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Gingerbread Donuts with Vanilla Bean Frosting

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Baked low carb gingerbread donuts with a sweet vanilla cream cheese glaze. This post is sponsored by GO Veggie! and Kitchen PLAY.

Low Carb Gingerbread Donuts

I receive a lot of questions about possible substitutions in my baked goods.  Sometimes it’s about convenience, because the reader doesn’t have exactly the right ingredients on hand. Sometimes it’s about personal preference and taste.  But oftentimes, it’s about dietary intolerances. Dairy intolerance can go hand in hand with wheat or gluten intolerance, making it tough for some readers to follow my recipes to the letter.  I am more than happy to make suggestions on dairy-free substitutions when I can. It’s fairly easy to recommend almond milk in place of regular milk or coconut milk in place of heavy cream. And coconut oil is always a great sub for butter. But there are some places where it’s trickier and I am less confident in my suggestions.  Cream cheese is one of those areas.

Dairy-Free Gingerbread Donuts with Cream Cheese Glaze

I was invited to take part in the GO Veggie! Spread the Holiday Cheer campaign on Kitchen PLAY, and I knew it was a great chance to try out a dairy-free cream cheese alternative. At first I considered making an appetizer or vegetable side dish, but that would have been too easy, and I wouldn’t have gotten a true feel for the product. The majority of questions I receive about substitutions are geared toward my baked goods.  And as I had been thinking about Gingerbread Donuts for quite some time, it was the ideal recipe on which to experiment. I could put some of the cream cheese both in the donuts themselves, and then frost them with a cream cheese glaze. And Gingerbread Donuts…now that just screams holiday brunch, doesn’t it?

Low Carb, Gluten-Free Gingerbread Donuts

The GO Veggie! Dairy Free, Vegan Cream Cheese Alternative worked perfectly for both the donut batter and the glaze.  It beat in smoothly and combined well with the other low carb, gluten-free ingredients. And the donuts were delicious, as evidenced by the happy grins on my kids’ faces. My feisty four-year old is often a tough sell, as she doesn’t like anything unfamiliar and won’t hesitate for a second to tell you if she doesn’t like something. These donuts? She didn’t even bat an eyelash as she gobbled hers down. Success!

Print
Gingerbread Donuts with Vanilla Bean Frosting
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 
Baked low carb gingerbread donuts with a sweet vanilla cream cheese glaze. Dairy-free and gluten-free.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Breakfast
Servings: 12 donuts
Ingredients
Donuts:
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1/4 cup Swerve Sweetener
  • 1/4 cup egg white powder or whey protein powder unflavoured
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 oz dairy-free cream cheese softened (can also use regular)
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 2 tbsp Kelapo or other extra virgin coconut oil
  • 2 tsp molasses
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp liquid stevia extract
  • 1/3 cup almond milk unsweetened
Glaze:
Instructions
  1. For the donuts, preheat oven to 325F and grease a standard-sized donut tin well.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon cloves and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, beat together GO Veggie! Vegan cream cheese, eggs and coconut oil. Beat in molasses, vanilla and stevia until smooth.
  4. Beat in almond flour mixture in two additions, alternating with almond milk. Fill donut tin cavities 2/3 full (you will need to do 2 batches) and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and donuts are firm to the touch.
  5. Remove and let cool in pan 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Re-grease donut tin and repeat with remaining batter.
  6. For the glaze, beat GO Veggie! Dairy Free Vegan cream cheese with sweetener until well combined. Beat in almond milk, vanilla extract and vanilla seeds until smooth. Spread over cooled donuts.
Recipe Notes

Serves 12. Each serving has 6g of carbs and 2g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4g.

205 Calories; 18g Fat (74.1% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 55mg Cholesterol; 193mg Sodium.

Nutrition Facts
Gingerbread Donuts with Vanilla Bean Frosting
Amount Per Serving (1 doughnut)
Calories 218 Calories from Fat 162
% Daily Value*
Fat 18g28%
Cholesterol 55mg18%
Sodium 193mg8%
Carbohydrates 6g2%
Fiber 2g8%
Protein 8g16%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by GO Veggie! and Kitchen PLAY.  As always, all thoughts, opinions, words,  ideas, random tangents and incoherent ramblings are my own.

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Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

  4. Mmm…gingerbread with cream cheese frosting…yes, please! Maybe now’s the time to buy that donut pan, after all. Thanks for another scrumptious looking low carb treat!

    Reply

  6. Ooh, pretty…
    I can see doing something like this, previously I would have battered apples and then made doughnuts on them, but… this is a better idea.

    I’m interested in trying the cream cheese. I’ve enjoyed Tofutti, and would try it stuffed in dates with chopped almonds …very yummy.

    Reply

  7. Can you still use reg cream cheese too? And can I sub vanilla or plain protein powder instead of hemp? Need to make these asap 😉

    Reply

  9. I try to limit the saturated fat that I consume, especially from animal sources. This means that I often use coconut oil in place of butter. I hadn’t previously looked into substitutes for cream cheese, but since it looks like GO Veggie! Cream Cheese Alternative is probably coconut oil based I’d love to try it in a lot of things. A good cream cheese icing (on carrot cake of course) would probably be my first choice.

    Reply

  13. Oh no, it’s as if you peeked into my Secret Book of Food Wishes.

    If someone was eager to attempt this recipe but didn’t own a doughnut pan, would there be another way to prepare them? As bars in a square pan, for example? Apologies if this is an appallingly ignorant question. I am appallingly ignorant.

    Reply

  20. Repeating the question from above – can these be made with whey protein powder, or does it have to be the hemp? I have a donut pan on my Christmas list thanks to so many of your recipes!! Can’t wait to try!

    Reply

  22. This recipe sounds yummy. I can’t wait to try it as my son LOVES donuts and I am forever trying to steer him clear from them ~ LOL!!!

    Reply

  32. I LOVE gingerbread… Especially during the holidays. To imagine it in a donut form with a latte… Does it get any better?

    Reply

  34. Now if only my stomach weren’t intolerant to erythritol these days. I can’t seem to find anything as awesome to use in it’s place. 🙁

    These look like doughnuts I’ll spend all day dreaming about by the way.

    Reply

  47. Really enjoy your recipes – thank you SO much! I’d try the cream cheese substitute in my favorite dip recipes! Thank you. Faith.

    Reply

  52. I am making a recipe called Texas Cranberry Chutney that you serve over cream cheese with crackers for a Thanksgiving appetizer. I’m thinking I should use GO Veggie cream cheese alternative for those that cannot have dairy. Thank you Carolyn for bringing this timely post…very helpful!

    Reply

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