I ♥ Donut Crust

If some lovely human being brings a box of donuts to share (hypothetically speaking), I 100% of the time want the fried cake donut. Soft donuts are great and I have fond memories of double fisting custard filled long johns as a child, but it’s not what excites me anymore. I could eat 72 million before I felt satisfied and I feel like that’s probably unhealthy now that I’m the age of a lady. Give me all of the crispy, crusty donuts dusted with powdered sugar or smeared with chocolate frosting and leave me to my bliss. Ok, technically *all* donuts are good by definition, but a fried cake donut has a firmness in it’s crust that when mixed with a little oil and a lotta powdered sugar it hits that crispy, creamy, sugary nerve in your brain-you know the one-and you’ve hit donut nirvana.

Note to self: Excellent vegan donut shop name, Donut Nirvana

Where was I? Oh yeah, donuts. So I decided that I’d try to make these dream donuts and I had lemons so obviously they’d be lemon poppy seed. I also had sour cream which just sounded like a great idea here. The results? Not a fried donut because we’d actually have to fry it-but it’s a crustier donut that still has that signature crust with a softness on the inside! Smear that baby with something sweet and you’re there. In donut heaven. Where donuts are delicious and they have no (or very few) carbs.

Baked Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts that FEEL Fried {Gluten Free & Low Carb}

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Crusty and lemony and powdered (or glazed) to perfection!

To get that perfect crust, the batter can’t be pourable, which means getting it in the

donut pan is a challenge. 

Fill a pastry bag with the “dough” and cut it somewhere around 2 inches up the bag.

The goal is to have a big enough opening that one swipe around each cavity of the pan fills it 3/4 of the way up.

Fix the seam by dipping your finger in a little melted butter and smoothing everything out.

Water works too, but it doesn’t taste like butter so…

Bake them hot, 425° so the exterior cooks quickly and the interior stays soft.

WARNING: 7-8 minutes and that’s it.

Even a minute more and you’re eating blackened donuts but too little and they don’t get crusty.

Dip them in icing or dust them in my favorite Lemon Powdered Sugar

I prefer sugared but if you want a bit of indulgence, mix Powdered Sugar (Swerve) Lemon Extract and softened butter until smooooooth.

This icing was OK warm but OMG is it good cold. 

It was like the icing sort of melted into the donut and then sat in the fridge for an hour and created a sugary, buttery, lemon crust around the donut that is making me drool just typing it.

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Baked Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts that FEEL Fried {Gluten Free & Low Carb}

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

A sturdy crust and a soft, lemony center? Baked low carb donuts just became your new go-to breakfast!

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Ingredients

• 1 cup Almond Flour, sifted
• 1 tsp Xanthan Gum, adds structure, texture, browning
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tbsp Swerve, or granulated sweetener of choice
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice + zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Poppy Seeds
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 cup Sour Cream

For The Icing

• 2 tbsp Butter, soft
• 2-4 tbsp Powdered Swerve (or powdered sugar)
• 1/4 tsp Lemon extract, 1/8th tsp for a lighter lemon flavor, or lemon juice to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 425 and spray a donut pan with cooking oil.
2. Combine the sifted flour with the other dry ingredients and set aside.
3. Beat the eggs, lemon juice and zest, and sour cream. Add poppy seeds and stir.
4. Add the wet to the dry and mix to combine. Don't over mix the batter.
5. Fill a pastry bag or ziplock with the batter and cut the tip about two inches up. If the opening doesn't give you a wide enough strip of batter, just cut off a little extra.
6. Fill the cavities about 3/4 full and smooth over any edges with a spoon (or finger) dipped in a little oil or melted butter.
7. Bake the donuts for exactly 7-9 minutes or just until the tops brown.
8. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then sugar them or add icing.

ICING

1. Whip the butter, extract and sweetener together. To thin, add 1 tsp warm water and a time until desired consistency. This icing won't taste amazing warm BUT will taste like sweet lemon butter when cooled, which is amazing.

Nutrition Information

Amount Per Serving Calories 197Total Fat 17gCarbohydrates 6gFiber 3gSugar 1gProtein 7g

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see how it turned out! Share your pics on Instagram with #gorgeouseats and don't forget to tag me! @Inspectorgoreous