Homemade Chocolate Donuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F fan-assisted and grease a doughnut pan with coconut oil.

Transfer the ground chia seeds to a small bowl along with 4 tbsp of water. Stir to combine, then set to one side to thicken up.

Transfer the plant based milk to a small bowl and add the apple cider vinegar. Give the ingredients a stir to create the ‘buttermilk’, then set to one side while you carry out the next steps.

Add all the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine, making sure no large clumps remain.

Then melt the coconut oil on a low heat in a saucepan until fully melted and pour into the dry ingredients, along with the chia seeds and buttermilk from earlier, as well as the vanilla extract. Whisk (or use a wooden spoon) until fully combined.

Pour the mixture into the doughnut moulds so each mould is roughly 2/3rds full. If using a 6 tray doughnut mould like we do, make half the doughnuts now, then reuse the mould later to bake the remaining 6 doughnuts. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes in the mould, then turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool fully. If the doughnut hole has closed with cake mix, we use a chopstick to open up the whole.

If making another 6 doughnuts, rinse out the mould, grease with coconut oil, add the cake mix and bake for 12 minutes.

While the doughnuts are cooling, make the glaze by combining the icing sugar, cocoa powder, plant-based milk and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add a little more milk if the glaze is too thick or a little more icing if it’s too wet. The consistency should be thick, but wet enough to easily dip the doughnuts.

Once the doughnuts are fully cooled dunk each one in the glaze, set to one side, then top with vegan sprinkles. These are best eaten the same day!