These healthier apple donuts are soft and tender. They are just 4 ingredients and don’t contain any eggs, dairy, refined sugar, or butter. The donuts take only a few minutes to prepare and store well.
A pile of apple donut holes

These apple flavored donuts are soft, moist and tender. They are so easy to whip up. Everything is mixed by hand, no mixer needed.

Ingredients

  • Applesauce
  • Self-rising flour
  • Avocado oil
  • Coconut sugar

Applesauce: The donuts get their apple flavor from unsweetened applesauce. Applesauce also keeps the donuts soft and moist.

Self-rising flour: Self-rising flour is a flour blend that already includes a leavening agent. You can also make these donuts with whole wheat pastry flour but you will need to add baking powder as well.

Avocado oil: A little avocado oil is added to give the donuts a very tender crumb. Avocado oil can be replaced with another neutral flavored oil like canola oil. I don’t recommend olive oil because it leaves an olive oil flavor in the donuts.

Coconut sugar: The donuts are sweetened with unrefined coconut sugar, which gives the donuts a caramelized brown sugar flavor. It’s best to use a granular sweetener for these donuts. If you use maple syrup or honey, the donut batter will be too wet.

How to Make Healthier Apple Donuts

  • The applesauce, oil and coconut sugar are mixed together. The flour is then folded in.
  • Scoop the batter and release into your greased mini muffin pan. The donuts can also be baked in a donut pan.
  • Bake donuts for about 20 minutes or until done.
  • If desired, you can roll the donuts in sugar or cinnamon sugar before serving.

Texture

These donuts have a baked, cake-like texture. They are soft, moist and tender. The donuts are also only very lightly sweet.
An apple donut hole cut in half with a cake-like texture

Expert Tips

  • If you like Fall spices, you can add cinnamon or apple pie spice to the donut batter.
  • You can add more sugar if you prefer sweeter donuts.
  • The donuts can be baked in a donut pan. I baked mine in a mini muffin pan so they are the size of donut holes.
  • If you prefer to use whole wheat flour, I recommend using whole wheat pastry flour which is a softer whole wheat flour. If using regular whole wheat flour, you may need to increase the amount of applesauce and sugar.

Donut holes coated in cinnamon sugar

More Donut Recipes

5 from 5 votes

4 Ingredient Healthier Apple Donuts

These healthier apple donuts need just 4 ingredients and the batter can be mixed by hand. No eggs, dairy, refined sugar, or butter needed. The donuts bake up tender, soft and moist.
Servings: 13 donuts
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (188g) unsweetened applesauce
  • 3 tbsp (29g) coconut sugar, or more to taste
  • 2 tbsp (1 fl oz/30 ml) avocado oil
  • 1 cup (135g) self-rising flour, see note before starting

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease 13 cavities of a mini muffin pan.
  • In a large bowl, mix together applesauce, coconut sugar and oil. Add in the flour and fold it in with a spatula until no flour lumps remain.
  • Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop the batter and release it into your prepared mini muffin pan.
  • Place muffin pan in the oven and bake donuts for about 20-25 minutes or until done. Let donuts cool fully before eating. If desired, you can coat the donuts in cinnamon sugar before serving. See note section for the best way to do this so that the cinnamon sugar coating sticks on. Store uneaten donuts in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

  • Optional Cinnamon Sugar Coating: To get the cinnamon sugar coating to stick to the tops of the donuts, you need to first lightly coat them with maple syrup. You don't need a lot. I poured a scant 2 tbsp into a small bowl and then lightly brushed the surface of each donut with the syrup. I only used about 1 tbsp and had some leftover. You only need a light coating so that the surface is sticky enough for the cinnamon sugar to stick. For the coating, I mixed 2 (heaping) tbsp sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon and put it into a Ziploc bag. You can also use 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar mix (like McCormick's cinnamon sugar). You can also use a different granular sweetener if you don't want to use sugar. Put a few donut holes in the bag, seal the bag, and shake the donuts until they are coated in cinnamon sugar. Repeat the process with the remaining donuts.
  • Self-rising flour note. There are 2 main kinds of self-rising flour sold in the US. One that is a lower protein (2 grams per 1/4 cup serving) flour and one that has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup (30g) serving). The amount of protein affects how much liquid is absorbed. For this recipe, I tested it with Gold Medal self-rising flour (regular amount of protein). Please use a self-rising flour with a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup), or make your own self-rising flour with the recipe below.
  • Homemade self-rising flour: Whisk together 1 cup all purpose flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Make sure your all purpose flour has a regular amount of protein (3 grams per 1/4 cup). Most brands in the US contain this amount but there are some brands with higher protein (4 grams per 1/4 cup) such as King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill. Avoid using a high protein all purpose flour because your donuts batter will be too dry.
  • I used a Wilton mini muffin pan.* You can also bake these in a mini donut pan.
  • *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • Estimated nutrition does not include the optional coating.
Serving: 1donut, Calories: 69kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 0.3g, Sodium: 110mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 4g, NET CARBS: 11
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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