Healthier Chocolate Filled Donuts

These are Better Than Donut Shop Donuts

If your kids are crazy for donuts, this is exactly the recipe you need. Because according to my kids, these homemade donuts are as good as donuts from the donut shop :O And to be perfectly honest, I can hardly believe it.

My 7-year-old literally had to convince me that she truly loves these donuts. Not because I don’t think they are delicious but because my 7-year-old can be very hard to please in the treat department. Particularly when it comes to comparing naturally sweetened treats to the highly processed treats she is so drawn to. She’s a tough sell.

Consequently, I didn’t fully believe how much she loves these healthier donuts until I took my kids to the donut shop for a taste test (which I posted a video of on Instagram).

It was only when I saw her taste the homemade donut, taste the donut shop donut … and still want the homemade donut that I completely accepted that she really, really loves these healthy homemade donuts.

I watched her in shock as she kept alternating between taking bites of the homemade donut and the donut shop donut, thoroughly enjoying both of them equally. And when I asked which one was better, she said, “Both!”

But while my daughter considers these refined sugar free donuts to be equal to the processed donuts from the donut shop, I consider them superior. Because with taste that’s just as good and ingredients and a cooking method that are far healthier, from my perspective, these donuts are completely unmatchable by a donut shop.

With a donut base that is sweetened with maple syrup, an easy filling that is sweetened with raw honey and a chocolate topping that is also sweetened with honey, these healthy donuts don’t contain even a speck of white sugar.

Plus, these donuts are not fried, which also makes them a whole lot healthier.

So not only will your kids think these donuts are as good as the ones from the donut shop, you will actually be happy to give them these healthier donuts 🙂

When Your Kids Will Want These Donuts

I’m just going to say it: You are going to have to put limits on your kids because they are simply going to want these donuts All. The. Time. 😁

I give these donuts to my daughter as dessert after lunch because they are indeed quite a treat. But I also send them with her on school mornings for breakfast because … Well, donuts are traditionally a breakfast food, after all.

These would also be a great option to bring to a brunch get-together. Or, give them to your kids as a special after school treat.

Or, you could do what I did and take your kids to the donut shop to do a taste test 🙂 By the way, if you do that, please tag @NaturallySweetenedKids on social media so I can see it!

Something that’s great about these donuts is that they have a filling. And there are a variety of options for what to fill these donuts with.

I usually fill them with chocolate whipped cream (homemade and sweetened with raw honey) because that’s what my 7-year-old loves.

But you can also fill them with vanilla whipped cream, chocolate date frosting, strawberry buttercream frosting or, for a fall twist, you can fill them with pumpkin spiced cream cheese frosting (you can find the recipe for that in my pumpkin cake pops recipe post).

Ingredients

• Milk: Just a little bit of warm milk is needed to activate the yeast and to act as a bit of liquid in the donut batter. I use organic whole milk.

• Yeast: Dry active yeast is the rising agent in these donuts. You can usually find yeast at Costco, Kroger, Walmart or Amazon.

• Maple Syrup: Maple syrup is the natural sweetener that keeps these donuts light and sweet without refined sugar. I usually get mine from Costco, but any maple syrup will do. Just be sure you have genuine, pure maple syrup and not an imitation syrup mixture.

• Egg: An egg acts as the binder for these donuts. I prefer to use farm-fresh or organic/cage-free.

• Butter: Butter helps make these donuts light and fluffy. I use Irish grass-fed butter or organic.

• Flour: I use organic flour from Costco, but any all-purpose flour will work.

• Salt: Just a dash of salt helps to bring out the flavor of these donuts. I like to use pink Himalayan sea salt when possible.

• Homemade Chocolate: My homemade chocolate recipe is made using only unsweetened baker’s chocolate, raw honey and butter. It makes the perfect dark chocolate topping for these donuts.

• Homemade Chocolate Whipped Cream: My homemade chocolate whipped cream is sweetened only with raw honey and it is a huge favorite with kids. It also makes a delicious filling for donuts 🙂

Instructions

Making the Donuts

Step 1

In a mug or small bowl, combine your warm milk and yeast to activate the yeast. You can warm your milk in a pan on the stove or for 20 seconds in the microwave. Your milk should be between 100 and 120 degrees F to activate the yeast without killing it.

Let the yeast activate for ten minutes.

Step 2

In a medium-size bowl, combine maple syrup and egg. Whisk to break up the egg and fully combine.

Step 3

To the maple syrup and egg, add melted butter and activated yeast-milk mixture. Mix until combined.

Step 4

Add flour and salt to the rest of the ingredients and mix. Once everything is coming together, you can knead it with your hands. It will not be stretchy at this point. It will feel more like a dense cookie dough.

Step 5

Cover the bowl with an oiled piece of foil and place a very warm place (90-120 degrees F) to rise for two hours.

* See note

Step 6

After two hours, your dough should be about doubled in size and more fluffy and stretchy. Divide it into twelve equal portions. The most accurate way to do this is to weigh all of your dough (without the bowl) and then divide that weight by twelve. Then, measure each dough ball by weight to get them all the same size.

Step 7

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Step 8

Working one at a time, make each dough portion into a round ball, stretching the top portion down on all sides and pinching the dough together on the bottom. This will ensure your donuts turn out smooth and without seems on top.

Step 9

Place your baking sheets somewhere very warm, uncovered, and let rise for another two hours.

Step 10

Ten minutes before the 2-hour mark, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 11

After two hours, your dough balls should have risen to be at least 1 1/2 times their original size.

Step 12

Place your donuts in the preheated oven. Bake for 7-9 minutes, checking and switching your baking sheets around halfway through.

Step 13

Donuts will be light in color, soft and browned on the bottom when they are done.

Step 14

Allow baked donuts to rest on the baking sheets for 10-15 minutes until no longer hot and then place in a sealed container to prevent them from drying out until filling and frosting them.

Frosting the Donuts

Step 1

To frost the donuts, use my homemade chocolate recipe to make melted chocolate. Then, dip the top of each donut in the melted chocolate, rotating and tilting to get as much of the donut coated as you want.

Step 2

Once the donuts are frosted, place them in an airtight container in the fridge to harden the frosting until you are ready to fill them.

Filling the Donuts

Step 1

Working one at a time and using a kabob stick, chopstick or the end of a small spoon with a narrow handle, poke a hole into the side of each donut, pushing it as deep inside as you can without poking it through the other side.

Move the stick around the inside of the donut by angling it different directions to clear space inside the donut for the filling. Do this with all the donuts and then place them back in a sealed container to prevent them from drying out while you prepare your filling.

Step 2

Make your chocolate whipped cream (or other filling of choice) and fill a your piping bag fitted with a tip small enough to fit inside of the donut hole.

Step 3

To fill the donuts, insert the piping tip into the donut’s hole as far as it will go and pipe filling into the donut, moving it around to fill as much of the donut as you can. Once you feel pressure, slow down your piping and stop when it begins to come out the hole.

Step 4

Optionally, you can sift cocoa powder over the tops of the finished donuts for decoration.

Step 5

Store donuts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.

Substitutions & Tips

• While the time you are actually working on these donuts is not extensive, they require a good chunk of the day just to make and bake the dough because of the lengthy rise time. I recommend planning to make the donuts themselves one day and then filling and frosting them the next day.

• It is essential that these donuts be placed in a warm location to rise (for both rises). If they are not in a very warm environment, they will not rise properly. I use my proofing drawer for the first rise. But for the second rise, my baking sheets won’t fit in the proofing drawer. So for the second rise, I heat my oven to about 125 degrees Fahrenheit, turn it off, and then place the baking sheets in the oven.

• The risen, unbaked donuts are rather fragile. It is important not to put any pressure on them or poke them in this state to preserve the air in them.

• Watch the donuts carefully as they bake. They will overbrown quickly, especially on the bottoms, if you are not paying attention.

• There are several filling and frosting options you can use besides the ones I use in this recipe. For the frosting, you could use chocolate tahini buttercream frosting, vanilla buttercream frosting or strawberry buttercream frosting For the filling, you could use vanilla whipped cream, homemade strawberry jam or chocolate date frosting.

• If you fill your donuts with whipped cream, remember that it is essential to store them in the fridge to prevent them from spoiling. If you use a non-dairy option to fill them, you can leave them at room temperature if you prefer. However, keep in mind that the chocolate coating will be melty and messy at room temperature (which is still delicious and even more similar to donut shop donuts anyway). But more importantly, they will be preserved longer in the fridge.

• These donuts are the best in texture when they are eaten within a couple days of being made (the sooner the better), but they are still delicious for several more days after that as well.