These bright red cake donuts are baked in the oven, super easy to make, and happen to be vegan – meaning no dairy or eggs – and the ingredients are all affordable pantry staples.
I wanted a version of red velvet cake donuts for our anniversary that we could share with our whole family, vegans included. The goal was to combine our wedding desserts of vegan donuts and red velvet cake. I started with my base Vanilla Wacky Donuts recipe, with their proper cafe-style density and chew, and adapted further to get the perfect mix of our favourite red velvet flavour.
The result is my Red Velvet Wacky Donuts recipe. It can be easily adapted to other dietary needs, but it’s already dairy-free and vegan! Check out my notes at the bottom of the page for a list of potential ingredient swaps.
Recipe adapted from: the Vanilla Wacky Donuts recipe.
Red Velvet Wacky Donuts
These bright red cake donuts are baked in the oven, super easy to make, and happen to be vegan. They’re a bright red colour, have a soft bouncy chew, and the perfect hint of tangy cocoa flavour. Bring these to work, a casual anniversary party, or anywhere you want to impress with little effort.
Servings: 8
Equipment
- Donut Pan
Ingredients
- 2 cup all-purpose flour (256g)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (8g)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder (7.5g)
- ½ tsp baking soda (2.5g)
- ½ tsp salt (3g)
- 1½ tbsp cocoa powder (8g)
- ¾ ccup white sugar (150g)
- ¼ ccup brown sugar (50g)
- 6 tbsp vegan butter, melted (86g)
- 1 tbsp vinegar (15 mL)
- 1 tbsp applesauce, unsweetened (15mL)
- 2 tsp vanilla (8g)
- ⅔ cup soy milk, room temperature (160 mL)
- 2½ tsp vinegar (12.5 mL)
- 1½ tbsp red food colouring (20 mL)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F, and grease your donut pans. I brush my pans with vegetable oil.
- In a small bowl, combine milk, 2½ tsp of vinegar, and red food colouring. Stir and set aside for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
- Sift and lightly whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and sugars.
- Combine melted butter, 1 tbsp vinegar, applesauce, and vanilla in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add to dry ingredients and stir, or mix on low for about 30 seconds, until just combined. Batter will resemble sandy crumbs.
- Add the thickened red milk to the batter and mix on medium-high speed, about 30 seconds, until combined. Batter should be smooth and spoonable, like a thick pancake batter.
- Fill donut molds ¾ full, no matter what type of donut molds you use. I usually use a cookie scoop to spoon batter into molds and then spread the mounds out evenly.
- Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes (this makes a nice round top when they bake), then lower oven temperature to 350°F without opening the oven until the donuts are done (timing below). Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, or the tops are firm and spring back to the touch.
- For large 4″ donuts: bake at 350°F for an additional 12-15 minutes.
- For mini 1″ donuts: bake at 350°F for an additional 6-8 minutes.
- Cool in pans completely before trying to take out of the molds, at least 15 minutes. This allows them to firm up and release easier.
- Once cooled, drizzle or dunk the donuts in a simple icing sugar glaze, like this one – I highly recommend using the cream cheese glaze!
Notes
Sugar: Swap out all or part of the sugar for white sugar, brown sugar, or your sugar of choice.
Vegan Butter: Swap for coconut oil, or dairy butter if you don’t mind straying away from vegan. If you replace with vegetable or olive oil, the texture of the donuts will be fluffier and less dense once they cool.
Vinegar: Swap for apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. The acidity of vinegar or lemon juice is where the magic of this recipe happens. The acid reacts with the baking soda to create the lift that replaces eggs, and reacts with the protein in the milk to replace buttermilk. The flavours of vinegar or lemon juice themselves can’t be tasted, other than the subtle tang that red velvet is known for.
Vanilla: Swap for vanilla bean paste for more intense vanilla flavour, for almond extract for a slightly sweeter flavour, or for rum extract for a slightly warmer flavour.
Soy Milk: Soy milk adds to the chew of the donut, and can be replaced by Oat Milk, Dairy Milk, or any other milk you prefer. Milk can also be replaced with water in a pinch, but water won’t react with vinegar in the same way to make the “buttermilk,” which gives these donuts their velvety texture.
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