Baked Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Doughnuts (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Name: Baked Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Doughnuts (Vegan, Allergy-Free)
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 17 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 Cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour; 1 Tsp Baking Powder; 1 Prepared Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacement; 1/2 Cup Granulated Erythritol (or preferred granulated sweetener); 4 Tsp Poppy Seeds; 1 TB Fresh Lemon Juice; 2 Tsp Fresh Lemon Zest (about one medium lemon zested); 1/2 Tsp Pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract; 6 TB Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk; 1 Cup Powdered Erythritol (or preferred powdered sweetener); 6 Tsp Fresh Lemon Juice; Poppy Seeds; Fresh Lemon Zest

Published: Jun 10, 2019 · Modified: May 5, 2020 by Rebecca Pytell · This post may contain affiliate links.

Jump to Recipe

Sweet and zesty, these easy Baked Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Doughnuts are vegan, allergy-free, and topped with a simple sugar-free glaze! A quick spring or summer citrus recipe for breakfast, brunch, or dessert! One bowl and 12 minutes to baked donut perfection!

A sweet citrus treat always sounds like a good idea to brighten someone's day! Lemon poppy seed is such a classic combo and for a good reason! It has that zesty lemon pop, balanced sweetness, and fun addition of the poppy seeds! From cake, muffins, to doughnuts, lemon poppy seed is perfect for bringing out the smiles and elevating the mood! Eating these doughnuts is just like taking a bite of sunshine (pun intended)!

Ingredients for lemon poppy seed doughnuts

You're going to need the two essentials: lemon and poppy seeds. All the ingredients for these gluten-free doughnuts are simple pantry staples, except the poppy seeds which you may need to buy! No worries, they are super common and easy to find in any grocery's spice and herb section (or online, cause...you know). You only need 8 things to make these zesty doughnuts and simple sweet glaze!

What you need:

Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
Baking Powder
Commercial Egg Replacement
Erythritol (or preferred granulated & powdered sweetener!)
Poppy Seeds
Lemon
Vanilla Extract
Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk

How to make gluten-free lemon poppy seed doughnuts

As with any good baked doughnut recipe you just need to mix up your batter, divide it up into your donut pan (you bought one like I told you, right?), bake them up in the oven, let them cool, and dip them into a simple glaze! Of course, we have to take it a step further for aesthetics and sprinkle on some extra poppy seeds (like little black allergy-free sprinkles) and a nice dose of fresh lemon zest (get that Microplane out!) This recipe makes 6 doughnuts and only takes 12 minutes! That gives you plenty of time to make a dozen doughnuts....or 2 dozen.

What does lemon poppy seed taste like?

It just tastes like...sweet lemon? You don't taste the poppy seeds. The only way to actually get poppy seed flavor would be literally taking a spoon full of poppy seeds and eating them or biting into a plain heavily poppy seeded bagel! The poppy seeds are so distributed throughout the batter (whether that's a lemon poppy seed cake, muffin, or doughnut!) that you never really get a poppy seed taste! I think the poppy seeds are there just for the look. There actually are benefits to poppy seeds when taken for supplemental reasons!

Poppy Seed Benefits:

They're good for digestion and keeping things moving, and contain 2g of fiber per tablespoon.
They're loaded with calcium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, and antioxidants.
Great for bone health, immune health, and oxygen flow in the bloodstream.
The oxygen and iron make them great for brain health, cognitive function, and reducing blood pressure!
They also have a nice dose of magnesium, making them great for a pre-bed ritual for sleep!

Great for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!

The emphasis on the lemon makes these doughnuts great for breakfast and brunch, and that poppy seed magnesium makes them great for dessert 😉 A homemade baked doughnut really can be a breakfast or dessert; there is no wrong way or wrong time for having a healthy baked treat! These are gluten-free, vegan, allergy-free, sugar-free, and oil-free!

How to serve them

These are best served chilled! Once you bake, cool, and dip them into the simple glaze, keeping them at room temperature or in the fridge is best for taste and storage. Warm lemon doughnuts just does not sound good to me! However, I'm also someone who doesn't like the thought of warm lemon water in the morning...

More lemon poppy seed recipes:

Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Doughnuts