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Sweet baked Zucchini Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze. Made with shredded zucchini, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, and just a pinch of ginger. Then baked and dipped in a sweet brown butter glaze flavored with coffee and cinnamon. There’s really nothing not to love about these cute summery spiced doughnuts. The perfect way to use that summer zucchini!
Happy Friday, and happy weekend! And oh my gosh, happy summer. It’s Father’s Day weekend, which is just crazy, but with summer here and fun celebrations ahead, I can’t help but be excited!
Summer baking is something I’m especially excited for this year. My goal is to use all the fresh summer produce and share plenty of new ice cream recipes!
And I feel we’re kicking things off on a very positive note with these fun baked doughnuts.
I actually had the idea for this recipe come to mind just a few days ago. I loved the idea so much that I tested the recipe and am now sharing it only days later. I’m so excited about these doughnuts!!
I’ve been wanting to make doughnuts for a long while now. I knew I wanted them to be baked, and fun for summer. I had many ideas, but when a zucchini doughnut came to mind, I was sold. What a fun twist on zucchini bread. And trust me, these are much more delicious!
The details
Step 1: shred the zucchini
You can use zucchini or yellow summer squash. Both work great, I actually like summer squash a little more!
The key to baking with zucchini is to make sure to squeeze out the extra moisture. Just lay the shredded zucchini on a kitchen towel and ring it out the best you can.
Step 2: make the batter
This is pretty standard, first mix together the wet ingredients: melted coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Then mix in the shredded zucchini.
Now the dry, I love to use whole wheat pastry flour, then some baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Mix, mix!
Once the batter is ready to go, bake it in a doughnut pan. If you don’t have a doughnut pan, make doughnut holes using either a regular muffin pan or a mini muffin pan. Either option works just the same.
Step 3: make the cinnamon maple glaze
I took inspiration from my Cinnamon Spiced Sugar Cookies and apple fritters, and decided on a buttery maple glaze with cinnamon and a touch of coffee throughout. It’s just some browned butter, maple syrup, powdered sugar, instant coffee, and cinnamon.
Not too strong, not too sweet, but just right. Especially when spread on top of a warm doughnut.
Delicious! Bake these up this weekend for Dad!
I promise these doughnuts are so good – such a great treat all the way through fall!
Looking for other summer desserts? Here are my favorites:
Creamy Strawberry Mango Popsicles
Double Strawberry Sugar Cookies
Giant Double Blueberry Muffin Cookies
Cream Cheese Swirled Cinnamon Carrot Cake Muffins
Lastly, if you make these Zucchini Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Zucchini Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze
Servings: 12 doughnuts
Calories Per Serving: 244 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 1/2 cups grated before squeezing out water)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Cinnamon Brown Butter Glaze
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 3/4-1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a 6-cup doughnut pan or 12-cup muffin pan with melted butter2. Lay a clean towel on the counter with the shredded zucchini in the center, then squeeze out any excess water. 3. In a bowl, stir together the coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Mix in the squeezed-out zucchini. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Mix until just combined. 4. Divide the batter evenly among the molds, filling 1/2-2/3 of the way full. Bake for 12 minutes, until just set. Remove and let cool 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges to release, and invert the pan.5. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Add the butter to a small pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown slightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the maple syrup, powdered sugar, instant coffee, and cinnamon. Dip or drizzle the doughnuts into the glaze. Highly recommend eating a few of these warm!
What if you don’t have instant coffee for the icing? Anything else I can add?
Hi Beth,
You can just skip the instant coffee:) Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Made these last weekend and they are absolutely delicious!! My family loved them and couldn’t stop raving about them. I will definitely be making these again! Super easy and quick to make too 🙂 Also, I had some of the icing leftover so I slightly melted it and poured it over top of some vanilla ice cream, it was amazing!
Thank you Tieghan for another awesome recipe!
Hi Kelsey,
Happy Friday!!🇺🇸🫐🍒 Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out and your comment, I love to hear that it was a winner! xx
I didn’t have the right pan so I made muffins. We ate these warm right after baking and they were delicious. The glaze was a bit sticky lol.
Hi Jennifer,
Happy Tuesday!! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your review, so glad to hear the muffins were enjoyed! xT
Made these last night and they are AMAZING. Truly the icing is one of the best things I have tasted in a long time. Thank you for creating and sharing your talent!
Hey Sarah,
Awesome!!😎 Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so glad to hear it turned out well for you! xT
Do you know if a good egg substitute for this specific recipe? If so, I can’t wait to try it! It looks amazing!
Hi Heather,
So sorry, I have not tested this recipe without the egg, but you could certainly try using applesauce or a chia or flax egg. Let me know how that turns out for you! xx
Hi! Do you have any pasta recipes with Tagliatelle or Fettuccine? If not, why not?
Hi Christina,
Sure do!
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/herby-buttered-wild-mushroom-tagliatelle-pasta/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/slow-cooker-red-wine-sunday-ragu-pasta/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cherry-tomato-fettuccine-alfredo/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/basil-chicken-fettuccine-alfredo/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cajun-chicken-fettuccine-alfredo/
There’s plenty more on the blog too:) Let me know if you have any other questions! xx
Why do you never use aubergine and beet in your recipes? This is great veg! Can we please get more aubergine recipes for summer from you? Please 🙏🏼
Thanks for sharing your feedback Taylor, I’ll try adding these! xx
This was really delicious, the icing is to die for! I made muffins because I didn’t have a donut pan, and still worked out great. This is a fabulous recipe.
Hi Christina,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and thanks for trying it! Have a great weekend:) xx
I love zucchini bread and want to make these, but I am allergic to coconut.
Is there a substitute for the coconut oil?
Hi Maryann,
You could use butter or another neutral oil in place of the coconut oil. I hope this recipe turns out well for you, let me know if you give it a try! xx
Just a hint I’ve tried: I only have one 6-cavity donut pan and the recipe I previously tried makes 12 donuts. Instead of waiting to bake the second batch of donuts, I used a mini bundt pan I bought at a thrift store. We actually preferred the mini bundt “donuts” better than the ones baked in the donut pan. The swirly ridges in the mini bundt pan gave the donuts crispy edges like a fried French cruller donut would have. Our family loves zucchini bread, so I’m super excited to try this recipe.
Thanks so much for sharing your tips Darlene!! I hope this recipe turns out well for you, let me know if you give it a try! xT
What is the pretty purple sprinkle on top? These sound yummy!
Hi Jackie,
Thanks so much!! It’s edible flowers:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope it turns out well for you! xx
Wow, donuts containing vegetables sound interesting! I’d replace the ginger with cloves or anise and leave out the instant coffee. You’re inspiring me! 🙂
Lol thanks so much!! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
These look so good and I’m going to make them today. When you say maple syrup, do you mean real maple syrup or is something like Mrs. Butterworth’s ok?
Hi DeeDee,
I like to use real maple syrup:) Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
These came out so great and I love that these are baked instead of fried!
Hi Shaina,
Happy Friday!! I’m thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for making it and your comment!😎🍑 xx
Can you substitute almond flour instead of whole wheat or all purpose flour?
Hi Kim,
Sure, that should be okay for you to do! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
Kim here’s a tip I learned for swapping almond flour for all purpose: Baked goods using almond flour tend to bake faster. If you’re trying to convert a wheat flour recipe with almond flour, lower the temperature by 25º and cook for one-fourth less time (keep an eye on your baked goods to ensure they don’t burn). Also you may need to add an additional egg to help bind. Hope that helps.
Please add nutritional values for those of us that might need to adjust something. Thank you, Marie.
Hi Marie,
At this time, we only have the estimated calorie count available. Thanks for sharing your feedback! xx