For me, the holidays wouldn’t be complete without donuts. Some of my favorite childhood memories are waking up and running downstairs to my favorite powdered sugar donuts on July 4th and Christmas from Dreesen’s in East Hampton. But what about a healthy donut? That’s where these maple matcha donuts come in.

I skip the fryer and the refined sugar and incorporate sweet maple, cacao, and matcha into these beautiful sweets. Matcha is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with and it lends a naturally bright color to frosting and more. You can play around and make a chocolate frosting with cacao, if that is more your thing!

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Ingredients
Makes 6 donuts

Chocolate Donuts

  • ½ cup buckwheat flour
  • ½ cup almond meal
  • ⅓ cup cacao powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 2 tablespoons of cacao nibs, for topping

Maple Matcha Frosting

  • ¼ cup coconut butter
  • ½ teaspoon matcha powder
  • 2 teaspoons maple syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ cup coconut milk
Method

For the donuts:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease donut pan well with coconut oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax with ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons water. Set aside for 5 – 10 minutes, or until it takes on an egg-like consistency. Add the remaining wet ingredients and stir well.

Meanwhile, combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well. Add the wet to the dry and mix until well combined.

Distribute the batter equally between the 6 molds. Smooth the top of each donut with the back of a spoon. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:  

Gently heat the coconut butter over a double boiler. Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining ingredients and allow to cool. Add more coconut milk as needed to thin to desired consistency. Taste adjust maple syrup as needed.

Dip the tops of the donuts into icing and sprinkle with cacao nibs. Enjoy!