How to Make Healthy Applesauce Baked Mochi Donuts

It's time to make mochi donuts using applesauce! Soft, springy and sweet, these applesauce mochi donuts are made under 30 minutes at home without any deep-frying involved.

Ingredients used to make this

_{**I've linked some of these ingredients to amazon.com to give you an idea of what they are, but you should also be able to find them in your local grocery store (usually, the natural & organic food section). They are also affiliate links, which means that I earn a commission as an Amazon Associate if you decide to purchase the items. The price will be the same for you, link or no link 🙂}

• Glutinous Rice Flour - this goes by many names. You'll see Glutinous Rice Flour and Mochiko Flour (my favorite) in Asian grocery stores, and Sweet White Rice Flour in most other stores. ***Please note that regular white rice flour or brown rice flour is NOT the same thing as glutinous rice flour!!!

• Almond Flour–  Almond flour is available online and in most grocery stores now. You can also use other flour substitutes (oat, coconut, whole wheat flour) in this recipe. Be sure to refer to my Mochi Donut Experiment to read how the results differ!

• Eggs – I used regular large eggs. I haven't tried using egg replacements like flax or chia yet, so you might not get the same results if you decide to substitute.
• Salt – Pink Himalayan salt is what I have at home, so it’s what I use, but you can use any kind for this recipe.
• Sugar – You can use any granulated sugar of your choice, but coconut, date and maple sugars are less processed sugars I would recommend. Honey and maple syrup should also work. For keto options, you could also use monk fruit sweetener or stevia (but be sure to convert according to package instructions). I used dehydrated honey (honey powder) which I find is a great substitute for regular sugar.
• Light Olive Oil – Instead of olive oil, you can use coconut oil, or avocado oil here if you'd like.
• Applesauce - I used unsweetened applesauce
• Apple Cider Vinegar - helps the mochi donuts to rise better. Lemon juice also works if you don't have apple cider vinegar

More Mochi Donut Recipes

How to Make

Directions: Mix all ingredients together with a whisk.

Spoon or pour into a well-greased donut pan (fill to ¾ full). I used a silicone pan for this one, since removing donuts is easier.

Bake in a 350F preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes (about 20-22 minutes for silicone donut pan).

Makes 6-8 donuts depending on pan size.

Recipe Variations and Optional Add Ins:

• Chocolate Chip mochi donuts! Just fold in some chocolate chips to the batter.
• Explore different natural flavoring / extracts. Feel free to add a teaspoon of flavorings or extracts, such as vanilla bean paste, almond extract, coffee extract or maple extract. Or citrus flavors such as lemon or orange extract. Peppermint extract also works.
• You can also bake this in a muffin or mini cake pan instead of a donut pan.

How to Make this Healthier

• Add antioxidants: Did you know that cinnamon, matcha and cacao powder are all good sources of antioxidants?  Dried fruits such as cranberries, blueberries (I like the one with no added sugar) and goji berries, and citrus zests like orange and lemon are terrific antioxidants, as well as immunity boosters. Add up to a teaspoon of these superfood powders and up to 2 Tbsp of dried fruits to the batter before baking to make this recipe even better!
• Increase fiber: Add a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds. Add a tablespoon of nuts, seeds and old-fashioned oats to add texture and nutrition to the cake.
• Reduce sugar: You can also reduce the sugar by half (to make this less sweet), or replace it altogether with a sugar-free substitute.

Other ways to eat/ glaze/ frost

• Eat plain and warm. Microwave before eating if cold to restore the mochi's chewiness.
• Frosted with my 2-Ingredient Almond Butter Frosting , or this Healthy Powdered Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting
• Dusted with powdered sugar or sugar-free powdered sugar. Just make sure you use a sieve to sift the sugar on top!

How to Store

• You can store mochi donuts covered at room temperature for 1-2 days. For longer storage, you can place them in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze up to 4 months. You can microwave them (30 seconds) before eating, to restore the mochi's "chewy" texture, but the glaze will melt, too

Final Tips

• I used a silicone pan because the donuts were easier to remove after baking.
• Spray or grease the pans (even the silicone ones!!) with oil before using. It’ll save you a lot of frustration when taking your donuts out of the pans.
• Baking time (as well as serving size) will vary based on the size of your donut pan, the material (silicone vs metal) of the pan, and thickness! Bake the mochi donuts until the color is golden-brown on the top, or until a toothpick comes out clean/dry when poked into the middle.

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