These decadent gluten-free chocolate donuts are a triple threat. They have the perfect chocolatey taste, they're soft and moist (texture-wise), and they look absolutely stunning!
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Grease two 6-cavity donut pans with cooking spray and set them aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cacao, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugar and whisk gently. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, yogurt, egg, oil, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and mix well with a whisk until the ingredients are well combined.
Evenly distribute the batter into each of the 12 donut cavities. I recommend adding the batter to a piping bag (or zip-top bag) and then piping the batter into each cavity. You could also pour or spoon in the batter.
Bake the donuts for 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for five minutes, then flip the donuts onto a cooling rack to fully cool. You could place the donuts in the fridge to cool faster.
Once the donuts are cool, make the glaze by sifting together the powdered sugar and cacao powder into a large bowl, then adding the milk. Use a spatula to mix everything together until smooth.
Place the wire rack on top of a large piece of parchment paper. Dip the top of each fully cooled donut, one by one, into the glaze to coat the top of the donut, then place the glazed donut back glaze-side up on the cooling rack and allow the glaze to drip off onto the parchment paper. If you run low on glaze, you can use your spatula to spread it on top of the remaining donuts. Be gentle with the donuts.
Optional: While the glaze is wet, top the donuts with decorative toppings like sprinkles, coconut shreds, crushed candy canes, mini chocolate chips, bits of pretzels, or chopped nuts.
Allow the glaze to set for 30 minutes, then place the donut tray in the fridge to fully cool and set before enjoying.
Notes
Sifting the flour and cacao powder will help eliminate clumps in the final batter. It's also wise to sift the powdered sugar and cacao powder before making the glaze, again to avoid clumps in the glaze.Make sure the donuts are fully cooled before glazing, otherwise the glaze will melt upon contact. Refrigerating the donuts will help them harden and be easier to handle when dipping in the glaze. Handle the donuts gently when dipping them into the glaze. I highly recommend full-fat whole milk yogurt for this recipe, however, if you need to make it dairy free, try a dairy-free yogurt or pumpkin puree instead. I noticed the batter made only 11 donuts (vs. 12) when using the pumpkin puree and the texture was a bit different.I recommend using a digital kitchen scale to measure the dry ingredients. See my full blog post for more suggestions and substitutions.