Carrot Cake Doughnut Holes

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A classic carrot cake converted to a breakfast recipe with a gluten-free, vegan, grain-free twist! These Carrot Cake Doughnut Holes are made with simple ingredients and baked in the oven for only 6-8 minutes, rolled in coconut sugar, powdered sugar, or both and then dunked in a vegan cream cheese dipping sauce! Traditional carrot cake ain’t got nothin’ on these doughnut holes!

Ok, first things first… is it doughnut or donut?! I suppose when it comes down to it, it really doesn’t matter because no matter which way you spell doughnut, they are delicious. I’ve been longing to make doughnut holes for the blog for a long, long time and actually even bought a doughnut hole pan months ago and it’s just been sitting on my prop shelf because I’ve been too intimidated to try.

And of course, now I’m kicking myself because they are so simple! Truth is, I just get intimidated by gluten-free, vegan baking because it’s so wishy-washy. Sometimes things turn out amazing the first try, and other times it takes me a few tries to get the recipe just right to share with you, either turning out hard as a rock, or not setting up enough to where it’s a pile of mush. In this case, I’m happy to report that these Carrot Cake Doughnut Holes were a one-and-done recipe and they are neither rock hard or mushy, just perfectly moist and delicious. Oh, and the vegan cream cheese dipping sauce is perfection.

I’m starting to notice a trend with my gluten-free, vegan, grain-free baking to make things a little more predictable: 1- use either a banana, applesauce, or both for binding and moisture. 2- use some kind of nut/seed butter. Also adds to the moist factor. 3- get the flour-to-liquid ratio just right, sometimes tricky. You don’t want the batter to look like pancake batter like in some traditional baking recipes. But you also don’t want the batter to be crumbly. Luckily I’m getting better at knowing when my batter is going to provide me with a winner recipe.

Aside from years of practicing, I’ve been taking notes from my other blogger friends like Natalie over at Feasting on Fruit, Julia at Delight Fuel, and Casey at The Mindful Hapa. All of us have ventured into this gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan world, and have learned to navigate around allergy-friendly baking, with grace I might add! #communityovercompetition y’all. I’m a long time fan of baked doughnuts, if you haven’t tried my Coconut Cream Pie Doughnuts, or my Chocolate Coffee Doughnuts you should totally give those a try too, but I think I’m officially declaring myself team doughnut hole right now. There’s something so satisfying about popping one of these into your mouth.

So with Easter coming up and all things Carrot Cake trending right now, we decided to team up and bring you four drool worthy carrot cake recipes! Amongst these Carrot Cake Doughnut Holes brought to you by yours truly, Julia made these No-Bake Carrot Cake Bites– these scrumptious little no-bake carrot cake bites taste just like a traditional slice of carrot cake, but are so much healthier. They are raw, vegan, naturally sweetened, and super easy to make. This is the perfect treat to make and enjoy at home during the holidays.

Casey made Carrot Cake Bars! Not only is this Paleo Carrot Cake gluten free, grain free, and dairy free, but it is also the most MOIST & FLUFFY cake you’ll ever try! This cake is kept moist thanks to the coconut oil, and only lightly sweetened with maple syrup and coconut sugar. It’s also loaded with the best carrot cake add-ins like shredded carrots, coconut flakes, walnuts, and warming spices to give it the traditional carrot cake flavor you’re used to. Topped with a super creamy, homemade vanilla bean cashew cream frosting and you have yourself the perfect better-for-you carrot cake!

And Natalie comes in with a classic Vegan, Gluten-Free Carrot Cake– a vegan gluten-free carrot cake with tangy cashew yogurt frosting on top for the perfect creamy complement to this healthier cake. Simple and SO yummy!

Be sure to check out these ladies’ fun, delicious Carrot Cake recipes and have a carrot cake feast!

If you’re a carrot cake lover, you will love these Carrot Cake Doughnut Holes. Heck, even if you aren’t a carrot cake lover, I think you’ll love these doughnut holes, because-like, what’s not to like?! It’s not as though you can even taste the carrots all you carrot haters! points finger at self. LOL Ok, I don’t hate carrots, I just don’t love them… don’t tell my kids. Anyway, here’s what you need for the doughnut holes:
☆ banana flour
☆ cassava flour
☆ banana
☆ applesauce
☆ peanut butter
☆ date sugar
☆ vanilla
☆ baking powder
☆ cinnamon
☆ ginger
☆ nutmeg
☆ salt
☆ shredded carrots
☆ golden raisins (or regular raisins)

and for the vegan cream cheese dipping sauce/glaze:
☆ vegan cream cheese
☆ unsweetened dairy-free yogurt
☆ maple syrup
☆ vanilla

Now, I happen to love raisins in my carrot cake, but if you’re not keen on that idea feel free to omit. Simply mix your dry ingredients, blend your wet ingredients, combine the two, roll into balls, place into your doughnut hole pan and bake 6-8 minutes! Then cool ’em, roll ’em, dunk ’em, eat ’em! Haha. A helpful tip I learned from Julia over at Delight Fuel, it helps to spray the doughnut holes you’re rolling in coconut sugar or date sugar with spray coconut oil! Thanks for the tip girl! Hope you love these Carrot Cake Doughnut Holes! Don’t forget to head on over to Instagram or Facebook with your carrot cake creations and tag @HealthyLittleVittles @FeastingonFruit @Delight.Fuel @TheMindfulHapa !

Yield: 16 doughnut holes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 23 minutes

Ingredients

Doughnut Holes

1/4 cup banana flour
1/4 cup cassava flour
1/2 cup date sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 banana
1/4 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup shredded carrots
1/3 cup golden raisins (or regular raisins)

Vegan Cream Cheese Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons vegan cream cheese
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt (or other dairy-free yogurt)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Rolling (optional)

spray coconut oil (only used if rolling in coconut/date sugar)
coconut sugar (or more date sugar)
organic powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry doughnut hole ingredients.
Blend together all of the wet doughnut hole ingredients and then combine with the dry. Stir until your batter forms.
If desired, pulse your shredded carrots until they are ground up, then add them to the batter along with the raisins if using.
Spray your doughnut hole pan with spray coconut oil, then take 1 heaping tablespoonful of batter and roll into balls with your hands, then add to the doughnut hole pan. Repeat until all the batter is gone, you should get about 16 doughnut holes.
Bake for 6-8 minutes, remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove all the doughnut holes and cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes more.
In the meantime, whisk of the vegan cream cheese dipping sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
Roll in organic powdered sugar (if desired), coconut/date sugar. If rolling your doughnut holes in coconut/date sugar, spray each doughnut hole with spray coconut oil and then roll in the sugar.
Serve with vegan cream cheese dipping sauce.
Store leftover doughnut holes in an airtight container on your counter for up to 2-3 days. Store the vegan cream cheese dipping sauce in your fridge.