Coconut Carrot Cake Protein Donuts are a clean eating, gluten-free treat with a touch of decadence! They’re made with oat flour and protein powder, packed with coconut and cinnamon, and topped with a white chocolate drizzle.
Where are all my carrot cake lovers?
If you’ve been following for a while, you know I love all things carrot cake. So it should be no surprise that I would share a carrot cake recipe just before Easter, which is really the unofficial start of the carrot cake season, right?!
And if you’re not into carrot cake, that’s okay! These are actually donuts! 😉
So you just really need to be into little golden, cakey donuts, packed with cinnamon, white chocolate and toasted coconut!
And if you’re the type to screw up your nose at veggies in dessert (yes, I’m looking at you hubby!), I just want to say that you really can’t taste the carrot in these donuts. The grated carrot adds texture and moisture but the real flavour is in the excessive amount of cinnamon and coconut. And, yes, the white chocolate is a definite flavour treat, but totally optional if you’re trying to keep these donuts completely clean. 😉
These Coconut Carrot Cake Protein Donuts are actually a spin on an earlier recipe I posted on the blog for Coconut Carrot Bundt Cake. The addition of coconut to carrot cake was a big hit, so I decided the flavour combo had to be replicated in donut form. And for that form, I borrowed from my recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Protein Donuts, which uses a combination of oat flour and vanilla protein powder as the donut base.
If you haven’t tried protein donuts, they’re one of my favourite clean eating snacks. In this recipe, you get your protein from the powder, eggs and walnuts, as well as a punch of fibre from the oat flour. And the best part? They’re not only gluten-free, but if you forgo the white chocolate drizzle, they’re refined sugar-free too!
If you’re still on the hunt for an Easter dessert, these Coconut Carrot Cake Protein Donuts should be a definite contender. I’ll be whipping up another batch for this weekend’s brunch festivities, and I’ll be tucking a few away for my work lunches next week! 😉
As usual, if you make this recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below!
Have a great long Easter weekend!
PrintCoconut Carrot Cake Protein Donuts
Coconut Carrot Cake Protein Donuts are a clean eating, gluten-free treat with a touch of decadence! They’re made with oat flour and protein powder, packed with coconut and cinnamon, and topped with a white chocolate drizzle.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Desserts; Snacks
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped raw walnuts
- 1–1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
- 1/4 cup vanilla plant-based protein powder
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup egg whites
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- Optional topping:
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 tbsp virgin, cold-pressed coconut oil
- 1/4 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12-cavity donut pan. Sprinkle the walnuts into each cavity.
- In a large bowl, stir together the oat flour, protein powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond milk, oil, egg whites, apple sauce and honey.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir until well combined but don’t over mix. The batter will be thick. Stir in the grated carrot and 1/2 cup of coconut.
- Spoon the batter into the donut cavities, spreading evenly but being careful not to disturb the walnuts on the bottom.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in a donut comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out donuts onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
- For the optional topping, melt the white chocolate chips and coconut oil in the microwave for two 30 second intervals, stirring in between intervals. Drizzle the white chocolate over the donuts, and top with toasted coconut. Place in the fridge to set up.
- Donuts can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge or on the counter and enjoyed within 2-3 days.
Notes
- For gluten-free donuts, ensure your oat flour and protein powder are gluten-free.
- The white chocolate drizzle is completely optional.
Keywords: carrot cake, protein donuts
Do you by chance have the nutritional facts on these doughnuts? Made them exactly how it said.
Hi Taylor. I’m sorry I don’t have the nutritional information to provide at the moment. I’ve been working to update my posts to include this information, but haven’t gotten to this recipe yet. I’ll bump this one up in the queue and have that information included within the next day or two!
Carrot cake in donut form? Count me in! And the fact that these are gluten free makes me really happy. I can’t wait to make these!
★★★★★
I need to buy a doughnut pan soon! This carrit cake is in my list now and I love how you added to nuts right at the end, gives a pretty visual too to the cake.
Thank you! I bought my donut pan about a year ago, and it’s been great for making healthy donuts! And I love baking walnuts or pecans into the tops of the donuts! Hope you get a chance to make these soon!
Hi! Is there a way to reduce the oil? Also, do you have nutritional info per donut? Thx :))
Hi Melina! I’ve never tried making these donuts with less oil. I usually try to include some healthy fats in my baked goods, so I’m not sure how the texture of these donuts would work if they had less than 1/4 cup of evoo. As for the nutritional information, I don’t have that available right now, but I’m actually working on including it for all my recipes, so it will be available soon! Thanks for stopping by!
hey Leanne, right on time — now, these looks so delicious, I’ll stop what I’m doing now, and will call my girlfriend to share this recipe with her 🙂
Thank you for the great job you do!
Thanks Codrut! I hope you and your girlfriend get a chance to make these donuts! Be sure to let me know how they turn out!
You already know that I love all things carrot cake 😉 These are so great, Leanne. Can’t wait to try them for the boys! What kind of protein powder do you use? Let me know! Also – love the nuts baked into the top!!!
Haha, yes, I’m totally aware of your love for carrot cake!! What’s not to love?! I hope your boys like these donuts. For this recipe, I used a vanilla plant-based protein called Leanfit.
I love how healthy these are while still being a decadent treat. They look delicious!!
Thanks Natalie! The best of both worlds!!