Whole wheat Christmas donuts are a healthy & fluffy holiday dessert! With 3 easy flavor options, these are the best baked holiday donuts.

Whole wheat Christmas donuts are a healthy & fluffy dessert option! With 3 easy flavor options, these are the best baked holiday donuts.

Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas time is upon us! That means lots of Christmas shopping, decorating, and baking.

These Whole Wheat Christmas Donuts are a fun and healthier version of traditional cake donuts, and still taste fluffy and super amazing. They’re fun and easy to bake, and make a great recipe that even your kids can help with!

But who likes just one flavor of donut? Not me, so I created 3 different variations using the same base recipe for you. Gingerbread, Hot Cocoa, and Eggnog cake donuts are a must for the holidays. Plus, they’re insanely easy to make!

Can donuts be healthy?

Traditional donuts are loaded with sugar, refined carbohydrates, and saturated fats. Although donuts are not traditionally healthy, they can be made healthier by using the right ingredients.

In order to make these Christmas donuts healthier, I used 100% whole wheat pastry flour, avocado oil, and coconut sugar. Yes, they are still very high in carbohydrates, but are much higher in fiber, heart healthy fats, and natural sugars than traditional cake donuts.

Is it better to fry or bake donuts?

Always bake your donuts. Fried donuts are so much higher in calories and saturated fats than baked donuts. Plus, they’re often coated in batter and then rolled in a ton of sugar. Baked donuts are usually much healthier than fried donuts.

These baked Christmas donuts have a powdered sugar glaze, but they aren’t completely rolled in sugar. There is no extra battering or oil required to make these cake donuts have a great, fluffy texture.

How do you make healthy donuts from scratch?

The first step to making healthy donuts from scratch is to start with healthy ingredients. Whole wheat pastry flour, coconut sugar, Greek yogurt, and avocado oil all help to make these Christmas donuts much healthier than traditional cake donuts.

To get started, mix together all of your dry ingredients by hand. Then, add all of your wet ingredients and mix until just combined. You don’t want to overmix the batter or your donuts won’t turn out as fluffy as you want them to.

Spoon or scoop the batter into a greased donut pan, then bake your donuts at 350 degrees for 14-15 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes, then transfer them onto a cooling rack.

While they’re cooling, make your glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, whole milk, vanilla extract, and any of the other optional flavors listed below.

Once cool enough to handle, dunk your donuts in the glaze so that the top half of the donut is covered in glaze. Place the glazed donuts back on the cooling rack and sprinkle with any optional toppings listed below. It helps to put a piece of parchment paper underneath the cooling rack so any excess glaze doesn’t get all over your counter.

Sprinkle the eggnog donuts with nutmeg, the hot cocoa donuts with mini or dehydrated marshmallows, and the gingerbread donuts with cinnamon and/or sugar. Allow the glaze to set for about an hour, then serve them up!

This is the donut pan that I have and it works so well. It’s nonstick, easy to clean, and makes 20 donuts at a time!

What can I use if I don’t have a donut pan?

The easiest way to make donuts without a donut pan is to grab your muffin pan and some aluminum foil.

Simply grab a small piece of aluminum foil, place the tip of your finger in the center of the aluminum foil, and wrap the foil around your finger. Place the shaped aluminum foil into the bottom of the muffin tin and continue until all the muffin cups have been transformed into donut molds! Grease each mold, then get to baking!

For more on making your own donut pan, check out this tutorial.

What temperature do you cook donuts?

Baked donuts should be placed in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 14-15 minutes. This allows the Christmas donuts to rise and cook through without overcooking on the outside first.

Healthy Whole Wheat Christmas Donuts

This holiday donut recipe is a much healthier version than traditional cake donuts. That’s because of the ingredients this recipe calls for!

Whole wheat pastry flour gives these donuts more fiber than white flour does. I use whole wheat pastry flour in most of my baking because it’s 100% whole wheat, but it’s not as dense as regular whole wheat flour. Fluffy baking with no white flour is a win in my book!

The avocado oil is used to instead of butter to help give the donuts more moisture. It’s more heart healthy, has a more mild taste, and has much more nutrition than butter and other oils do.

Coconut sugar is an ingredient I’ve been starting to use more in my baking. It’s a more natural form of crystalized sugar than plain white sugar, but isn’t in liquid form like maple syrup or honey. That makes it really great for baking!

Total nutritional content per donut with basic glaze is:

Calories: 208 calories
Protein: 4 grams
Sodium: 186 mg
Carbohydrates: 39 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

If you are wanting to cut down on the sugar and carbs for this recipe, you could try substituting 2 tbsp monk fruit extract in place of the 1/2 cup of coconut sugar.

Budget Friendly

This may be one of my most budget-friendly recipes ever because the entire recipe comes out to be about $1.99 or $.25 per donut. That’s insanely cheap for a high quality donut, and you don’t even have to leave your house Christmas morning to get your donut on!

These calculations don’t factor in the optional flavor add-ins and substitutions, but it does account for the base donut recipe.

Other holiday recipes:

Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comments below! I would really appreciate your feedback!

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