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    Home » Recipes » Vegetable Desserts

    Baked Lemon Spinach Donuts

    Published: Jul 24, 2017 · Modified: Jul 28, 2020 by Kate Hackworthy · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    Jump to Recipe
    Baked Lemon Spinach Doughnuts with Lemon Glaze | Veggie Desserts Blog

    These Baked Lemon Spinach Donuts are bright green but taste just like lemon. The flavour of the spinach fades, leaving that amazing colour and some extra goodness in the doughnuts. An easy and tasty hidden vegetable dessert!

    Donuts on a wire rack.

    Commissioned by Discover Veg.

    What do they taste like?

    These baked lemon spinach doughnuts are bright green, but taste just like lemon donuts.

    The flavour of the spinach fades, leaving that amazing colour and some extra goodness in the doughnuts.

    A love of spinach

    I'll admit that I eat a LOT of spinach. I love it!

    No need for Popeye puns, I'm happy to espouse my love of spinach to anyone who'll listen.

    I'm one of those people who needs to have greens at every meal, and spinach is my go-to leafy green.

    I have it fresh or frozen in my morning smoothies or piled high in salad. I add handfuls to stews, lentil dahl and even in vegetable pakoras.

    Can you tell I'm a fan?

    However, I know some people don't like those dark green, nutritious leaves (fools).

    That's when we need to get creative. That's when we need to add them to spinach donuts!

    Spinach donut with glaze on a plate on a vintage trunk.

    Ingredients

    You only need simple ingredients for these hidden vegetable donuts!

    Spinach
    Milk
    Lemon juice
    Sugar
    Butter
    Egg
    Vanilla
    Flour
    Baking powder
    Icing sugar

    You'll also need a donut pan so they hold their shape while baking. It's a simple and inexpensive gadget that we end up using often! You can find them on Amazon: Silicone Donut Mold

    Hidden vegetable desserts

    I don't tend to sneak veggies into my vegetable cakes and desserts.

    Rather, I'm loud and proud about the added vegetables.

    I like to tell people that they can have their cake and eat it - and enjoy it as well.

    Then, next time they don't want to eat the veg, I can remind them how they loved it in cake. That's the trick I use on my kids.

    I've used spinach cookies, Vanilla Spinach Cake, and my vegetable dessert cookbook has it in a strawberry and spinach Swiss roll.

    I love how the flavour of spinach fades in a dessert - but leaves it a vivid green colour and adds a little extra goodness.

    Check out the recipe for Spinach Lemon Bars from my Veggie Desserts Cookbook over on the Sneaky Veg website.

    My cookbook, Veggie Desserts and Cakes, full of creative desserts with vegetables, is now available on Amazon (UK, Canada, USA, Australia and more) - affiliate link. 
    Spinach donuts on a marble board.

    Why is spinach healthy?

    We all know that spinach is good for us, right?

    It's versatile, delicious, healthy and great value.

    I always keep a bag in the fridge so I can instantly add green goodness to meals. It's inexpensive and tasty.

    This easy leafy green has a lot to offer. Plus it make these donuts an awesome color.

    It's rich in folate and a source of vitamins A and C. It's always easy to get hold of, and you can even keep a stash in the freezer to make sure you've got some to hand.

    Discover Spinach, part of the Discover Great Veg campaign, has been devised to build awareness of the versatility, taste, value and relevant health benefits of spinach. 

    Spinach donuts with lemon drizzle on cooling rack.

    Spinach dessert recipes

    As a big fan of vegetable desserts, spinach is one of my g0-to veggies (well, leaves) to add to them! Spinach is easy to puree, gives a lovely green color to cakes and desserts and adds a little goodness.

    If you love this recipe, then I'm sure you'll love these sweet spinach recipes too!

    Spinach Muffins with Chocolate Chips
    Vanilla Spinach Cake
    Yogurt Spinach Cake

    Donuts on a cooling rack.

    Vegetarian spinach recipes

    If you have leftover spinach from making these spinach donuts, then use it up in these other tasty recipes!

    Spinach Pea Burgers
    Strawberry Spinach Salad
    Spinach Crust Pizza

    Donut on a plate of spinach leaves.

    Disclosure: This recipe for Baked Lemon Spinach Donuts was commissioned by Discover Spinach. Thanks for supporting the brands that make it possible for me to write Veggie Desserts: vegetable cakes, healthy food and lifestyle. 

    Recipe

    If you make any of my recipes, please tag it with #veggiedesserts on Instagram or other social media. I LOVE seeing your recreations of my recipes.

    And please head down to comment and rate the recipe if you've tried these Spinach Donuts!

    Donuts on a wire rack.

    Baked Lemon Spinach Donuts

    Kate Hackworthy | Veggie Desserts
    These baked Lemon Spinach Donuts are bright green, but taste just like lemon. The flavour of the spinach fades, leaving that amazing colour and some extra goodness in the doughnuts.
    5 from 11 votes
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    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 12
    Calories 196 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    • 3 cups (100g) raw spinach leaves
    • 1 cup (250ml) milk
    • 1 lemon , used for both the doughnuts and glaze
    • ½ cup (115g) granulated sugar
    • 2 tablespoon butter melted and cooled
    • 1 egg
    • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (plain flour)
    • 3 teaspoon baking powder

    For the glaze

    • 1 cup (125g) icing sugar
    • 1 tablespoon lemon juice from above

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 325F / 170C. Lightly grease a donut pan with oil.
    • Add the spinach to a pan and heat until wilted. Run under cold water to refresh, drain and squeeze out excess moisture. Add the spinach and milk to a tall container and puree well with a hand held stick blender. 
    • Zest and juice the lemon, then set aside. They will be used for both the batter and glaze.
    • In a large bowl, beat the spinach puree, 1 teaspoon of zest, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, sugar, cooled melted butter, egg and vanilla together. Sift in the flour and baking powder and gently combine.
    • Fill the doughnut molds with the batter until nearly full and bake for 15 minutes or until springy and an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

    For the glaze,

    • Mix the powdered sugar with 1 ½ tablespoon of the lemon juice. Add more juice (or water), sparingly, if needed to achieve a thick but pourable consistency. Drizzle over the completely cooled doughnuts and sprinkle with a little zest.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 196kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 3gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 23mgPotassium: 240mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 895IUVitamin C: 7.6mgCalcium: 93mgIron: 1.4mg

    The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.

    Tried this recipe?Mention @kateveggiedesserts or tag #veggiedesserts! I love seeing your recreations.

    More Vegetable Dessert Recipes

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    • Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
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    Comments

    1. Andrea Ballard

      January 21, 2019 at 8:23 pm

      5 stars
      We baked these "Little Green Goddesses" and reviewed them in Episode 108 of our baking podcast Preheated. They are fabulous! Visually appealing and so delicious. Great way to kick off the new year and eat more veggies! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

      Reply
    2. annabelle

      August 11, 2018 at 1:03 pm

      5 stars
      hey! love the recipe idea! was wondering how the flavours would go if I changed the icing from lemon to maple, to make maple bacon flavour? keep up the great recipes Xx

      Reply
      • Kate Hackworthy

        August 13, 2018 at 3:15 pm

        Hi Annabelle,

        If you take the lemon flavour out of the doughnuts then it could work! Perhaps add a little extra vanilla to the batter though - then they'll be spinach vanilla doughnuts (but will only taste like vanilla cake) topped with maple bacon icing. Let me know how you get on 🙂

        Reply
    3. Karen Jameson

      September 13, 2017 at 10:47 am

      5 stars
      I made these for my office GBBO challenge and everyone loved them. Nobody guessed it was spinach making them green. Thanks!

      Reply
    4. Lorna

      August 14, 2017 at 1:54 pm

      I still haven't ever made my own doughnuts... I'm so ashamed!

      These look amazing!

      Lorna | eatmyyythoughts.com

      Reply
    5. Claire P

      August 04, 2017 at 2:42 pm

      5 stars
      What a incredible recipe. I can't even stop eating this donuts. I just tried them out and trust me they were delicious. I just want to ask whether how long they can be kept after preparing.

      Reply
      • Kate Hackworthy

        August 04, 2017 at 4:37 pm

        Hi Claire, the should last about 3 days. I'm so pleased that you enjoyed them!

        Reply
    6. Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry

      July 26, 2017 at 9:19 am

      5 stars
      What an innovative way of getting spinach into your diet. I think the kids will love these. The lemon glaze looks delicious

      Reply
    7. Prasanna Hede

      July 25, 2017 at 11:25 am

      5 stars
      Spinach recipes are favorite.....those doughnuts are perfect.

      Reply
    8. Manju Mahadevan

      July 25, 2017 at 2:52 am

      5 stars
      How yum! and guilt-free doughnuts too! 🙂

      Reply
    9. aish das-padihari

      July 24, 2017 at 11:31 pm

      5 stars
      Wow! They look guilt free for sure. Love the color on them too. You got yourself a winner here. Love it.

      Reply
    10. Marie Busillo

      July 24, 2017 at 5:37 pm

      I love this picture of your recipe it looks amazing thanks for sharing I am going to make it for sure!

      Reply
    11. Tricia @ Saving room for dessert

      July 24, 2017 at 3:33 pm

      Wow I am fascinated by this recipe! So creative and brilliant too! Great way to hide some extra greens in your daily meals. Great photos too!

      Reply
    12. Calleigh - TheForkBite

      July 24, 2017 at 3:13 pm

      A very creative recipe. I want to try myself soon,

      Reply
    13. Tina Dawson | Love is in my Tummy

      July 24, 2017 at 3:01 pm

      5 stars
      I am so glad I found this today - I usually throw away the last wilted bits of a spinach bag but now I have use for it! Thanks for that!

      Reply
    14. Christie

      July 24, 2017 at 2:59 pm

      The spinach gives these doughnuts a gorgeous color. I would love them.

      Reply
    15. Jeni @ Coquette Kitchen

      July 24, 2017 at 2:32 pm

      5 stars
      I am SUCH a doughnut addict. But I also love my greens and like you tend to throw them in everything 🙂 I would absolutely eat some spinach doughnuts!

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Kate, a journalist, author and multi-award-winning food blogger. I hope you enjoy my vegetarian and vegan recipes. About Me

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    Check out my Veggie Desserts Cookbook, full of tasty desserts with vegetables!

    Kate Hackworthy in the kitchen

    Hi, I'm Kate, a journalist, author and multi-award-winning food blogger. I hope you enjoy my vegetarian and vegan recipes. About Me

    Collage of press logos.

    Popular recipes

    • The BEST Easy Red Lentil Dahl
    • Easy Naan Bread Recipe (yeast-free)
    • Mini Baked Potatoes
    • Easy Lentil Soup

    Easter Recipes

    • Easter Rice Krispie Nests
    • Italian Easter Bread (Pane di Pasqua)
    • Mushroom Wellington
    • Nut Roast

    My cookbook

    Veggie Desserts and Cakes Cookbook cover.

    Check out my Veggie Desserts Cookbook, full of tasty desserts with vegetables!

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