My Six Ring Circus: Magic Donuts

Since we started Mr. O. on his dietary changes almost a year ago, I have been dreaming of donuts. But coming up with something gluten free, casein free, soy free, dairy free and without dyes and refined sugar ... ummm .. I was not feeling confident. Even before we gave up the gluten, soy, corn and dairy, I had a hard time getting donuts right. But there is something about fall that makes a person want a donut.. Apple cider donuts, pumpkin donuts, spice donuts ... a hot cup of coffee, bliss.

Yesterday we reached the point where the craving overcame the fear. Mr. O. started asking for donuts - specifically "Punchin Donuts" and then it changed to "Magic Donuts." I am guessing "Punchin Donuts" is how he hears "Dunkin Donuts." I still don't know where "Magic Donuts" came from, but I figured I would give it a try. My boy wanted magic donuts, I was going to make him some!

So - here are the magic donuts, with links to the ingredients as found on Amazon - you can also buy most of these items at Whole Foods if you don't want to buy in bulk.

I started with this recipe that I found online and made some changes, doubled it and tweaked a few things because of our food issues. Here's my adjusted list of ingredients for baked pumpkin donuts - these are gluten free, casein free, soy free, corn free and free of dyes and refined sugar:

1 1/2 cups Rice Flour

12 TBS Tapioca Flour

4 TBS Tapioca Starch

1 tsp Xantham Gum

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Cream of Tartar

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Allspice

2 tsp Cinnamon

4 eggs

2 cups of organic Sucanat (sugar)

1 cup Canned Pumpkin Puree

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Applesauce

1/2 cup Canola Oil

Preheat the oven to 350 - grease a non-stick mini donut pan. I could not find a donut pan on short notice, so we used this fluted cake pan and it was fine. You can also use muffin pans, but then you won't have that fun hole in the middle. Isn't that what donuts are all about?

In a medium bowl, combine rice flour, tapioca flour, tapioca starch, xantham gum, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and spices. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla, applesauce and oil until combined. I used my mixer. Then add dry ingredients and stir until blended.

Fill each donut cup about 3/4 full - don't over fill. I saw on another blog that they recommended piping the mix into the baking cups so I tried it - not sure if it was necessary, but it didn't hurt. I just put the batter into a big zipper bag, cut a hole and started making the donuts.

Bake about 10-12 minutes, until tester comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes before removing. (I didn't, but you can, maybe you are more patient than I am.)

For the glaze, I used coconut milk (I found it at Shop Rite, they also have it at Trader Joe's) and some finely ground Sucanat (I just put it into the coffee grinder until the consistency was similar to powdered sugar) - Mixed them together until it was sweet enough for me and then added a little bit of rice flour to thicken it up. I dipped each donut in the glaze and then I dipped some of them into Sucanat and Cinnamon mixed in a bowl.