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Sprouted Grain Doughnuts: Yes, Everyone Deserves a Treat

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sprouted grain doughnut with coconut-vanilla glaze

What the hell are doughnuts doing on your site? I can hear you muttering. Don’t click off quite yet.

You see; it’s National Doughnut Month and I thought we’d celebrate with a special recipe here at Nourished Kitchen: sprouted grain doughnuts with coconut-vanilla glaze.   While you might think that a healthy recipe may well defeat the whole foundation of doughnut enjoyment, hear me out: these faintly sweet homemade doughnuts are a delicious, full-flavored pastry that make the sugary sweet grocery store varieties pale in comparison.   A far cry from its tooth-rotting and airy cousins, these sprouted grain doughnuts have a beautiful rustic texture and deep wheaty-flavor that is well complemented by coconut, honey and vanilla glaze.

Sprouted grain has its benefits. It’s higher in vitamins and more easily digested than its unsprouted counterpart.   Moreover, sprouting neutralizes grain’s naturally present antinutrients which bind up minerals, preventing their full absorption.   We top this doughnut with a beautiful and simple glaze of coconut oil, honey and vanilla.   This glaze is also well-suited to my coconut-citrus madeleines.

sprouted grain doughnuts with coconut vanilla glaze
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Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 12 - 18 doughnuts
Adapted from the Ladies’ Home Journal Cookbook, published in 1960. Everyone deserves a treat, so enjoy.
Ingredients
for the sprouted grain doughnuts:
  • 1½ cups Milk
  • 2 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tsp Unrefined Sea Salt
  • ½ cup Butter
  • 1 egg, (Beaten)
  • 2 packages Dried Yeast
  • 4 cups Sprouted Flour
  • Coconut Oil or Pastured Lard for Frying
  • 1 recipe Coconut Vanilla Glaze , (below)
for the coconut vanilla glaze
  • 1 cup coconut oil, (melted)
  • 3 tbsp Honey
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
sprouted grain doughnuts
  1. Warm milk, honey, salt and butter together.
  2. Add yeast and wait five minutes for it to proof.
  3. Mix liquid mixture with 1 beaten egg.
  4. Add sprouted flour and knead thoroughly.
  5. Form into a ball and allow to rise until double in bulk. I prefer to allow my breads to rise in an Excalibur dehydrator (see sources) which is efficient and effective.
  6. Once the dough is doubled in bulk, roll it out with a rolling pin until ½-inch thick.
  7. Cut with a doughnut cutter or other tool. We used an inverted mason jar for the doughnut and an apple corer for the center.
  8. Heat a ½-inch to ¾-inch coconut oil or pastured lard in a cast iron skillet over a medium-high flame.
  9. Fry doughnuts 3 – 4 at a time in the oil. They’ll puff up nearly immediately.
  10. Turn when golden brown – a few seconds – and fry the other side.
  11. Remove doughnuts, cool and drain.
  12. Top with coconut vanilla glaze.
coconut vanilla glaze
  1. Whip melted coconut oil, honey and vanilla together.
  2. Keep warm and viscous, but not hot.
  3. Pour over doughnuts or madeleines as appropriate.

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Reader Interactions

What people are saying

    • In order to make a Gluten free version- would I substitute coconut flour for the sprouted flour?

  2. Yum! These look great! I’ve been thinking about making some whole wheat apple donuts myself this fall . . . no sprouted flour in my cupboard, but yours look fantastic!

    One thing that I think we all need to realize, and why I appreciate you including this recipe on your blog, is that these recipes are “special treats,” and were normally feast day recipes. Not meant to be eaten everyday, like unfortunately so many of the average American is doing. A great, fun treat to do at home for special occasions, and made much more special that way! Not only more nutritious, but a special memory. And one we shouldn’t feel guilty about, if we eat well the majority of the time.

    Great photo too, by the way!

    Best,
    Sarah

  4. Wow! I found these just in time! I almost gave in to making some donuts with regular flour after seeing a bunch of people’s apple cider doughnuts & fritters recipes online…can’t thank you enough!

  7. Wow, Jenny, you outdid yourself here! These look great. I have never been a huge fan of doughnuts (except the cake ones – because they didn’t make my teeth hurt), but these sound wonderful!

  8. WOW! I am totally loving this! Growing up I wasn’t a big fan of doughnuts and for a good reason! Now I must track down some sprouted flour or make my own and try this! Looks great and something my family would have fun with! Thank you for sharing :o)

  9. Thank you for this recipe! Everywhere I turned today there were donuts, pastries, and cakes making me hungry for sweets.

    These were fairly quick to make, the glaze is yummy (though I heated my coconut oil too much and it took me awhile to cool it back down.) Next time, and there will be a next time, I am adding some nutmeg to the dough just because it’s my favorite spice.

    THANK YOU!

  10. Do you think these would work with gluten-free flours? You don’t specify… but… only wheat flour would hold the poofiness from the yeast. I think. I gave up on much adventurous GF baking a while ago…

  12. Kristi –

    The doughnuts didn’t take too long to rise at all.  Maybe an hour?  90 minutes?  I let my dough rise in my dehydrator and it tends to be pretty reliable that way.  I hope you enjoy these doughnuts as a treat.

    – Jenny

  14. Mmmmmmm..I’ve been wondering if I could make a “frosting” sort of thing without a zillion cups of powdered sugar. This oughta do it for most recipes! Hopefully someday I’ll try the doughnuts, too, but no sprouted flour here – whole wheat should work the same way?
    🙂 Katie

  15. I need help converting this to a sourdough recipe. I’ve been making whole wheat sourdough breads with a kefir sourdough starter… how would I adjust the liquid?

  16. Jenny, when the recipe says “knead thoroughly” does it mean to knead until the ingredients are thoroughly combined, or for several minutes, like bread?

    Thanks!
    Angie

  17. Angie –

    By knead thoroughly in the doughnut recipe, I mean knead the dough just as you would bread.

    Blessings –

    Jenny

  19. I’m curious which sprouted flour you use for this recipe, whole wheat? There is also a wheat berry sprouted flour? What is the difference? Thanks!!

    • I’ve used sprouted spelt and sprouted wheat, but, truly, any flour should do. Gluten-free flours may need a bit of tweaking to work.

  21. These look great. I can eat wheat, so I will try them with a gluten free flour and let you know how it turns out. You said that sprouting neutralizes grain’s naturally present antinutrients, but it really doesn’t fully neutralize the antinutrients. I find that even with gluten free grains, you really need to sprout and soak in lemon water for quite a long time before the grains are digestible.

  22. HA! I love the first line of this post! Because the first thing I thought when I read the title was “Praise the Lord I can still have a doughnut!” hahaha!!
    I have recently begun a journey in, yet again, refining our way of eating. Every so often I find that I can filter out a little more bad and incorporate a little more good. Maybe eventually I will be doing all the things I know I should.

    This website is such a GREAT source and I have been sitting here reading it for hours (no exaggeration) gleaning so much information! I will be coming back again and again to try to learn all that I can about a healthier eating lifestyle.