can store these donuts in a Tupperware or airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat them, pop them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.

If you’d like to freeze them, I recommend doing so prior to icing them.

Decorate these cute donuts with dried grapefruit or other dehydrated citrus! Happy donut making!

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Looking for more Vegan Baking Recipes & Donuts?

• Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese Danishes
• Cozy Maple Spiced Coffee Cake
• Maple Glazed Vegan Donuts
• Vegan Biscoff Donuts
• Air Fryer Vegan Donuts

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