Doughnuts are sadly some of the most inflammatory foods out there - white sugar, white flour, and a whole lot of oil for deep frying. Still, hot doughnuts would start automatic drooling whenever I past a little cart whilst out. Today's recipe truly revolutionises those naughty-but-delicious circles of yum-ness, made using real food ingredients.
[bctt tweet="Healthy, Raw Red Velvet Doughnuts with hot pink icing! Step this way!"]
Nutritional Goodies:
Almonds, cashews and coconut are used in place of flour. You can readily find these as meals or 'flours' in most health stores and even supermarkets, or, you can blitz them in a food processor, whole, until they become fine and powdery. Almonds are an excellent source of the heart healthy monounsaturated fats. They are high in protein (approx. 20%), fibre, minerals and the antioxidant vitamin E.
Cashews are also a fabulous source of monounsaturated fats, particularly, the heart protective oleic acid. Take care not to over-process cashews when making a home made 'meal/flour' as they are soft and turn to delicious butter quite easily.
Coconut flour is a great gluten free option to use in baking and un-baking alike. It is rather dense in nature so I find it requires more liquid when using it in appreciable quantities. The flour is made from dried coconut flesh, and contains an abundance of health-promoting medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). Lauric acid is thought to make up as much as 75% of the MCFAs in coconut - and numerous studies have suggested it may help raise 'good' cholesterol levels. It has also been shown in studies to exert antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Fresh beetroot is used to colour and flavour these bad boys. There is only a small amount in this recipe, but take this a little reminder on how fabulous they are - full of fibre, alkalising minerals, and potent antioxidants - particularly, compounds called betalains. Betalains are the pigments responsible for the luscious crimson colour in the beets, and have been shown to support Phase 2 detoxification pathways in the liver. In Phase 2 detoxification, toxic metabolites are bound and rendered water soluble, ready for excretion.
Psyllium husks are pure fibre - they are actually commonly sold as a bulk laxative, but, when used in cooking with a little water, they swell and make for a great binder in place of eggs. Finally, 100% pure maple syrup is my sweetener of choice here, though it is still most certainly to be enjoyed only occasionally, it is minimally processed and contains some minerals.
Raw Red Velvet Doughnuts
This is a very simple recipe - blitz everything in a food processor, shape into doughnuts, then dunk in icing. I bought a fantastic silicone doughnut mould from Amazon, which made for quite an easy job of it, but prior to that, I've made them numerous times just by shaping them in my hands and removing the centre with an apple corer. If I were to make these again, I would grate the zest of the lemon in the icing mixture for some extra flavour.
Enjoy!
Healthy Doughnuts
Equipment
- Food processor
- Blender
- Silicon doughnut molds
Ingredients
- 1½ cups almond meal
- 1 cup cashews
- ½ cup coconut flour
- ½ cup cacao powder
- ½ cup 100% pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup freshly grated beetroot
- 2 tablespoons psyllium husks
- Good pinch of coarse sea salt
ICING:
- ½ cup cashews soaked in water at least 2 hours (the longer the soak, the creamier the icing)
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil liquefied
- 1 tablespoon free dried raspberries or powder – for flavour
- 2 teaspoons grated beetroot – for rich colour
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
DOUGHNUTS:
- Blitz cashews in a food processor till they become a fine meal.
- Add all other ingredients and blend till combined and dough-like.
- Press mixture into a silicone shaped doughnut mould (small sized cavities), pop them out again and set in the fridge.
- If you don’t have any moulds, shape 12 equal portions into oval patties then use an apple corer to remove the centre.
ICING:
- Blend till smooth.
- Transfer mixture into a small bowl.
- Dunk doughnuts face down in icing to coat, then sprinkle coconut threads or freeze dried raspberries over to decorate.
Nutrition
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