Chocolate Coconut Doughnuts
02.6.12
Ok, folks….for all my fellow CrossFit MVT Challengers….close your eyes for this week’s posts. I’m talking Paleo “treats” for Valentine’s Day. Yippee! It’s been awhile since I have baked anything these days so getting in the kitchen to bake was pretty fun. So the reason for treats this week? …. well we all deserve a small treat on Valentine’s Day, right? And if you are going to have one it can fit into Paleo, well for the most part it can. Another reason for treats this week is because of my little ones. We always talk about their day at school as soon as I pick them up. You know the normal… what did you do, etc. Friday, after picking them up from school, the first thing they told me was one of parents brought doughnuts in! Seriously!? That’s what went through my head but of course I didn’t say that to them. As much as I wanted to tell them all the things that are bad about that scenario, I didn’t. But seriously, for those parents trying to set healthy ways at home, should it be allowed for those parents who don’t to bring doughnuts to school for your child? Ugh! It’s a hard place to be at I suppose. Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way too? No matter what, I can’t control what they eat nor will I try but I only hope that how we eat at home will roll over to what they eat at school or any other social gathering in their future. This weekend they joined me in the kitchen for some fun baking time and the focus was on making “healthy” Paleo-friendly doughnuts using nothing but dates to make them “sweet”. I think getting in the kitchen together to make these made them fun too, which in a 4-year olds eyes is always very important. But I think the best thing that happened was when they took their first bite of the doughnuts and said “these are so much better than the doughnuts we had at school.” If I could I would have done a cart wheel right then and there, but instead I smiled and said they always taste better when you help to make them.
So let’s talk about these doughnuts. I did them two ways. One being a “treat” and one being a very special “treat” if you are on the Paleo road of health. Since today is my husband’s birthday and because he said no cake he got a dark chocolate coated doughnut as his birthday treat. However, for me I opted for the uncoated doughnuts and they were just as yummy. Even though I secretly wanted the dark chocolate one! But I had a small version of my trainer on my shoulder telling me no,no,no! I’ll let you make the call as to how you prefer your chocolate doughnut, but either way they were a hit in my house.
Chocolate Coconut Doughnuts
10 medjool dates, pitted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
½ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup cacao powder
½ cup coconut oil, melted
Dark Chocolate, melted (optional) – 85% cacao and higher
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a doughnut pan with coconut oil.
Place the pitted dates with 1 tablespoon of water in a heat resistant bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Remove and add an additional tablespoon of water and mash the dates into a paste.
In the bowl of a food processor add date paste, vanilla extract, and eggs. Process mixture to combine. Add coconut flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, cacao powder, and melted coconut oil to the bowl of the food processor and mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Stop to scrape down sides of bowl.
Fill the doughnut pan circles about 2-3 of the way full with batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Carefully remove doughnuts from the pan and continue to cool.
If topping them with dark chocolate, place chocolate in a double broiler or microwave safe bowl and heat until melted. Carefully place the top of the doughnut face down in the chocolate to evenly coat the top. Lift and turn over carefully and place the doughnut chocolate side up on a wire rack or piece of waxed paper to dry. If you would like you can also add dark chocolate shavings to the tops of the doughnuts.
Note: I stored mine in the refrigerator so they could keep longer. You could also freeze these as well.
Enjoy!
Makes about 6 to 8 large doughnuts using a doughnut pan.
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Totally adding this to my must-make list. My husband just leaned over my laptop and said, “We can have DOUGHNUTS?!” This would be a perfect Valentine’s Day treat!
These look amazing! I’ve been super into anything with dates lately, so I can’t wait to try these! I’d probably go with no chocolate on top too, and have it with my morning tea, yum!
Those are the best looking paleo donuts I’ve ever seen. Can’t wait to try them!
These look great!
Just wondering~ Is there something that I can substitute the dates with? I’m not a date or fig fan…
can I use no sugar added dried fruit like raisins?
Hi Angelia,
Sure, you can try using raisins or cranberries instead of the dates. You could also use a ripe banana probably for a natural sweetener.
Let us know how they turn out if you use raisins.
Thanks for stopping by.
Wow, those look divine! Love the smooth chocolate glaze. YUMMY! Donut recipes have inspired me to get reacquainted with my coconut flour, lol.
OMG These are incredible!!!! I needed something special to make Vaughan for Valentines and these were perfect! I also made fried fruit to add as a topping.. Yummy! Thank you! Definitely blogging about these.
Made these this morning for my 3 littles ones. They were great! Not too dry or moist, great with coffee/tea. I didn’t have a donut pan so made them into donut muffins. It made exactly 12 donut muffins. For the frosting I melted semi sweet chocolate chips with a teaspoon of coconut oil. At the end I added a teaspoon of cream to harden it a little and give it more of a frosting feel. I think 1/2 teaspoon of cream would have been better as my frosting turned a little too pasty very quickly (but I think it would be great to wrap truffles in!). I think coconut butter added to the melted chocolate chips would be great too. Thanks for the recipe, I love that it really has the traditional cake donut flavor/feel but much healthier.
These look fantastic! I’ve got to get a doughnut pan soon!
Any suggestions for an egg subsitute for this recipe?
Where do you find medjool dates? Are they a specific type of date? All I can find locally are plain old dates.
Hi Karen,
You can use plain on dates too.
I have date sugar. It does not dissolve in coffee or tea but was wondering what your thoughts were on using it in this recipe instead of the dates?
These look incredible. Can’t wait to try them.
Thank!
When you use cacao powder in your recipes, is it unsweetened?
Hi Beth,
Yes, the cacao powder should be unsweetened, most are unsweetened so hopefully you won’t have issues finding it.
Thanks so much! I use the unsweetened powder but have made the mistake of assuming that is what others have used in their recipes. It was not a pleasant surprise to find out theirs was not unsweetened! I just wanted to be sure so I didn’t ruin these scrumptious-looking doughnuts! I can’t wait to try them!
Hi Beth,
Cacao Powder is 100% pure and unsweetened chocolate – as the recipe calls for – (and I think the only way you can purchase).
Wow, thanks! Just made them in my mini doughnut machine and they were great. It took 2-3 minutes to bake each batch. They have a nice texture and flavor. My son who is not GF or Paleo ate one in one bite and loved ‘em (I didn’t tell him what they were made with). Yay!
I think one of the hardest things as a teacher is when people bring in donuts for the kids, then there’s leftovers; they bring them around and offer them up, but I must turn my head and say no. I LOVE Paleo, but often really miss donuts & nachos. This is definitely something I’d love to try out and have an alternative for myself.
I’m a home baker and I made these doughnuts for my 12 year old daughter. Let’s just say she fell in love with them AFTER I put a sugar glaze on them! I tried!! I also posted a photo of them on my Facebook page and mentioned your blog! Thanks for the great recipe!
These look yummy! My daughter is a huge fan of doughnuts and I’d love to try to make her some, however, she HATES chocolate. Any suggestions on making this a vanilla doughnut? I would think if I just left out the cocoa powder the consistency wouldn’t be the same?
Hi Jamie,
You can definitely leave out the cacao/cocoa powder to make a vanilla version of these. You might have to add an additional tablespoon of coconut flour to thicken the batter up. Just mix everything up and if the batter is too wet just add a tablespoon of coconut flour. Since you aren’t including the cocoa powder, which thickens the batter, the additional coconut flour might be needed.
Let us know if you do try it and how they turn out. You can also check out the pumpkin doughnuts, that is if your daughter is a fan of pumpkin.