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Blood Orange Donuts

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These blood orange poppy seed donuts are a treat you can enjoy anytime! Vegan and gluten-free alternative included. Can also use regular oranges.

Blood Orange Poppy Seed Donuts | Vegan and gluten-free option included! We may not have access to fresh, summer berries, but one thing the winter does bring are these gorgeous blood oranges! This beautiful fruit is similar in taste to regular oranges, but slightly less acidic, and depending on the orange, can be a little more bitter. They’re flesh can range from a bright red-orange to a deep crimson, but the difference they have from regular oranges isn’t always obvious from the outside.

At the grocery store, their bins are side by side and I had a hard time distinguishing the two without reading the sticker on each orange. Some of their skins have a deep reddish-brown hue, but a lot of the ones I saw looked like regular oranges on the outside.

Blood Orange Poppy Seed Donuts | Vegan and gluten-free option included! Blood Orange Poppy Seed Donuts | Vegan and gluten-free option included!
Blood Orange Poppy Seed Donuts | Vegan and gluten-free option included!
The darker the flesh, the more vibrant the juice, which works well as a natural food coloring. It tinges the glaze a beautiful peachy-pink. However, blood oranges have such a short season so you can only find them a few months out of the year, typically from December through April.

If you can’t find blood oranges, regular oranges work and taste just as good in this recipe! 🙂 I hope you enjoy these blood orange poppy seed donuts as much as we did!

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Blood Orange Poppy Seed Donuts

★★★★

4 from 1 reviews

  • Author: Joscelyn Abreu
  • Total Time: 10 mins
  • Yield: 1 dozen 1x
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Description

These baked donuts have a bright citrus flavor and color thanks to blood oranges. Vegan or gluten-free options are included. Can also use regular oranges in place of blood oranges.

Ingredients

Scale

Orange Poppy Seed Donuts (gluten-free version below)

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup almond milk or other milk of choice
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil, plus extra for greasing pan
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup, honey, or other sweetener of choice
  • 1/4 cup orange juice (from blood oranges or regular oranges)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice
  • zest of 2 medium oranges
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Gluten-Free Orange Poppy Seed Donuts:

  • 1 1/3 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • 2 tablespoons almond flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or other oil of choice, plus extra for greasing pan
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup, honey, or other sweetener of choice
  • 1/4 cup orange juice (from blood oranges or regular oranges)
  • 1/4 cup milk of choice
  • 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
  • zest from 2 medium oranges
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Naturally Sweetened Orange Glaze: (powdered sugar version below)

  • 4 oz. vegan cream cheese (can also use regular cream cheese, if not vegan/dairy-free)
  • 2–3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
  • juice of 1–2 blood oranges/regular oranges
  • zest of 1/2–1 whole orange, optional**

Powdered Sugar Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3–4 tablespoons blood orange/regular orange juice
  • zest of 1/2–1 whole orange, optional**
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, optional

Instructions

Donut Batter:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 donut pans with coconut oil or non-stick spray and set aside.
  2. Combine the flour(s), baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, oil, sweetener, juice, vinegar, zest, poppy seeds, and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
  3. Spoon or *pipe batter three quarters full, leaving the center post clear. Place pans onto the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until donuts are lightly browned and spring back when touched. Let cool in the pan slightly before inverting to cool thoroughly on a wire rack.

Naturally Sweetened Orange Glaze:

  1. Place cream cheese, sweetener, juice from one orange, and zest of 1/2 orange into a small mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until creamy. Add extra juice, if needed, to get the right consistency. Add extra sweetener or zest, to taste. The zest makes the glaze a little lumpy, so if you want a perfectly smooth glaze then you can omit the zest. It just won’t taste as orange-y.
  2. If glaze is too runny, blend in an extra 1-2 spoonfuls of cream cheese. If glaze is too stiff, add additional juice until you get the right consistency. This is enough to glaze the tops of the doughnuts. If you wish to glaze the whole donut, you may want to double the glaze recipe.
  3. Dip the tops of the donuts in the glaze and decorate with poppyseeds, sprinkles, etc. Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool room for 1-2 days.

Powdered Sugar Glaze:

  1. Combine powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons orange juice, zest and vanilla (if using) in a small bowl, whisking until smooth. Add additional juice, if needed, to get the right consistency.
  2. Dip the tops of the donuts in the glaze and decorate with poppyseeds, sprinkles, etc. Store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool room for 1-2 days.

Notes

*I scoop my batter into a large quart or gallon sized plastic baggie and snip about 1/2 inch at one corner to pipe the batter into each cup. Makes clean-up a breeze!

**Adding zest to the glaze adds more flavor, but it also adds little specks; it won’t be smooth like in the photos.

  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Category: dessert, vegan, gluten-free

You may also enjoy these similar recipes:

Blood Orange Sweet Rolls

Blood Orange Sweet Rolls

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

Orange-Cranberry Bundt Cake

Orange Cranberry Bundt Cake

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rebecca says

    I made these for “breakfast” this morning (hehe – no refined sugar, oranges? That’s health food, right?). They were really easy to make and a good way to use some blood oranges that were getting soft. The batter started out a beautiful pink, but in the oven some sort of chemical reaction happened and they turned an unappetizing grey-green colour.

    I didn’t mind the colour so much as just my husband and I will be having them, but while they were tasty I didn’t find them incredibly flavourful and the texture was a bit oily.

    I didn’t have enough juice from the oranges left to make orange glaze so I just made a vanilla glaze with soy milk and vanilla extract, so I’m not sure if the colour would stayed pink in that as well.

    ★★★★

    Reply

    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      Hi Rebecca, thanks for giving these a try and for taking the time to leave feedback! I’m sorry they turned a different color in the oven though! That’s caused by the baking soda which also helps with the fluffy texture, but also can cause chemical reactions in certain foods. When recipe testing, I didn’t have enough blood orange juice so I used regular orange juice for the cake and blood orange zest in the cake and its juice in the glaze. The baking soda wouldn’t have had an affect on the regular orange juice, which is why I didn’t catch it earlier (so sorry!) I retested today with blood orange juice and only baking powder and there was no color change (yay!) so I readjusted the recipe for future bakers. 🙂
      The glaze in the photos was made solely with blood orange juice and a small splash of vanilla, no food coloring added, and it does create a pretty pink color. Also, the zest more than the juice gives these their delicious citrus flavor, so I recommend adding the full amount (from 2 oranges) for maximum flavor!

      Reply

      • Rebecca says

        Oh, amazing, thanks for that! I had just been wondering how you tested it and got it to look so nice 🙂

        I guess without the baking soda in the glaze, there wouldn’t be a problem with the colour change – I’ll have to try it again when I have more oranges.

        I did zest two oranges, but since they were about a week old and on the softer side, it was tough to get a good amount of zest off them. Also, I tried them again many hours later and the flavours had developed considerably. I’ve been baking my whole life and have only been baking strictly vegan in the past months, so I’ve been learning that a lot of vegan baked goods actually seem to taste a lot better NOT straight out of the oven (that’s been my experience anyways) – so definitely worth holding off a bit to enjoy these more 🙂

        Reply

  4. Courtney CJ says

    I would have never placed these items together in a recipe, then again I’m absolutely horrible in the kitchen and I own that. Definitely going to share this with my mom!

    Reply

  9. Tine says

    This is fantastic! I am both milk and wheat intolerant so I’m glad to finally have found a doughnut recipe I can eat!

    Reply

    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      Aw, thanks Emmy! I’ve actually been thinking about starting some video tutorials on my photography set up and the editing process, so it’s funny that you mentioned it! It has been a really busy start to the year, but I hope to begin the series in the next couple months, so keep an eye out! 🙂

      Reply

  19. Minna Lee says

    These are SO pretty- I love that hue. So funny how some of them can be deceiving from the outside and look like a regular orange. The first time I bought them was on accident when I meant to buy regular ones! These donuts belong in a bakery case 🙂

    Reply

    • Joscelyn | Wife Mama Foodie says

      Aw, thanks, Minna! I know, I actually had the produce guy cut one open the first time I bought some. I wanted to be sure I didn’t pay the extra $$ for regular oranges, haha! I’ve seen some people post pics of some with dark red skin, but I’ve yet to find those. Hope you have a great weekend, my friend!

      Reply

  21. Cristina says

    Blood oranges are probably one of my favourite fruits! But in combination with donuts?! Bring it on! Really interesting adding poppy seeds, I wonder how the final “product” tastes like.

    Reply

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