Vegan Chocolate Glaze Doughnuts (Raised)

These vegan chocolate glaze doughnuts are so worth your time! The combination of pillowy soft raised doughnuts and delicious mirror chocolate glaze is super satisfying!

Jump to:

• 🍩 Vegan Chocolate Glaze Doughnut
• 🍫 Chocolate Glaze Doughnut Ingredients
• 🥣 How to Make Doughnuts
• 💫 Tips for Best Vegan Chocolate Glaze Doughnuts
• ❓ FAQs
• 📖 Recipe
• 🍰 More Vegan Desserts
• 💬 Comments

🍩 Vegan Chocolate Glaze Doughnut

Who doesn't like a simple chocolate glaze donut? This plus a cappuccino used to be my go-to Dunkin Donuts order. The homemade version is much more flavorful!

They're also surprisingly easy to make vegan with a few substitutions.

The yeasted dough makes this a long recipe, but one that is very satisfying to make. You can always break up the work by making the dough a day ahead.

🍫 Chocolate Glaze Doughnut Ingredients

Yeast Doughnuts

• All-Purpose Flour: I used King Arthur's unbleached AP flour that has 11.7% protein content. No sifting necessary. You may also use bread flour which is higher in protein and therefore provides more elasticity to the dough to trap more air pockets and make the donuts even softer.
• Instant Yeast: Feel free to use active dry yeast as well. In either case, make sure to bloom the yeast first with lukewarm water and a bit of sugar to test whether it's still alive.
• Aquafaba: Replacing eggs has never been easier! This diluted "chickpea broth" has dissolved starch and saponins which will slow the collapse of foam and provide stabilization.
• Cornstarch: Aquafaba isn't a great binding agent on its own so we need to add another source of starch.

• Sugar: We'll use granulated sugar. For a 100% vegan donut, pay attention to the type of sugar you're using. In the U.S., the sugar will definitely be vegan if it's organic, “unrefined”, or made from beets.
• Salt: The recipe is written for regular table salt. Double the volume if using Kosher (same weight).
• Non-dairy milk: I use soy milk where the only ingredients are soybean and water. Any unflavored, unsweetened plant milk should work. Just be mindful of options with strong aromas such as coconut milk as they may impart some flavor.
• Vegan Butter: Room temperature butter added towards the end of kneading will somewhat soften the gluten structure for a more fluffy and shiny dough. I used Earth Balance salted sticks.
• Frying Oil: Using an oil with a high smoke point is essential. I used vegetable oil. Safflower, peanut, soybean, sunflower, or canola oils will work as well.

Chocolate Mirror Glaze

• Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips: I used 46% Guittard chips. You may use any type you like the most. If using extra dark chocolate chips, I'd suggest adding some powdered sugar to make up for the bitterness.
• Vegan Butter: This is what makes the chocolate glaze rich and shiny without having to temper chocolate.
• Plant Milk: I used soy milk, but any "fatty" milk (think cashew or coconut) will do.

🥣 How to Make Doughnuts

Make the Egg Replacer:

1. Mix the aquafaba with cornstarch and set aside.

Bloom the Yeast:

1. Mix the yeast with lukewarm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar; set aside until frothy. 

Knead and First Proof:

1. Place all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt) into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the aquafaba & cornstarch mixture, soymilk, and yeast mixture.
2. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough somewhat comes together. If you want an easier time kneading, let this coarse mixture rest for 30 minutes to autolyze.
3. Knead for 10 minutes by hand until smooth, or 5 minutes with dough hook with a stand mixer. Add the softened vegan butter and knead for another 2 minutes to combine.
4. Tear a piece of the dough and check if it passes the windowpane test. When the dough is stretched, you should be able to see light through it without the dough tearing. Otherwise, keep kneading to form more gluten bonds.
5. Cover with cling wrap and set aside until doubled in size.
6. This step is optional, but I'd highly recommend gently deflating, reshaping, then refrigerating the dough overnight after the first proof. Chilling the dough overnight develops more flavor and makes it a lot easier to work with the next day.

Roll and Cut:

1. Lightly flour a working surface and place the dough. Gently knead, tap with a rolling pin, and divide into halves. Cover the piece you’re not using with cling wrap.
2. Roll out the dough to ½” thickness and cut with a 3 to 3 ½-inch, sharp doughnut or biscuit cutter. Make faint indentations with the cutter first to maximize the number of donuts. Cut the middle with a small (½ to 1-inch), circular object or use a donut cutter (this is the one I use). Place these donut holes aside.
3. Re-roll the leftover dough, let rest for at least 30 minutes, and repeat—only once.
4. If making filled donuts without a hole, you may also divide the dough into equal portions and roll them into smooth balls instead of cutting them.

Second Proof and Dry:

1. Place each donut onto an individual small piece of parchment paper (4-in by 4-in) and place them onto baking sheets. Put the trays in an oven (that's off) and place a bowl of boiled water next to them. Close the oven door. The steam will prevent skin from forming on the donuts. Alternatively, you can cover the cut donuts with cling wrap.
2. Repeat the cutting and proofing processes for the remaining piece of dough.
3. Let the cut donuts rise for 15 minutes to an hour, depending on your kitchen's climate. Gently poke a cut piece of dough with your index finger and observe. If the indentation stays, your dough is properly proofed and ready to be fried. If the indentation immediately returns to the surface and disappears, you'll need to proof for longer.
4. When the pieces are properly proofed, take them out of the oven (or remove cling wrap) to dry off the skin for a few minutes.

Fry:

1. Start heating the frying oil as soon as the first batch of dough is cut to minimize the chances of overproofing. Pour vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed pan at least 2-3 inches high and checking with a thermometer, heat to 375ºF.
2. Test with a donut hole—they should turn golden brown in 30-45 seconds on each side. Make sure to start frying the batch you started proofing first.
3. Place 2 or 3 donuts into the frying pan at a time along with the parchment paper. Remove the parchment paper after a few seconds with tongs.
4. Let the underside take on a golden brown color (about 45-60 seconds) then turn and fry the second side. Be conservative with the color: when the frying oil drains off the donut, it will seem darker. Chopsticks or a Danish dough whisk are very helpful when turning the donuts.
5. Remove fried donuts with a steel mesh spider and transfer them onto paper towels. Let the donuts cool on a wire rack before glazing.

Make the Glaze:

1. In a small, shallow, and microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and the plant milk then microwave on medium for about 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir in chocolate until melted and smooth.
2. If some of the chocolate is still solid after stirring, continue to microwave at 15-second intervals, until the glaze is completely smooth.
3. Using a microwave is the quickest method to make this chocolate glaze. But if you don't own one, use a double boiler (bain-marie) to melt all the ingredients together.
4. This glaze needs to be used immediately, as it will harden. You can microwave it at 15-second increments again to smoothen it.

Glaze & Dig In:

1. Dip the donuts into the bowl to glaze them. If you are running out of chocolate glaze for the last few donuts, drizzle the glaze over the donuts instead. Enjoy!
2. These donuts are best enjoyed on the very same day you make them. To eat on the next day, make sure to glaze right after cooling and keep it at room temperature in an airtight container. You may also freeze fried donuts individually and thaw & glaze them when ready to eat.

💫 Tips for Best Vegan Chocolate Glaze Doughnuts

• The most important thing to remember is to use a scale! With as many ingredients and a yeasted dough, this is the only way to make sure you're following the recipe.
• Times for kneading and proofing are estimates. Go for the windowpane and poke tests to judge the next steps.
• For more vegan donut details and troubleshooting suggestions, check out this glazed yeast donut post.
• You can also make this into a Boston cream donut by not punching out holes and filling it with pastry cream:

❓ FAQs

Did you make this vegan chocolate glaze doughnuts recipe? I'd love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a star🌟 rating below. This helps me run Aegean Delight and I always appreciate it 🙂

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