This recipe for grain-free spice donuts is a more advanced SCD™ (Specific Carbohydrate Diet™) recipe because it uses date syrup and date sugar. I am including a standard SCD substitution in the recipe for those who would rather just use honey. The donuts will still taste great!
According to BreakingTheViciousCycle.Info date syrup and date sugar may be tried after some time on the diet with no symptoms but is not recommended. When I first started SCD™ the recommendation was that date sugar could be tried six months after symptoms have cleared so that is a more recent update. I would try very small amounts at first if it’s something you are interested in adding to your diet. For me, date sugar is something I only want in small amounts once in a while. I do like it for making cinnamon toast if you have an SCD bread you like and in that case, I just sprinkle on a little. It also works well for a crisp in which you can judge how much you would want to use.
For this recipe, the date sugar is only in the glaze, which I lightly have on top of the donuts.
I have never heard of restriction on date syrup until I recently read the updated list on the Breaking the Vicious Cycle site. I don’t use a ton of date syrup because it’s expensive, so for me it’s always been used in moderation.
What kind of Date Syrup and Date Sugar do you use?
You can make date syrup on the stove by cooking dates with water until you get the right consistency. I typically buy by date syrup. For both date syrup and date sugar I use D’Vash. They confirmed, as of this writing, that there are no hidden ingredients in their products. I tried date sugar many years ago and didn’t care for it because it was very course and thick, but when D’Vash came out with their date sugar this year, I decided to give it another try.
The D’Vash sugar is much finer than the date sugar I’d had in the past and I like it much better. It’s a little powdery in texture, which makes it good for frosting, so I decided to try it for this glaze. It worked great!
What is Date Sugar?
Date sugar is simply dates that have been dried so they start to crystallize and then they are finely ground into “sugar.” There is no need for any additional ingredients.
Making a Date Sugar Glaze
I made the date sugar glaze the traditional say using a little butter and almond milk. I found I had to use a little more milk to get the right consistency than making glaze with powdered sugar in the past. If you want to be able to drizzle a glaze you will need more liquid and you may want to increase the amount of vanilla, or other flavoring you’re using, because it will dilute a bit.
Why Date Sweeteners?
I like using date sweetener for something or I will combine it with honey to somewhat replicate using sugar and brown sugar in a recipe. Dates have a richer flavor than honey and that is what I wanted for these spice donuts. It’s really a matter of personal taste. Date syrup is also not as sweet as honey and sometimes that is what I’m looking for.
Do I have to use date syrup and date sugar for this recipe?
You don’t have to use the date sweeteners for this recipe. If you prefer honey, you can substitute that one for one instead of the date syrup. You can also make a glaze using honey. It will be a little sticker, but it will work. You may want to add a little more butter and decrease the amount of honey to get the right texture.
What do I need to make Grain-Free Spiced Donuts with Cinnamon Glaze
Equipment:
- Small and Medium mixing bowls
- Electric mixer or stand mixer
- Mixing spoon
- Silicon donut pans
- Baking sheet
Donut Ingredients:
- Eggs
- Coconut milk (no guar gum or other fillers)
- Date syrup (or honey)
- Vanilla
- Butter
- Almond or Cashew flour
- Coconut flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground cloves
- Ground ginger
- Ground Allspice
- Ground Nutmeg
Glaze ingredients:
- Date sugar (or honey)
- Butter
- Vanilla
- Almond milk
Equipment
- 2 Mini Silicon Donut Pans
Ingredients
Donuts
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup butter – melted
- ¼ cup coconut milk (or other nut milk)
- ¼ cup date syrup (or sub honey)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup almond or cashew flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- coconut oil for pans
Cinnamon Glaze
- ½ cup Date Sugar (or sub honey)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup almond milk (add more as needed)
- ½ tsp butter – softened
Instructions
Donuts
- Heat oven to 350F°
- Lightly oil two mini-donut pans with coconut oilcoconut oil for pans
- Add eggs, melted butter, coconut milk, date syrup, and vanilla to a medium mixing bowl4 large eggs, ¼ cup butter – melted, ¼ cup coconut milk (or other nut milk), ¼ cup date syrup (or sub honey), 1 tsp vanilla
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, and spices to mixing bowl½ cup almond or cashew flour, ¼ cup coconut flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ground cloves, ¼ tsp ground ginger, ¼ tsp ground allspice
- Mix on low speed until everything is just combined
- Continue mixing on medium speed for one minute – until batter is smooth
- Fill donut pans so each is just about full. One large scoop will fill up one donut space
- Bake for 25 minutes – donuts should be just firm on top
- Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes
- Carefully remove donuts from pans and cool completely on rack – 20 – 30 minutes
Cinnamon Glaze
- Add date sugar to small mixing bowl
- Stir in cinnamon
- Add vanilla
- Pour in half of the almond milk and stir to combine all dry ingredients
- Add the rest of the almond milk and stir briskly to combine
- Stir briskly until glaze starts to appear shiny
- Add more almond milk to reach your desired consistency
- When donuts are cool, put donuts one by one face down in the glaze and gently twist to coat
- Store donuts in refrigerator or freezer to solidify glaze
- Grain-Free Blueberry Yogurt Bars - April 22, 2024
- Three Ingredient Blueberry Jam – No Sugar No Pectin - April 21, 2024
- Peanut Butter Bliss Bites – No Refined Sugar - March 29, 2024