These Boston cream donuts tastes as delicious as the traditional kind, but are vegan and made healthier in the air frier.
What you will need
Dough Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dairy-free milk (360 grams)
- ⅓ cup sugar (67 grams)
- 1 packet yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
- ⅓ cup coconut oil (or vegan butter)
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour (420 grams)
- 3 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
Cream Filling Ingredients
- 1 can coconut milk
- ¾ dairy-free milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
This cream recipe was adapted from Nora Cooks.
Glaze Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted chocolate (60 grams)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
You will also need an air frier for this recipe. However, if you don't have one, don't fret! I've included directions for how to bake and also fry them the traditional way.
How to make the Boston cream donuts
The first step is to create the donuts. Start by combining the milk and sugar in a large bowl and microwaving them in 20 second increments until the mixture reaches 120F-130F (Use a thermometer to measure). This is about 48C-54C in Celsius.
Once the mixture has reached that temperature, sprinkle in the yeast and stir it in. Cover the dish with a towel and let the yeast activate for 5-10 minutes.
Once the yeast has activated, start adding in the rest of the ingredients. Add the oil, then slowly start adding the flour (add about 1 cup at a time) until you have combined all of the dough ingredients.
Cover the dough with a towel and place it in a warm place for 45 min-1 hour. This will make the dough rise and become more fluffy. I preheat my oven to 100F/ (roughly 40C) and keep the dough in there.
After the dough has doubled in size, place it on a clean surface that you have sprinkled with flour. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky (add about 1 tablespoon at a time so that you don't overdo it).
Roll out the dough to be about ½ inch thick (about 1 cm).
Using a cup or a cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough for each donut and place them on a cookie tray that you have lined with parchment paper.
Keep doing this until you run out of dough. I made about 9 donuts, but I made mine pretty thick, so you can get anywhere from 9-12 donuts.
Cover the tray of donuts with a paper towel (make sure the towel doesn't touch and squish down the donuts). Place the donuts in a warm surface, and let them rise for another 30 minutes.
Now it's time to bake the donuts.
For this recipe, I air fried mine. This is because traditionally Boston cream donuts are fried, but I did not want all of that extra oil and grease (plus it's much easier to air fry). You can choose to air fry, bake in the oven, or fry the donuts traditionally.
I did not bake or fry mine, but this really helpful video showed all three methods. You can bake the donuts at 350F for 10 minutes or fry them at 350F for 45 seconds on each side. Feel free to watch the video for a more in depth explanation if you are planning on using these methods.
I air fried each donut at 350*F for 5 minutes on each side, for a total of 10 minutes for each donut.
If your donuts are smaller or thinner than mine, you may need to fry them for a little shorter, so if you find that your donuts are coming out overcooked, try air frying for 4 minutes on each side.
When all of the donuts are fully cooked, place them on a cooling rack.
Now it's time to make the filling. In a pot over medium heat, add the can of coconut milk, dairy-free milk, sugar, coconut flour, coconut oil, vanilla and salt.
Cook for 5-6 minutes until the ingredients are well combined, and the mixture starts to bubble a bit.
Now turn down the heat and add the cornstarch. The mixture should start to thicken. After the cornstarch has been fully combined and there are no chunks left, turn off the heat and allow the cream to cool.
After the cream has cooled, transfer it to a piping bag.
Stick a chopstick, or another thin clean stick, into the donut and wiggle it around to create room for the cream.
Snip off the end of the piping bag and place the tip of the bag in the hole that you just made with the chopstick. Slowly pipe in as much cream as you can fill. Repeat this with all of the donuts.
I made a lot of cream for this recipe, because I like my donuts to have a lot of cream inside. If you don't like as much cream, you might have some cream leftover.
After all of the donuts are filled, place them back on the cooling rack.
For the glaze, melt the chocolate and combine it with the coconut oil. Dip each donut upside down into the melted chocolate and drip off the excess.
Place the donuts on the cooling rack one last time until the chocolate hardens. Then enjoy!
These donuts are best enjoyed the same day, but you can store them in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Video
If you liked this recipe, you might also like these other vegan donut recipes:
peanut butter & chocolate donuts
Boston Cream Donuts
Equipment
- air frier
Ingredients
Dough Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups dairy-free milk 360 grams
- ⅓ cup sugar 67 grams
- 1 packet yeast 2 ¼ tsp
- ⅓ cup coconut oil or vegan butter
- 3.5 cups all-purpose flour 420 grams
- 3 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
Cream Filling Ingredients
- 1 can coconut milk
- ¾ dairy-free milk
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
Glaze Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted chocolate 60 grams
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- The first step is to create the donuts. Start by combining the milk and sugar in a large bowl and microwaving them in 20 second increments until the mixture reaches 120*F-130*F (Use a thermometer to measure). This is about 48*C-54*C in Celsius.
- Once the mixture has reached that temperature, sprinkle in the yeast and stir it in. Cover the dish with a towel and let the yeast activate for 5-10 minutes.
- Once the yeast has activated, start adding in the rest of the ingredients. Add the oil, then slowly start adding the flour (add about 1 cup at a time) until you have combined all of the dough ingredients.
- Cover the dough with a towel and place it in a warm place for 45 min-1 hour. This will make the dough rise and become more fluffy. I preheat my oven to 100*F/ (roughly 40*C) and keep the dough in there.
- After the dough has doubled in size, place it on a clean surface that you have sprinkled with flour. Roll out the dough using a rolling pin. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky (add about 1 tablespoon at a time so that you don't overdo it).
- Roll out the dough to be about ½ inch thick (about 1 cm).
- Using a cup or a cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough for each donut and place them on a cookie tray that you have lined with parchment paper.
- Keep doing this until you run out of dough. I made about 9 donuts, but I made mine pretty thick, so you can get anywhere from 9-12 donuts.
- Cover the tray of donuts with a paper towel (make sure the towel doesn't touch and squish down the donuts). Place the donuts in a warm surface, and let them rise for another 30 minutes.
- Now it's time to bake the donuts.
- For this recipe, I air fried mine. This is because traditionally Boston cream donuts are fried, but I did not want all of that extra oil and grease (plus it's much easier to air fry). You can choose to air fry, bake in the oven, or fry the donuts traditionally.
- I did not bake or fry mine, but this really helpful video showed all three methods. You can bake the donuts at 350*F for 10 minutes or fry them at 350*F for 45 seconds on each side. Feel free to watch the video for a more in depth explanation if you are planning on using these methods.
- I air fried each donut at 350*F for 5 minutes on each side, for a total of 10 minutes for each donut.
- If your donuts are smaller or thinner than mine, you may need to fry them for a little shorter, so if you find that your donuts are coming out overcooked, try air frying for 4 minutes on each side.
- When all of the donuts are fully cooked, place them on a cooling rack.
- Now it's time to make the filling. In a pot over medium heat, add the can of coconut milk, dairy-free milk, sugar, coconut flour, coconut oil, vanilla and salt.
- Cook for 5-6 minutes until the ingredients are well combined, and the mixture starts to bubble a bit.
- Now turn down the heat and add the cornstarch. The mixture should start to thicken. After the cornstarch has been fully combined and there are no chunks left, turn off the heat and allow the cream to cool.
- After the cream has cooled, transfer it to a piping bag.
- Stick a chopstick, or another thin clean stick, into the donut and wiggle it around to create room for the cream.
- Snip off the end of the piping bag and place the tip of the bag in the hole that you just made with the chopstick. Slowly pipe in as much cream as you can fill. Repeat this with all of the donuts.
- I made a lot of cream for this recipe, because I like my donuts to have a lot of cream inside. If you don't like as much cream, you might have some cream leftover.
- After all of the donuts are filled, place them back on the cooling rack.
- For the glaze, melt the chocolate and combine it with the coconut oil. Dip each donut upside down into the melted chocolate and drip off the excess.
- Place the donuts on the cooling rack one last time until the chocolate hardens. Then enjoy!
- These donuts are best enjoyed the same day, but you can store them in the fridge for 2-3 days.
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