Is there a debate over traditional versus cake donuts or can we all agree that all donuts are created equal? Well, maybe notall donuts are created equal. Don’t get me wrong, all donuts taste amazing, but donuts notoriously pack a serious calorie punch. No matter how hard you train, it’s difficult to routinely eat donuts without growing the waistline. That’s why I’ve set out to make high protein, lower calorie donuts. And in this case, I set out to make a high protein cake donuts recipe that didn’t taste like cardboard and didn’t have a ton of luck if we’re being honest.
With a recipe like the double chocolate protein donuts,I was able to provide moisture through adding in things like pumpkin. A cake donut, on the other hand, doesn’t work the same way. Alas, persistence is key. While it took a ton of trial and error, we officially have high protein cake donuts that taste great and have a ridiculous amount of protein per donut.
Let’s get into it.
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High Protein Cake Donuts Ingredients
Aside from protein powder, our protein cake donuts call for coconut flour. If you would like to substitute all purpose flour for coconut flour, you can use a 3:1 conversion. In this recipe, instead of 3 Tbsp or 21g of coconut flour, you’ll need 1/2 C or 60g of all purpose flour. This swap would add 130 calories and 32g of carbs, so if you’d like to order coconut flour for future recipes, this is the flour I use.
If you’re okay with a bit more fat and calories, you could add 2 Tbsp (28g) coconut oil instead of apple sauce. This should give a moister donut but will add about 40 calories per donut.
For the cake donut glaze or icing, you can probably guess what I used if you’re familiar with my recipes. That’s right, the ultimate protein frosting. I can’t help it — it’s just the best. A common question I receive is about the fat-free evaporated milk and whether or not you could substitute other liquids. The answer is yes, you could swap any low-cal liquid but add slowly as it may not be as thick with other liquids. But after trying tons of icing combos, the evaporated milk reigns supreme.
Just be sure to avoid buying fat-free versions that have a ton of added sugar. Look for 25 calories per 2 Tbsp.
You can be as festive as you like with the sprinkles, just be sure to account for them in your macro calculations. I used a Christmas-themed combo pack from Amazon.
You’ll find the full Christmascake donut recipe below, but I’d like to leave you with a 4-ingredient quick-and-easy recipe for chocolate cake donuts as well. These are so simple, and the macros are perfect for a pre or post-workout snack.
And one last thing, any donut pan will do, but you can get the one I use on Amazonhere. The recipe makes 6 donuts, but you could easily double the recipe if you have two donut pans.
A high-protein, low-calorie cake donut recipe that tastes amazing!
Ingredients
Cake Donut
2 scoops (60g) Protein Powder, vanilla
3 Tbsp (21g) Coconut Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
6 Tbsp (92g) Liquid Egg Whites
2 Tbsp (30g) Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1 Tbsp Stevia or 0-Calorie Sweetener
Icing/Glaze
1/4 C (60mL) Fat-Free Evaporated Milk, or low-cal liquid of your choice
1 scoop (30g) Protein Powder, vanilla
1 Tbsp Stevia or 0-Calorie Sweetener
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Mix all donut ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
Spoon donut mixture into the donut pan, wiping away any excess around the edges.
Bake for 5-6 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when donuts are poked.
While donuts are in the oven, mix the glaze/icing ingredients in a bowl.
Once the donuts are baked, let them cool briefly before removing and flipping onto a plate or sheet of parchment paper. Spoon the icing on top of the donuts, spreading in a circular motion. These are best served warm.
What are protein donuts made of? The main ingredients in these vanilla protein muffins are almond flour, whey protein powder, Greek yogurt, eggs, and sweetener. They do not contain any added sugars and have 12g of protein per serving.
While many early cookbooks included recipes for "old-fashioned donuts" that were made with yeast, the distinctive cake doughnuts sold in doughnut shops are made with chemical leavener and may have crisper texture compared to other styles of cake doughnuts.
Here are her best tips for the tenderest cake doughnuts your fryer's ever seen. For the tenderest results, we make these doughnuts with cake flour. It has less gluten than all-purpose flour, which yields a doughnut that's got chew without being tough. (Read more on why this matters in our guide to flour.)
The secret to Krispy Kreme doughnuts is of course the sweet glaze, and this is achieved by bathing the doughnuts in a glaze of icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk, for a thicker glaze increase the quantity of icing sugar by a few spoons.
A batch of original glazed starts with Krispy Kreme doughnut mix, water and yeast, the same single-cell fungi used to make bread rise. The yeast is what makes the original glazed so light -- it puffs the dough up with air, so it's not dense like a cake doughnut (more on this later).
The classic sugared donut is also the most nutritious donut on the menu. It has 240 calories, 11g fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 33g carbohydrates, 4g protein, 13g sugars, and 270mg sodium. If you love donuts, you've got plenty of varieties to choose from.
One donut has a quarter of all of the saturated fat you should have in a day. DUH, donuts are bad for you. But do you know just how bad? An original Krispy Kreme donut has 11 grams of fat—5 of those being saturated—while a Dunkin' original donut has 6 gram of saturated fat (30 percent of your fat intake).
Yeast donuts are made from dough that is leavened with yeast, while cake donuts are made from a cake batter that uses baking powder or baking soda. This difference creates a world of difference in terms of texture and flavor.
What kind of batter: Donuts are typically made with either yeast or cake batter. Airier yeast donuts usually have fewer calories than cake donuts, which have a denser texture.
All of this makes cake doughnuts denser than yeasted doughnuts. That means there will be more doughnut in every bite of a cake doughnut than a yeasted doughnut. Cake doughnuts take over in your mouth, absorb moisture, and practically beg for a sip of something to chase them down.
A cake with all-purpose flour substituted for cake flour is more likely to have a slightly coarser crumb, while a cake made with cake flour will have a finer, more even crumb and enhanced tenderness.
What kind of oil is best for cooking donuts? The best oil is the one with the least flavour. Vegetable oil and canola oil are both very good in this respect. The most important thing is to use the same oil for the same kinds of foods, since oil readily absorbs flavours and aromas.
DIY substitutions don't really cut it, and AP flour will not create doughnuts with that same soft texture. Also, bleached cake flour will work best. Unbleached (like King Arthur Baking) won't absorb as much moisture, and you may end up with doughnuts that crumble while frying.
But while we often associate yeasted donuts with the deep fryer and cake donuts with the oven, cake donuts can actually be either baked or fried. And whether you fry your donuts in hot oil or bake them in the oven will have an impact on the mouthfeel and flavor of the donut.
Like most doughnuts, Krispy Kremes are fried (cooked in oil). Frying cooks the dough rapidly from the outside in to give the doughnuts their distinctive crispy texture. The conveyer belt carries the doughnuts through a vegetable oil bath heated to between 355 and 360 degrees Fahrenheit (about 180 C).
The dough is rolled out and then cut with a donut cutter or circular cutter and then fried. Some cake donuts are made with a very loose batter that is then extruded into hot oil to cook or piped into a donut pan and baked.
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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