Flourless Chocolate Protein Donuts (with added veggies!)
These Flourless Chocolate Protein Donuts are not only easy and delicious, but they are packed with protein and veggie-loaded! The perfect way to start the day.
My family has some pretty great foodie traditions when it comes to holidays. Gingerbread men decorating parties at Christmas. Huge pancake stacks with whipped cream and sprinkles on my daughter’s birthday. Smoked salmon anything and everything on my birthday and Mother’s Day. Beef stick bouquets on anniversaries (true story). And donuts on any holiday that centers around my husband, Ken.
For as far back as I have known my husband, donuts have been his kryptonite. Maybe it started way back in his teenage years when he used to make donuts at a local donut shop. Or maybe its just something he has loved for all his life, but each year on his birthday and Father’s Day, my daughter and I tiptoe out of the house at the crack of dawn in our jammies to retrieve him his beloved donuts. It’s our tradition to enjoy those little circles of sugar on those holidays, and I doubt we will ever give it up entirely.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t make the tradition a little bit healthier. A bit cleaner. With protein……and hidden veggies!
Don’t get me wrong! I am all about living a life of balance and think there is nothing wrong with an occasional treat that is as far from healthy as you can get. But, I am also all about finding new, healthier ways of living the life we love. A way to have our cake and eat it too….or, in this case, donuts. Enter my Flourless Chocolate Donuts (with hidden veggies!).
These bad boys bring a new level of health, deliciousness and nutrition that has never seen donut form before. Moist and fudgey. Perfectly chocolately and sweet…..but loaded with veggie goodness, healthy fats and protein that the unknowing taste tester will never detect.
I first became inspired to preform a major donut makeover when I received at bag of Paleovalley’s Organic Supergreens Powder in the mail. I was totally in love with its amazing superfood ingredients (spirulina, kale, spinach, broccoli sprouts, and aleo vera leaf to name a few) and adored that it was free of any fillers or funky preservatives. I was dying to find a way to get it into my family’s bellies, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to convince my 5-year-old and brutally honest husband to drink a glass of Supergreens Powder with water (which I totally do). And then one day, I found myself lacking greens for my Superhero Waffles and subbed in the Organic Supergreens Powder ….and it was magic!
Soon, I found myself throwing the green goodness in everything to help get bonus veggies into my family. Meatballs. Pasta sauce. And now these donuts.
What felt like a “cheat” now feels like an investment in our health. These Flourless Chocolate Protein Donuts are loaded with good fat from almond butter and avocado and are naturally sweetened. Beside the Organic Supergreens Powder, these donuts unknowingly sneak a little extra zucchini into your diet.
My family’s tradition of donuts on Father’s Day with continue on this Sunday, but this year it will be a bit healthier of a celebration.
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Disclaimer: Thank you to Paleovalley for sponsoring this post! My promise to you, my readers, is to only promote content and products that I truly believe in and buy myself. All opinions stated in this post are my own.
Want to make sure you always have spinach on hand for these Flourless Chocolate Protein Donuts? Check out my tips & tricks for keeping spinach fresh all week!
Veggie-Loaded Chocolate Protein Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 tablespoon heaping Organic Paleovalley Supergreens Powder
- 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup natural unsalted smooth almond butter , or sunflower seed butter for a nut free option
- 1/2 cup cocoa or cacao powder
- 1/2 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
- 3/4 cup chopped zucchini
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 tab pure vanilla extract
- coconut oil for greasing
Instructions
Veggie-Loaded Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and use a pastry brush or your clean hands to grease a 6-cavity donut pan.
- Combine all ingredients in your blender and run until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times to make sure that all ingredients gets mixed in! But be careful not to over mix.
- Scoop donut batter into a large ziplock bag and cut off the tip of the bag with scissors. Squeeze batter into the greased donut pan. Tap the donut pan on the counter a few times to make sure all the batter settles into the cavities evenly.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Set pan over a wire rack to cool. Wait until donuts are cooled then remove from the pan. The longer they cool, the firmer they will become.
- While donuts cool, make the chocolate drizzle (optional)
Chocolate drizzle
- In a double boiler, combine chocolate and coconut oil. Or you can use the microwave.
- Melt over medium heat, stirring continuously to prevent burning.
- Once chocolate is totally melted and smooth, use a spoon to drizzle over the cooled donuts.
- Enjoy as is or garnish with fresh berries, slivered almonds, shredded coconut or sprinkles!
Wow – look at all that goodness packed into those donuts! Amazing! I would feel good about this being breakfast – and I’m sure my girls would love it!
Whaaaat! Loving all the fun twists and hidden veggies in here. And the pictures are SO gorgeous!!
These are SOOOOOO pretty! Love all the hidden healthy ingredients in it as well.
I LOVE the idea that you added veggies and greens into these donuts! Plus the rest of the ingredients are so clean and healthy too – I’d definitely feel good about serving these to my family.
Holy yum!! And healthy too!!
You’d never know there’s hidden veggies in here, they look simply decadent and fudgy, perfect for weekend breakfasts!
This is absolutely gorgeous !! I love these hidden veggie chocolate donuts !! Amazing !
I love your food traditions! 🙂 These donuts look so good! I love that they’re naturally sweetened and packed with healthy fats!
Could you sub anything for the Super Greens Powder? Wanted to make them for Father’s Day tomorrow but don’t have that. What do you think?
You could just leave it out and it they will still come out lovely!
WOW!!! I love that you packed some avocado AND supergreens in these! Those toppings are everything too, especially that bee pollen.
Can’t go wrong with hidden greens! These are the perfect treat, especially for little hands and picky eaters 🙂
I totally agree!
These look delicious!! I’ll have to look and see if we can get paleo valley power in Canada!
Love the idea of hidden veggies / great way to up the vegetable content for kids too. Nice one!
Hidden veggies! What a great idea! They look fab, love the photos.
Wow, these donuts look great! And I definitely need some of this supergreens powder for my smoothies!
It’s amazing how many amazing veggies and superfoods you were able to sneak in there! I would get my veggies for the day!
Great recipe! All of yours are though! You mentioned bee pollen, I was wondering where do you get yours?
Thanks for all the inspiration!
I buy mine at the local farmer’s market. Local bee pollen is best, in my book! As it is fresher and can help with seasonal allergies!
Dying to whip these up for the upcoming week! Have these been tried w a flax egg substitute?
Thanks!
Not that I know of! If you try them, let me know!
What could we sub for the avocado, our little one is allergic?
Banana would work!
Can we sub stevia in for maple syrup?
I think that would work! I haven’t tried the sub out for myself, so I am not sure how much or how the change would impact the texture!
This came out wonderful! I didn’t have a ripe avocado on hand, so I used a banana as a substitute as suggested, and they came out great. My toddler had a lot of fun helping me bake and decorate them. A huge hit!
These for rav reviews at our V day co-op party! I used a vegan powdered egg substitute, sun butter, and through in some choc protein powder.
I was curious if you/anyone else has frozen these before with success? I’m making them again but it would really help to have them made ahead of the next party vs just the day before.
I’m so happy to hear that, Colleen! Great subs! Especially the egg substitute. Can I ask which you used? I’ve tried many egg replacers in these kinds of recipes, but I’ve never had success. I’d love to have one to recommend to people who need it.
As for freezing, I feel like these should freeze just fine!
I used the Bob’s Mill powdered egg substitute and have the Nameste equivalent to try this time since I couldn’t find the Bob’s Mill. For many of your muffins I often use the baking soda + vinegar substitute (1 tsp baking soda + 1 tbsp vinegar) with success, but was hesitant to do that here since there were so many eggs to replace in a triple batch of these.
Thanks for the freezing info!
Any idea on where to get a pan that is stainless steel and not a non stick coated one, which has all those toxins. I would hate to make these super healthy treats and then put them in a non stick pan. 🙁
I now use a silicone donut pan and it works great!
I just made these with my kids (after making your healthy chocolate muffins 3x in the past week!) and wow, I’m blown away at how easy & tasty they are. Huge bonus at their health content too. Definitely a repeater!!!