Pumpkin Spice Donuts with Chocolate Ganache Frosting - gluten-free, no refined sugar, can be vegan, and totally delicious!
These pumpkin spice donuts with a dense, satisfying, chocolate ganache topping are totally delicious! They are also gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, and they can be vegan.
1 1/4cupsof regular flour or gluten-free flour blendI mix of equal parts of: potato starch, teff flour, quinoa flour, and garbanzo flour, but most gluten-free flour blends should work here
1/4teaspoonxanthan gum or guar gumonly if you are using gluten-free flour
1/4teaspoonground cinnamon
1/8teaspoonground nutmeg
1/8teaspoonground ginger
1teaspoonbaking powderincrease to 1 1/2 teaspoons if you are using flax eggs
6tablespoonsdatespreferably Medjool (because they blend up creamier), pits removed
1/4cupalmond butteror, if you want this to be nut-free, replace the almond butter with another 1/4 cup dates and a little extra water
1/4teaspoonvanilla extract
1/4cupwaterpossibly more
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
If you are using flax eggs, mix them up and let them stand for a few minutes.
Put a few drops of oil into one hole of a donut pan or a muffin pan, then use a silicone pastry brush or a paper towel to spread the oil all over the insides of the holes for 12 donuts or 12 muffins. If you are using silicone molds, you may want to put them onto a cookie sheet to give them extra support. If you are using donut pans, also oil the stems that go up in the middle of the donuts, so that the batter doesn't stick to those, either.
In a food processor, blend the dates with the eggs or flax eggs until the mixture is smooth. There will be pieces of dates visible, but it should be a puree without big chunks.
Add the rest of the donut ingredients. Blend until well mixed.
Put the donut batter into the 12 donut or muffin molds that you oiled. Tap the pans to help even out the batter.
Bake donuts for 18 minutes or muffins for 23 minutes.
Remove from the oven. As soon as the pans are cool enough to handle, turn them upside down and pop the donuts out (maybe onto the cookie sheet they were resting on) so that they don't get soggy sitting in their own steam in the pans.
Let cool.
Place all ganache ingredients into the smallest container of a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth. You may need to add more water to get it to blend.
Spread the ganache on top of the donuts or muffins.