We Put Vegan and Regular Matcha Green Tea Donuts to the Test
It’s NATIONAL DONUT DAY — a day Brit + Co celebrates far more often than once a year. As self-proclaimed donut aficionados, we decided to have a taste test of our most coveted treats. And by taste test, we mean an ultimate vegan versus regular donut face-off. Because Matcha Green Tea has been popping up everywhere (in breakfast foods, snacks and energy-boosting recipes), we thought it would be the perfect unique flavor for this very serious competition. Scroll down to see which was the winner! Oh, and one last important PSA: Here are all the places you can get FREE donuts today.
Ingredients
— 1 1/4 cups flour
— ½ cup sugar
— 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
— 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
— 1/2 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
— ⅔ cup melted coconut oil
— ½ cup milk
— 1 egg
— ½ teaspoon white vinegar
— ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a donut pan using butter or oil. This batter will make about 12 regular-sized donuts.
2. Whisk all of your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and matcha powder) together in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix together your wet ingredients (coconut oil, milk, egg, white vinegar and vanilla). Pour your wet mixture in with the dry mixture and stir until combined.
4. Now put the batter into a piping bag. We put one corner of a large Ziploc® bag into a tall glass and used a spatula to pour the mixture into the bag. Seal it up with no air, snip off a small triangle in the corner and begin piping into a donut pan. We did a mix of mini and regular-size donuts. Fill the donut pan with batter — no need to leave space in each slot.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
6. After your donuts are done baking, let them cool completely on a cooling rack before icing.
VEGAN MATCHA GREEN TEA DONUTS
Ingredients
— 2 cups all-purpose flour
— 1/2 cup sugar
— 2 teaspoons baking powder
— 2-3 Tablespoons matcha green tea powder
— 1/2 teaspoon salt
— 1/3 cup applesauce
— 3/4 cup non-dairy milk or water (I used almond milk)
— 1/3 cup oil
— 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a donut pan using (vegan) butter or coconut oil. This batter will make about 12 regular-sized donuts.
2. Whisk all of your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and matcha powder) in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix together your wet ingredients (applesauce, water, vinegar and oil). When combined, pour your wet mixture in with the dry mixture and stir until completely incorporated and smooth.
4. Now put the batter into a piping bag. Put one corner of a large Ziploc® bag into a tall glass and use a spatula to pour the mixture into the bag. Seal it up with no air, snip off a small triangle in the corner and begin piping into a donut pan. We also did a mix of mini and regular-size donuts for the vegan version.
5. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let cool completely on a cooling rack before icing.
MATCHA GREEN TEA ICING GLAZE
Ingredients:— 4 cups powdered sugar
— 4-5 teaspoons matcha green tea powder
— 6-8 Tablespoons hot water
Instructions
Mix together the powdered sugar and matcha powder in a bowl. Add one tablespoon of hot water at a time until you reach your desired icing consistency. Look for a thick but syrupy consistency. If it’s too thin, add a little more powdered sugar; if it’s too thick, add a little more hot water.
Dip a donut into the matcha green tea glaze, swirl it around to coat the top, then set it down icing side up. Pro Tip: Lay parchment paper under a cooling rack to catch any icing drippings.
3. Sprinkle any toppings onto the top of the donut before the glaze sets. We used sprinkles on our vegan donuts and green tea KitKats and Green Tea Pocky (that our Executive Creative Director, Anjelika, brought back from her travels to Japan!) on our regular donuts.
YUM. Now, which one was the winner?!
Vegan donuts! Winning by a small margin of one vote, our vegan donuts seem to have the best texture and matcha green tea flavor. Ten extraordinary tasters brought their A-game and gave some honest feedback. Comments about our vegan donuts included, “sweet and delish,” “more sweet and moist, tastes more like a donut,” “moist and FLUFFY” and “matcha flavor more pronounced.” Our regular matcha donuts elicited comments like “more flavor,” “little more coconut-y,” “less dense than the other one” and “KitKat topping for the win.”
Love these mini donuts? Check out this recipe for mini rainbow donuts!
Author: Anita Yung
DIY Production + Styling: Anita
Photography: Brittany Griffin
