Chestnut Flavored Vegan Donut Recipe

These delicious donuts were inspired by a children’s book Donut Feed the Squirrels. It is a wonderful little story about some squirrels who want to buy some donuts from a food truck. This book is dear to my heart, because my son and I have also dreamed of owning a food truck someday…

And these donuts would surely be our number one selling item on that food truck!

I was inspired by the book, for sure, but I was also inspired by a package of prepared chestnuts being sold at Trader Joe’s and a small donut pan I passed by while shopping at Target. A vision of chestnut flavored donuts swirled around in my mind as I made the decision to purchase the donut pan at Target. I had already grabbed the chestnuts from Trader Joe’s, because I know it’s a seasonal item and seasonal items “donut” last to long there lol. And so…

I was on a mission to make chestnut flavored donuts. My son was ecstatic! He loves that book so much and now HE was going to have chestnut flavored donuts, just like his imaginary squirrel friends!

The squirrels in the book are imaginary, but we do have a lot of squirrels that come to our balcony window and say hi to us and our cat, so this truly was exciting for him. He often (and by often, I mean every chance he gets) collects acorns and leaves them in a bucket on our balcony so he can see the squirrels eat them up close.

Back to the donuts. Though this might be quite obvious to you, considering I just told you I bought a donut pan to specifically make this recipe, I have NEVER made donuts before this recipe. I was definitely not expecting them to come out so good. I was actually anticipating a big failure of a recipe. I have had many failures in the kitchen. But these…

THESE are amazing! They were made from my heart, from my love of innocence and imagination seen through a child’s eyes. There is something special about food that is made with love. It tastes better and we crave more of it. I wonder if there is any science to back this statement up. Likely not, but I still hold it to be true in my heart.

Enough about my theories…

Let’s talk donuts!

The flavor reminded me of visiting an apple farm in the Fall. They always had fresh baked donuts, warm from the oven, and when I was a child, I thought those donuts were the best donuts made in the world. They were super plain compared to the donuts my grandmother brought home from the donut shop every Sunday; yet, they were still better. They were airy and cake like. They had a hint of indescribable flavor that was out of this world. And that is what I wanted these donuts to taste like…

And they do!

In the book, Donut Feed the Squirrels there is one line right towards the end that describes the flavor for me perfectly: “I think they taste like sunshine and hugs.”

Make these donuts, my friends. And, if you can, read that wonderful book with your

Chestnut Flavored Vegan Donut Recipe

Print Recipe

Have you ever thought about using chestnuts to make a recipe? I never did, until I read a book to my son that was about chestnut flavored donuts. I was inspired to make these donuts by that book! They taste like something you would get at a farm on a brisk Fall day.

Course Dessert

Keyword chestnut, donut, vegan

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Servings 6

Author Michelle

Ingredients

• 1 package chestnuts
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup plant based milk
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a donut pan.
• Blend all wet ingredients in a high speed blender.
• Mix all dry ingredients in a medium ball.
• Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well.
• Add mixture to donut pan.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden and firm.
• Let cool completely and enjoy!