These high protein air fryer donut holes are a must-try for all us who have a sweet tooth! Being so simple to make, and far healthier than regular donuts, these bites are truly incredible!! I’m obsessed! Using only a few ingredients and taking less than half an hour, these donut holes are so convenient to make. I often make these over the weekend so that I have a high protein snack to take with me to work throughout the week! They turn out amazing every time!
These donut holes work best if you can get a thick dairy free yoghurt. I am a big fan of the Alpro greek yoghurt style product, since it is really creamy. When you use a thinner consistency of yoghurt, you may find that the batter is too wet to work with. If this is the case, I recommend reducing the quantity of yoghurt by 1 tbsp. If you find that the dough is still too wet, add in some more flour. Ensure you do this gradually, so that you ensure that you don’t add too much and make the donut holes really dense in texture.
Additional ingredients you could add to your high protein air fryer donut holes:
- A smooth and salty peanut butter centre
- A melted chocolate centre
- A pinch of nutmeg
- Chocolate protein powder (to get a chocolate donut hole rather than vanilla one)
- Chopped strawberries
- Chopped apples (apple fritter donut holes)- if apples don’t upset your IBS
- Sprinkles
- Cookie dough pieces
- Chocolate chips
- Small amount of matcha powder
- Food colouring- you could make rainbow donut holes!
- Shredded carrot- to make carrot cake donut holes
- Apple cider vinegar- to make apple cider donut holes
It is so important to sieve your dry ingredients to the wet- this way you ensure there are no hidden lumps of dry ingredients! The last thing you want is to bite into a big chunk of flour in your donut holes! This is why I encourage you to use a sieve when adding in the dry ingredients. Additionally, sieving in your ingredients helps to give your high protein air fryer donut holes a smoother texture, where all the ingredients have been combined and distributed evenly. Sieving also helps to mix your ingredients further, as well as having previously mixed them in a separate bowl.
If you enjoyed these high protein air fryer donut holes, try out my other dessert recipes:
- Rice cake snickers
- Peanut butter cups
- Salted chocolate peanut fudge
- Single serve protein cookie dough
- Protein peanut oatmeal cookies
- Chewy chocolate chunk tahini cookies
- Chocolate orange brownies
- Chocolate chunk sweet potato biscuits
- Sweet potato brownies
- 2 ingredient grape sorbet
- 3 ingredient shortbread
I don’t have a strict way of portioning out my donut holes. Usually, I just grab a small amount in my hands and roll it out gently in my hands. With gluten free flour, I often find it a little brittle to work with. If you find that you are having the same issue, I recommend that you use pressing motions and mould the dough into a ball rather than rolling it between your palms. This helps to keep the shape of the ball without risking pieces breaking off. If you want to measure the donut balls out evenly, use an ice-cream scoop and fill it 3/4 of the way with dough, then roll. Usually, I manage to make 10 balls with this quantity of ingredients.
What you could eat your donut holes with:
- Maple syrup glaze
- Dairy free chocolate drizzle
- Scoop of dairy free ice cream
- Microwaved and smothered in dairy free custard or cream
- Dairy free whipped cream
- Dusting of icing sugar
- Smothered in a dairy free chocolate spread
- Made into an eclair tower (dip them individually in chocolate or poured over the tower)
- Accompanied by some fresh fruit
- Filled with a low FODMAP jam
- Covered in a citrus glaze
- Dusted in matcha powder
I have found that using an air fryer for these high protein air fryer donut holes is far better than using the oven to bake them. Of course I love the fact that an air fryer gets the job done far quicker- so I can to wait less time before I eat them!! But I also find that they are far more moist when they come out of the air fryer, in comparison to baking them. After baking, these donut holes just seem drier and less compact than when air frying them. Of course, they still taste delicious if you oven bake them, I just highly recommend air frying them if you have the option to! If you bake them, set the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 20 mins.
One of the best things about making these high protein air fryer donut holes is that they make your kitchen smell incredible! It feels l like you’re in a bakery or donut shop after they’ve just baked a fresh batch of goods! I would highly recommend placing parchment paper in your air fryer since the sugar caramelises and can become super messy. This has definitely saved me so much time washing up- I can simply give the air fryer basket a quick wash afterwards rather than having to scrub away at sticky semi-solidified sugar puddles! Putting parchment in just helps to keep things clean and tidy.
Ingredients: (makes 10)
- 1 cup gluten free flour
- 1/2 cup vanilla protein
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup thick dairy free yoghurt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar/extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon sugar mix:
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
Method:
Step 1: first, mix your white sugar and vanilla sugar with your vegan yoghurt.
Step 2: next, in a separate bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients.
Step 3: now sieve your dry ingredients into the wet mix. Fold until fully combined.
Step 4: after all the ingredients are completely mixed together, divide and roll your dough into several ping-pong size balls.
Step 5: next, mix your cinnamon and sugar together and then, first roll your donut holes in a small amount of yoghurt to get a thin layer, then roll in the sugar and cinnamon mix.
Step 6: finally, place the donut holes into your air fryer (I place them on a sheet of baking paper). Air fry for 10 mins at 180°.
Store these donut holes in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Send me your high protein air fryer donut hole images to my Instagram TheLazyLowFODMAP. DM me your photos or tag me in them so that I see them!
