I love when recipes get created spontaneously and unexpectedly. Willow has been on a HUGE pink kick…I’m talking smoothies, clothes, and coloring everything pink. My favorite is when she drew a picture of our family and gave Josh pink hair.
Last week she asked for pink donuts and at first I thought, “how in the heck am I going to do that?” Then it dawned on me….duh, BEETS! We’ve been making Hunter’s Red Velvet Smoothie quite a bit and had some leftover beets, so this recipe was fully inspired by you, Hunter!
Willow grabbed a chair and helped me get to work. Rather than creating an entirely new donut recipe, I used my Baked Coconut Pecan Mini Donut recipe as a base (since it has been so popular among my readers), but I made some adjustments. And the best part….it’s all done in the Vitamix!
So here’s a simple Valentine’s Day treat that you can enjoy for breakfast or dessert!
These are best eaten the day they’re made, so share with friends & family or cut the recipe in half if you want them all to yourself 😉
RED VELVET MINI DONUTS {vegan, gluten-free, soy-free refined sugar-free, gum-free}
Makes 24 mini donuts
What you need:
- 1 cup King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour* (or your choice of g/f all-purpose)
- 1/4 cup finely ground raw pecans
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cacao powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- Flax egg (1 TBSP ground flax + 3 TBSP water)
- 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup raw beets, chopped
- 3 Tablespoons coconut oil**
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*I like to use King Arthur as it doesn’t contain chickpea flour (can be overpowering in flavor) or xanthan gum.
**For an oil-free option, you can replace the coconut oil with full fat coconut milk.
HOW TO:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a small bowl, prepare your flax egg and set aside.
- Pour the milk and ACV into your Vitamix and allow to sit for a few minutes. While you’re waiting, lightly grease your donut pans using coconut oil or avocado oil.
- Next, add the beets, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and flax egg to the Vitamix and blend until smooth.
- Add all of the dry ingredients and blend again until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed.
- Fill your donut pan “holes” approximately halfway-3/4 full. I used a tablespoon to fill each one. You can also just pour the batter directly from the blender…I made a huge mess doing it that way!
- Place in the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the donuts to set in the pan for 5-8 minutes. Allow them to cool completely before glazing them.
We’ve had our fridge stocked with beets and Willow wanted pink frosting…this was the best I could do with what we had!
Coconut Beet “Frosting”
- 1.5 cups shredded coconut
- 3 Tablespoons yogurt (plain or vanilla)
- 1 Tablespoon raw chopped beets
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- sweeten to taste
In a food processor or high-speed blender, process the coconut until it starts to resemble coconut butter. Then add in the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. I actually wanted a bit of texture to the frosting, so I didn’t process the shredded coconut completely. Sweeten to taste with either pure maple syrup or coconut nectar. If you don’t have coconut shreds on hand, you can use already made (store bought) raw coconut butter – I’d start with 1/2 cup.
Simple Chocolate Glaze:
- 1.5-2 Tablespoons raw cacao powder
- 2-3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
(Another simple way is to just melt some Enjoy Life chocolate chips with some milk like I did HERE)
Whisk the two ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. You can either drizzle it on the donuts or dunk the entire donut.
Other options:
- sprinkling some coconut shreds on top
- use a maple sugar or coconut sugar dusting (see my coconut pecan donut recipe for details)
- you can skip toppings all together for a less sweet option
- OR if you want to really go all out, you can add some chocolate chips to the batter! If you ask Willow she’d tell you to use chocolate chips AND a glaze 🙂
Let me know if you give these a try!
Thanks for stopping by!
❤
Be Sol-Ful Living 
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