Vegan Monster Donuts
Take a bite out of these Halloween monster donuts, complete with fun googly candy eyes. They’re easy to make, fun to decorate, and delicious to eat, despite the ghoulish colors and edible googly eyes! Speaking of googly eyes, don’t forget these Vegan Halloween Cookies, too!
I’ve heard this statement a lot lately: Halloween is my favorite holiday. I have a theory. My favorite holiday is the one that’s just about to happen. What do you think? Does that work?
That said, I love the Halloween holiday. In fact, here are some of my favorite Vegan Halloween Recipes. You can imagine that adding vegan candy eyes to just about anything will add a Halloween vibe to it.
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Nutmeg is a magical donut ingredient, infusing the perfect donut flavor into every bite
- Adding brown sugar makes these donuts super moist and tender
- Spinach is a perfect natural color, making ghoulishly green donut glaze.
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
- Lemon — We’ll use both the zest and the juice of the lemon.
- Oats — I used rolled oats for this recipe, but you can substitute instant oats.
- Chia — We’ll add some ground chia seeds to create a thicker texture. You can use whole chia seeds; I just prefer ground because it creates a smoother finished texture.
- Syrup — I used maple syrup, but you can substitute agave nectar.
- Milk — We’ll use almond milk for the best overnight oats! Substitute your favorite plant-based milk.
- Yogurt — I love adding some plant-based yogurt (plain, unsweetened) for an even more tangy flavor.
- Protein Powder — I add some vanilla protein powder for increased flavor and nutrients. If your protein powder is not sweetened, you may want to add an extra teaspoon or two of sweetener.
- Cornstarch — We’ll use cornstarch to thicken the lemon curd topping.
- Turmeric — A pinch of turmeric makes that lemon curd sunny yellow.
- Flour — I recommend all-purpose flour, but you can use whole wheat pastry flour.
- Baking powder + Baking soda — Make sure yours is fresh by testing a bit of baking soda in vinegar and baking powder in hot water. If it boils, your batch is good.
- Nutmeg — You’ll need a bit of ground nutmeg.
- Flaxseed — Combining ground flaxseed with water makes a flax egg. You can substitute a chia egg if you’d like.
- Brown sugar — You can use light, dark, or homemade brown sugar.
- Vegan yogurt — I oftentimes use Forager’s plant-basd yogurt, but there are so many options available these days. Choose a plain or vanilla-favored plant-based yogurt that works for you. You can substitute vegan sour cream.
- Vegan butter — You can use Earth Balance, Miyoko’s, or homemade vegan butter. Or substitute coconut oil.
- Cashew pieces — You’ll need cashew pieces to create the monster fangs.
- Natural food coloring — We’ll be using some fresh spinach to add goblin-green color and frozen or fresh blueberries to create people-eater purple to the glaze.
- Coconut oil — We’ll use a bit of coconut oil in the glaze, or you can substitute vegan butter.
- Light corn syrup — You can use corn syrup to create a thick consistency to the glaze, or you can substitute maple syrup.
- Powdered sugar
- Cornstarch — We’ll use cornstarch to make the vegan googly eyes.
- Soy milk — You can use soy milk or almond milk.
- Almond Extract — This is optional, but adding a bit of almond extract to the candy eyes is a nice touch.
- Mini chocolate chips — Use my Dairy-free Chocolate Chips Guide to find the best dairy-free mini chocolate chips for you.
How to Make Monster Donuts
OK. Now that we’ve agreed that Halloween is our favorite holiday (wink, wink), let’s get on to making these terrifyingly cute vegan monster donuts. The main part of this recipe refers to the donuts, so let’s begin there.
- Combine Dry Ingredients — Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg.
- Combine Wet Ingredients — First, stir together the ground flax seeds and water. Then add the sugar, vegan yogurt, and melted vegan butter.
- Make the Batter — Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir it all together.
- Spoon and Bake — Spoon the batter into a prepared donut pan. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the donuts are golden brown.
It’s a pretty straightforward vegan donut recipe. The fun part comes next. Once the donuts have cooled, you’re ready to decorate them.
Decorating Halloween Donuts
These monster donuts are not complete without some freakishly colorful glaze. That’s why I’m sharing with you two scary colors, green and purple glaze. You can also make some vegan candy eyes. Most store-bought candy eyes are made with gelatin which is neither vegan nor vegetarian.
Purple Glaze
- Make the purple glaze by combining the blueberries, coconut oil, and corn syrup in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds.
- Stir, and mash the blueberries. You can remove the skins or mash them into fine pieces.
- Add the powdered sugar and stir to combine. If it’s too thick add a teaspoon of plant-based milk. Stir until smooth and creamy.
Green Glaze
- Make the green glaze by combining the spinach, coconut oil, and corn syrup in a food processor bowl.
- Pulse to combine.
- Add the powdered sugar and pulse until a nice consistency is formed.
Dip the donuts in the glaze and add the candy eyes. Push in cashew pieces to resemble monster teeth or fangs.
Here are some fun ways to switch up the decorations on these Vegan Halloween Donuts:
- Eyes All Over — Place googly eyes all over the donuts.
- Dracula Donuts — Add vampire fangs in the middle of the donut for an eery look
- Buggy Donuts — Add two pieces of black licorice to the top to create antennae
- Orange and Black — Try bing orange and/or black colored glaze, too
If you love vegan Halloween treats, check out my vegan Halloween Pudding cups.
These Vegan Halloween Monster Donuts are so much fun to make. And everyone enjoys eating them, too!
More Donuts
If you love monster donuts, here are even more tasty vegan donuts to try!
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Vegan Monster Donuts
Ingredients
Vegan Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 5 – 6 tablespoons water
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 5.3 oz container vegan vanilla yogurt
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter softened
- Cashew Pieces (for garnish)
Purple Glaze
- 2 tablespoons blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Green Glaze
- 2 tablespoons spinach fresh
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Vegan Candy Eyes
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon soy milk
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- 60 mini dairy-free chocolate chips (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat donut pans with vegetable spray.
For the Vegan Donuts
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the ground flax seeds and water. Stir. Add the sugar, yogurt, and melted butter. Stir to combine.
- Pour the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- Spoon the batter into prepared donut pans. If you prefer to be precise, you can use a piping bag to do this.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until the donuts are golden brown.
For the Purple Glaze
- In the meantime, make the purple glaze by combining the blueberries, coconut oil, and corn syrup in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds. Stir, and mash the blueberries. You can remove the skins or mash them into fine pieces. Add the powdered sugar and stir to combine. If it's too thick add a teaspoon of plant-based milk. Stir until smooth and creamy.
For the Green Glaze
- Make the green glaze by combining the spinach, coconut oil, and corn syrup in a food processor bowl. Pulse to combine. Add the powdered sugar and pulse until a nice consistency is formed.
For the Vegan Candy Eyes
- Combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except for the chocolate chips of course). Stir to combine. This will be very thick at this point.
- Transfer this mixture into a piping bag. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Pipe round dots in rows directly onto the waxed paper. Top each dot with a mini chocolate chip. Place the pan in the fridge to allow the eyes to set — this can take up to 3 hours before the eyes are firm enough to place on the donuts.
Monster Donut Assembly
- Dip cooled donuts in the of the glazes. Top with vegan monster eyes and add cashew pieces for the teeth.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2018 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
Love the idea!!Thank you Marly!
This makes me happy! So cute! Pinned it to my Halloween board. Thanks!
These are so cute, Marly! Also just wanted to say I’ve been loving your podcast. It’s so helpful, even to someone who’s been blogging for over 7 years like me.