Whole wheat Christmas donuts are a healthy & fluffy holiday dessert! 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.
RELATED: Easy & Healthy Avocado Brownies
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!
Recipe
Whole Wheat Christmas Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
Gingerbread Donut Add Ins
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 pinch of cloves
- 1 tbsp molasses
Hot Cocoa Donut Add Ins
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Eggnog Donut Add Ins
- ½ cup eggnog (substitute instead of almond milk)
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° and grease your donut pan.
- Stir together all the dry ingredients (including any optional add-ins listed above) in a large bowl. Add in egg, milk (or eggnog if making eggnog donuts), vanilla, avocado oil, and plain Greek yogurt. Hand mix until just combined, don't over mix your batter.
- Scoop or spoon your batter into the donut pan. Fill each donut mold ¾ full of batter, for about 8 donuts.
- Bake at 350° for 14-15 minutes, until cooked through and toothpick comes out clean. Allow donuts to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- While the donuts are cooling, make the glaze.
- Gingerbread glaze: whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbsp whole milk, and ½ tsp vanilla extract until smooth. Eggnog glaze: whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbsp eggnog, and ½ tsp vanilla extract until smooth. Hot cocoa glaze: whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbsp whole milk, ½ tsp vanilla, and ¼ cup hot cocoa mix until smooth.
- Once the donuts are cool enough to handle, dip the donuts in the glaze so the top half of each donut is covered in glaze. Place on a cooling rack, sprinkle hot cocoa donuts with mini or dehydrated marshmallows, sprinkle the gingerbread donuts with cinnamon sugar, and sprinkle the eggnog donuts with nutmeg.
- Allow the glaze to harden for about an hour. Serve!
Notes
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xoxo Megan
These totally remind me of Christmas in my house growing up. My mom always made something super special and I can totally picture her making these for Christmas morning. So clever, cute and they look delicious too! Happy Holidays!
Oh Lyn I love this! Happy Holidays! 🙂
Well, YUM!!! These look beyond good– and I’m not even a donut person! Usually, they just look like a sugar high (and crash!), but these look like they have great flavor, natural sugar, and fiber to keep my energy more consistent!
Thanks Chelsea! I definitely tried to keep them healthier with all the fiber and natural sugars!
These look delicious! Gingerbread is my favorite!
I love it, too! Thank you 🙂
Christmas Donuts?! And three flavors?? I’m in! Can’t wait to try!
Right!? So good! Let me know what you think 🙂