Clean Eating Protein Donuts are an easy, high protein treat. Made with simple ingredients, they’re gluten and dairy free while being totally delicious! Use vegan or whey protein. Better than any pre-made protein donut from Shark Tank or online!
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These Clean Eating Protein Donuts are perfect for people who have a serious sweet tooth but want to eat healthy. They’re made with minimal ingredients like protein powder, oat flour and almond meal.
Plus they have a delicious nut butter ‘frosting’ and even some sprinkles for good measure!
These are one of our favorite desserts alongside our Protein Cookies and Healthy Banana Protein Muffins.
As I’m sure you all know, donuts are loaded with refined sugar and fat (not the good kind). So what’s a girl to do?
Simple… swap out the frying for baking, the sugar with honey, the flour with protein powder… and a few other tweaks. Easy, and delicious!
How to make Protein Donuts:
Making protein donuts is easy. Mix all your ingredients, pour them in a greased donut pan, and bake! That’s it! When you’re finished ‘frost’ them with your favorite nut butter!
Helpful Tips for Making Clean Eating Protein Donuts:
- These donuts come out the best when you use whey protein powder.
- I used this Vanilla Whey Protein Powder. They come out perfectly moist, and I don’t think they have that protein-y taste.
- To make vegan: I used a plant based protein powder. This NOW Foods Vanilla Plant Protein worked great, but the donuts came out a little bumpy on top, rather than being smooth.
- See photo below. I think these also tasted great, but they do have a little bit of a protein like taste. Sub 1 egg for a flax egg and swap honey with maple syrup
- My favorite protein powder is this Egg White Protein Powder.
- It’s affordable, and only has one ingredient – egg whites! When I tried this the first time, they came out too dry. I would recommend adding 2 extra tablespoons of oil for best results.
Substitutions for these Healthy Protein Donuts
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can get so creative with it. You can use whatever protein powder flavor you’d like, and throw in your favorite add ins (fruit, chocolate chips
, nuts, etc).
- Milk – Any milk can be used in these donuts – regular dairy or non dairy (almond, soy, coconut, cashew, etc)
- Honey – You can substitute honey with maple syrup
- Oil – Coconut oil, olive oil, vegetable oil or avocado oil will all work in this recipe
- Protein Powder – See above for tips to bake with protein powder. I like to use whey protein powder in these donuts but any protein powder should work.
I also have tested these with a few different flavor combos that are DELISH! You can use the recipe as a base and sub ingredients to make these flavors:
Healthy Protein Donut Flavors:
Here are some of the flavors I’ve tried:
- Blueberry Pie: Vanilla Whey Protein
, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 cup blueberries (add at the end and just push into the tops of the donuts) Frosting: Cake Batter Coconut Butter - Apple Spice: Vanilla Whey Protein, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, pinch of cloves, 1/2 cup finely chopped apples (add apples at the end and just press into the tops of the donuts Frosting: Cashew Coconut Butter
- Mocha: Vanilla Whey Protein, 1/2 tablespoon finely ground espresso, 1/4 cup finely chopped dark chocolate. Frosting: Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter
- Chocolate Peanut Butter: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whey Protein, 1/3 cup finely chopped dark chocolate Frosting: Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter
, 1 teaspoon 
, 1/3 cup finely chopped Now.. who’s ready to make some donuts??
Storing Protein Donuts:
Storing: We recommend storing these protein donuts in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freezing: You can freeze these protein donuts in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Other delicious healthy donut recipes:
We have a couple other healthy donut recipes on our site, as well as these Healthy Protein Muffins.
Clean Eating Protein Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond meal
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup protein powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 4 tablespoons nut butter (optional, to use as frosting)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325
- In a bowl, whisk together almond meal, oat flour, protein powder, baking soda + baking powder. Stir in wet ingredients. The batter should be somewhat thick, but if it is clumpy or difficult to stir, add a little more milk or water.
- Spray your donut pan with coconut oil or cooking spray
- Spoon batter into a ziploc bag, cut the corner off, and 'pipe' donuts into your pan.
- Bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown
- Allow donuts to cool + 'frost' with nut butter of your choice!
Notes
- These donuts come out the best when you use whey protein powder. I used this Vanilla Whey Protein Powder. They come out perfectly moist, and I don't think they have that protein-y taste.
- To make vegan: I used a plant based protein powder. This NOW Foods Vanilla Plant Protein worked great, but the donuts came out a little bumpy on top, rather than being smooth. See photo below. I think these also tasted great, but they do have a little bit of a protein like taste. Sub 1 egg for a flax egg and swap honey with maple syrup
- My favorite protein powder is this Egg White Protein Powder. It's affordable, and only has one ingredient - egg whites! When I tried this the first time, they came out too dry. I would recommend adding 2 extra tablespoons of oil for best results.
Nutrition Facts
P.S. Here is what the plant based donuts looked like.. not super pretty, but they tasted yummy!
avalentin574
These sound absolutely amazing I MUST try the blueberry recipe out! So excited!
Clean Eating & Focused Training
Thank you!! Definitely try them- you will love them ?
Liz
Yum! Will totally have to try!
Clean Eating & Focused Training
Yes- definitely try them!
Sam @ PancakeWarriors
You had me at protein donuts!
Clean Eating & Focused Training
Haha!
Emily @ Out and About
Oh my goodness! I need to find myself a donut baking pan now, too. Those donuts look AMAZING and I am blown away at the wonderfully healthy ingredients comprising them! Excuse me while I wipe the drool off of my computer keyboard… =P
Clean Eating & Focused Training
Emily- Yes you totally need to invest in one!! I promise you won’t regret it ☺️
thetrainerlife
OMG this looks delicious! I will do my best to find a doughnut pan just to make these. The chocolate Peanut butter is speaking to me lol. Thanks for sharing.
The Clean Eating Couple
LOL! The Peanut Butter Chocolate and the Mocha ones are my fav 🙂 I bought my doughnut pan in a store, but they have them on Amazon.. I bought a Wilton brand one and I love it!
rachelinflight
These look sooo yummy! I am a big fan of baking donuts at home and will definitely be trying these healthy versions soon! Thanks for the recipe!
Rachel
http://rachelinflight.com
The Clean Eating Couple
Let us know if you try them! They are so delicious!
superfitbabe
I would LOVE to make these!
The Clean Eating Couple
You should try them!! They’re so easy
marshasbakingaddiction
These doughnuts look delicious! And they’re healthy – bonus! I might not feel so guilty eating the whole batch 😉
The Clean Eating Couple
LOL! Yes – they’re practically guilt free!
Karen Poole
These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them.
thecleaneatingcouple@gmail.com
Thanks, Karen! They’re super yummy 🙂
Angela
My mom bought me one of those donut press type things years ago. I thought at first that I didn’t need it and then I used it! So nice being able to have healthier treats available!
thecleaneatingcouple@gmail.com
Yes!! They’re so fun to make and they’re the perfect healthy snack 🙂
Shannon
Yay for healthy donuts! These look delicious!
thecleaneatingcouple@gmail.com
Right?! What could be better?!
GiGi Eats
WHAT IS IT WITH ME AND Rainbow Sprinkles! They turn my taste buds on soooo much! You could throw some on pork and I would probably want to HOOVER IT! HA HA HA!
But thankfully they’re on something insanely DELICIOUS like these donuts!!!
thecleaneatingcouple@gmail.com
I totally feel the SAME way. Sometimes I just eat them with a spoon… they’re just SO good.
Chrissa - Physical Kitchness
GAAAAAH and you even added SPRINKLES! This makes me want to run to Target right now and get myself a donut pan STAT!
Jess
Must you use a donut pan, would a large muffin tin work too??
The Clean Eating Couple
I’ve never tried this in a muffin tin – but it may work!
Liz
I realize this is an old post and my comment may not be seen, but I realized all the comments before stated how much they wanted to make these donuts and that no one commented after trying the recipe. Well, I made them! Twice! And they are delicious! I followed the original recipe and the blueberry alternative and neither has dissappointed! Thanks for the recipe! They are wonderful!
The Clean Eating Couple
Hi Liz – I’m so glad you liked them!! And I love that you tried the different flavors 🙂 That makes me so happy to hear!
Naomi Tarves
Just got a doughnut pan on sale the other day, and was excited to find a healthy version of one of my fav guilty snacks? i used all oat flour instead of almond, and i suspect because of that they are pretty dense…closer to perhaps a bagel type of thing. However, still pretty darn good. Topped w/ blueberries, i suspect these are going to become my newest breaky on the go?
The Clean Eating Couple
I’m glad you liked them, Naomi! If you’re going to use oat flour I would try maybe adding a little more coconut oil. I’ve never tried it with that but I suspect that’s why they’re a little dry 🙂
Rachel
Instead of almond meal and oat flour, have you ever tried with King Arthur GF flour or any other general gf flour product?
The Clean Eating Couple
Hi Rachel – I’m sorry I haven’t tried this! It might work, but almond meal is kinda finicky so I can’t say for sure. If you try it let me know!
Katherine
I did the apple pie version and they were really tasty. I used unflavored, unsweetened rice protein powder (about 50g), added 1 tsp vanilla, 3 tbsp Swerve (needed a little more I think), 1/4 c chopped walnuts, applesauce instead of oil, and used 2 flax “eggs.” I cooked them for 23 minutes, but they were still wet in the middle, maybe because of the apple or because my oven isn’t cooking at the correct temperature. I will either increase bake time or increase oven temperature next time. I tossed them in a brown sugar/cinnamon mix once they were cool enough to stay together when handled.
The Clean Eating Couple
Those sound delicious, Katherine! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
BlackCatBakingCo
These were so quick and easy to make! & They turned out moist and delicious!
The Clean Eating Couple
So glad you liked them Jamie!
M
Tried them! Used almond flour instead and it was SOOOOO GOOOOOOD the nut butter/frosting really makes a difference
The Clean Eating Couple
So glad you liked them!
Taylor
Can cashew milk be used or would that not work??
The Clean Eating Couple
Yes! That will work fine. Any milk will work!
Angela Steely
I know this recipe has been out here a while, but I didn’t see this asked in the comments. Is there a reason for the Oat flour? Can I sub it for coconut flour (not measure for measure as coconut flour does tend to soak up moisture) or use all almond flour … or remove it by using more protein powder? I am trying to keep my net carb intake low and out flour is not very fibrous.
Thank you for any assistance!
The Clean Eating Couple
Hi Angela-I have only tested this recipe as is. Coconut Flour is very difficult to work with, and I don’t think you can substitute it for oat flour. You might be better off looking for a keto donut recipe if you’re looking for low carb! Sorry I couldn’t be more help.