Low Fat Donuts

For the donuts:
Prepare a large cookie sheet by greasing it with dairy free cooking spray or use a silicone mat. Set aside.

Combine sugar and half of the soymilk in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat for a few seconds, just until sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining soymilk, canola oil, applesauce, vanilla and maple syrup. Make sure that the mixture is not too hot or too cold. You should be able to dip your finger in it. Then add the yeast, mix gently, cover and set aside for 10 minutes or until foamy.

Once the yeast mixture is ready, add 2 cups of flour. Knead the mixture gently with a spatula. The dough will be very sticky at this point. Cover and set aside until it doubles in size, about 1 to 2 hours. Once the dough is ready, add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and salt.

Mix thoroughly then spread it out on a floured work surface to half inch thickness. The dough will still be somewhat sticky. Use a donut cutter dusted with flour to cut donuts then transfer them to the baking sheet. You can also use a donut pan if you have one.

If you don’t have a donut pan or cutter, then just separate the dough into 12 pieces. If you do this, then dust your hands with a bit of flour and take one piece of dough. Roll it into a long rope (about 6 to 8 inches long). Then attach the two ends together. At this point you can determine how big you want your donuts to be and how wide. Keep in mind that the dough will rise again to double its size. Once you place the donut on the tray, adjust the hole to make sure it does not close shut during baking. Place it on the cookie sheet. Repeat until all the dough is used. Cover and set aside for another 30 minutes to rise again.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Once oven is preheated, bake donuts for 12 to 15 minutes. Once they come out of the oven they will have this puffy texture and might look like bread rolls but the consistency will turn into a donut-like dough once it cools. Remove them from the pan onto a cooling rack as soon as they come out of the oven.

For the vanilla glaze: combine icing sugar, soy milk and vanilla. Stir until smooth and drizzle it on the donuts while they are still warm.

For the maple glaze: combine icing sugar, maple syrup and maple extract. Stir until smooth and drizzle it on the donuts while they are still warm.

For the chocolate glaze: combine chocolate chips, soy milk and dairy free whipping cream in a bowl and microwave at 15 second intervals while stirring. Continue to heat for 15 second intervals until melted. Add icing sugar. Stir then dip donuts into glaze.

For the cinnamon coating: combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush donuts with a little bit of melted dairy free margarine and dip in cinnamon sugar mixture.