Vanilla Creme Mini Donuts with Strawberry Vanilla Glaze

I found adorable mini donut pans on sale at such a great price, I just had to buy two for my collection. Each cavity needs one tablespoon of batter, so a single recipe makes a lot of donuts. With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, I thought tiny pink donuts would be festive and fun! The best part is that each mini donut is only 1 carb, so they make a great low carb treat anytime of day. (If you don’t have a mini donut pan, these work just as well in a regular size donut pan but extend the baking time to about 15 minutes.) To color and flavor the icing, I crushed no sugar added, freeze-dried strawberries into a powder. If additional coloring is needed, you’ll only need a drop or two of red food coloring (see the photo below for a brand of natural, vegetable-based food dye I use). The colorful sugar free sprinkles puts these little party poppers over the top!

Vanilla Creme Mini Donuts with Strawberry Vanilla Glaze

Makes 30 mini donuts or 8 regular-size donuts

Donut Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour

1/4 cup granulated erythritol sweetener

2 tablespoons unflavored whey protein powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder (or seeds scraped from one vanilla bean)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup almond or coconut milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients:

2 ounces unsweetened cocoa butter (24 discs)

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 ounce cream cheese (1 tablespoon)

A pinch of salt

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons powdered erythritol

1 tablespoon no sugar added, freeze-dried strawberries, crushed into a fine powder

1-2 drops red food coloring, if needed to reach desired pink color

Garnish:

Sugar free sprinkles (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray each cavity of the donut baking pan with non-stick vegetable spray or grease with butter; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the almond flour, erythritol, protein powder, baking powder, vanilla powder and salt; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, yolks, heavy cream, almond or coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk well to combine.

3. Fill each donut cavity about 2/3 full. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the tops are just firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4. To make the glaze, place the heavy cream, cocoa butter, cream cheese and salt into a small saucepan and heat until just simmering. Remove from heat and allow the cocoa butter to melt and cream cheese to soften. (Alternately, you can microwave the mixture in a microwave-safe bowl in 15 second increments until cocoa butter is just melted.) Whisk until smooth. Add vanilla extract, powdered erythritol and strawberry powder and stir to combine. If desired, you can add 1-2 drops of red food coloring until you’re satisfied with the pink color. (The glaze will be thin, but will thicken up as it cools. To hasten the process, place glaze in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes and whisk.)

5. Dip the tops of the cooled donuts into the glaze. Place the glazed donuts on a wire rack over a cookie sheet to catch any drips. While the glaze is still wet, sprinkle with sugar free sprinkles, if desired. Cool until the glaze is set.

Nutritional information per mini donut with glaze (based on the recipe making 30 mini donuts): 62 calories, 1 g carbohydrate (0.4 g dietary fiber, 0.2 g sugars), 5.9 g total fat (2.7 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 27 mg cholesterol, 25 mg sodium, 37.2 mg calcium, 5 mg potassium, 26 mg Vit A, 1.5 g protein. Net carbs per serving: 0.6 grams

Photos and recipe by Kathy Sheehan, copyright 2020

All rights reserved. Please do not duplicate without the author’s permission.