I have the PERFECT Mother’s Day breakfast/dessert for you guys to make this weekend! These vegan strawberry lemonade donuts are out of this world and so dang delicious. It’s lemony with diced strawberries throughout and has the most tasty strawberry lemon glaze that is reminiscent of strawberry lemonade. The donuts are light, fluffy, moist, and just scream spring/summer. The secret to getting that lemon flavor is not in the juice (although that helps), but it’s all in the zest! Don’t leave the zest out or else you won’t get much of a lemon flavor in the donut!

I love lemon anything and these donuts are one of my favorites. They also look beautiful too…your mom is going to be SO impressed. If you don’t have a donut pan, I highly recommend you getting one! I use mine all the time…maybe because I’m obsessed with donuts! #worthit However, you can try baking it in a muffin pan (you might need to bake it for longer though, so keep an eye on it). Anyways, these donuts are super easy to make and can be made gluten-free if needed.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour (or GF all-purpose flour)
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp sea salt
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1.5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp avocado oil (or melted coconut oil/vegan butter)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 strawberries, finely diced and smashed
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and spray a donut pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) together until well combined. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (lemon zest, almond milk, lemon juice, avocado oil, and vanilla extract) until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a spatula until just combined. Do not over mix! Fold in the strawberries.
Spoon the batter evenly among the 6 donut cavities of the pan, filling it basically to the top. With both hands, lightly drop the pan on the counter a few times to make sure there are no air bubbles. Bake for 14-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and donuts are lightly golden. Let them sit in the pan for 3 minutes and then carefully remove donuts and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing.
To make the glaze, place the diced strawberries in a bowl. Mash them with a fork so the juices release. Add the powdered sugar, zest, and lemon juice. Using the fork, stir until all the glaze ingredients come together until smooth. It takes a good minute of stirring for the glaze to come together. Don’t be tempted to add more lemon juice because the glaze will become too thin. If you are having a hard time getting the glaze to mix, set it aside for a few minutes and the strawberries will continue to release moisture. Then stir again. You don’t want a super thin glaze or else it won’t stay on the donuts as well. Once the donuts are cooled, dip them in the glaze. Use a spoon to scoop some glaze with strawberry chunks onto the tops of the donuts. Place back onto the cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath to catch the drippings. Let it sit for 30 minutes for the glaze to set. Enjoy! Best eaten fresh/day of.

Servings: 6

Author: valeria.chao

Vegan Strawberry Lemonade Donuts (gluten-free friendly)