Veganism has been embraced by many over the world and it is definitely a growing trend. It is a very unique dietary practice and if you ask me, I am not a vegan myself, but I am fascinated by the idea as always. As a baking enthusiast, this challenges me to create new things and experiment on substitutes.
So this quest was to re-create the vegan version of the sourdough doughnuts. If you really think about it, scientifically, if you can substitute the animal products with a plant counterpart, then you have solved the puzzle right there. But it might not be this simple. Well one, you can’t really find the match from the plant world. And second, they taste differently. So this has to be a harmonic balance between a few ingredients, rather than just one.
Lets see what we need to replace, in a basic sweet dough, to make it plant-based.
Butter:
This can easily be replaced by oil. My favorite in this case is the coconut oil. Use a good quality coconut oil, that doesn’t have a strong smell or flavor. (well if you are a coconut fan, by all means, use the strong flavorful version). Other substitutes will be canola oil, rapeseed oil, vegetable oil. I wouldn’t recommend using olive oil, peanut oil or sesame oil as they are have go a very strong flavor which might be not pleasant if used in these quantities.
Eggs:
Well you can omit eggs altogether! But it is going to take that extra richness away and we don’t want that, right! So my substitute for eggs in this recipe is tofu. I am using silken tofu. It can be either soft or firm, doesn’t really matter. This adds protein to the dough, same as egg white.
Milk:
Yes you can skip this one too if you like. But again the dough won’t be as soft. So why not substitute this with a plant milk. Well we have so many options there don’t we? But guess what? I am going with thick coconut milk. It is richer and silkier than most plant milk. Choose a brand that don’t use thickeners. Coconut milk has got a high fat content too, not to mention the all the other good stuff that comes with it!
So there we have it! Now it is only a matter of mixing these in the right proportions. The recipe below does just that!
If you want to know about sourdough starter, read my post about making, feeding and maintaining a starter. This recipe can be executed on the same day or the dough can be retarded overnight(several hours) for convenience.
If you are retarding the dough, cut down on the initial bulk fermentation. may be take an hour away. This really depends on the room temperature and the final dough temperature.
The shaping is really up to you. If you have a doughnut cutter, use that, or simply make bomboloni. Or cut the dough into squares! Just make sure they are not too big (shouldn’t be bigger than the size of your palm) the smaller they are, the faster and better they will cook. It is easier to handle smaller dough pieces, once proofed.
If it the dough is warmer, it will continue to ferment rapidly in the fridge until, its completely chilled to the core.
Once they are proofed, deep fry them until nice and golden all around. Make sure to test oil temperature. I use a small dough ball for this. If it browns too quickly, its too hot. Ideally it should take about 30 seconds to start browning and there shouldn’t be a lot of smoke. If you have a candy thermometer, make sure oil is at 190C/375F.
Once fried, let them drain for a couple of minutes before coating them with cinnamon sugar. Wait until they are cooled to fill them, else the filling would melt and ooze off.
You can fill these with either jam, nutella or my vegan custard. It is an easy custard to make, but make sure you make it ahead of time and chill for at least a few hours or overnight.
You can also serve bomboloni as is, or drizzled with chocolate or a dipping of your choice. But seriously, these are so tasty on their own too.
Ingredients
- 400 g all-purpose flour
- 12 g salt
- 85 g castor sugar
- 160 ml coconut milk (full fat)
- 30 g coconut oil
- 75 g silken tofu
- 150 g active starter
- 2 tbsp water (if necessary)
Instructions
- Weigh all the ingredients except water in to the bowl of a stand mixer. (you can mix by hand too)
- Start mixing on low speed until everything is incorporated.
- If the dough is tough use the 2 tbsp of water.
- Scrape the sides and mix on medium for 5 minutes.
- If the dough is too firm for the mixer, kneed it by hand on the bench top.
- Let it rest for about 10 minutes.
- Then mix for another couple of minutes and take on to a floured surface.
- Stretch and fold lightly until dough is smooth.
- It should be a soft smooth dough.
- Place the dough in a bowl and leave to bulk ferment for about 4 – 5 hours.
- If you are retarding, then bulk proof for 3 – 4 hours, punch the dough down and refrigerate covered.
- Dough should be close to doubled it’s size at 5 hour mark. This depends on the room temperature. Place the dough in a warm spot to speed up.
- Punch the dough down, and let it rest for 10 minutes, covered.
- If you have retarded, the dough, take out of fridge and let thaw for about 20 minutes (until the dough has softened)
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut doughnut shapes (either round or square)
- Or divide in to dough pieces and mold in to dough balls to make bomboloni.
- Place these on a lined tray leaving enough space all around, as they will expand.
- Leave in a warm place, covered, for the final proof. (dough doesn’t have to be doubled in size)
- This could take anywhere from 3-5 hours.
- They should look bigger, softer to touch and wobbly.
- Heat the oil to 190 C
- Fry the doughnuts until golden brown
- Leave to drain excess oil
- Coat with cinnamon sugar
- Let them cool completely before filling them
- Best eaten on the same day!
10 comments
This is the only vegan sourdough bombolini recipe I found and it seems reasonable. I hope it’ll work 🙂 I already have my starter “trained” to digest simple sugars so it should work just fine but I’m scared as I never made any sweet sourdough bakes in my life.
I think I will replace coconut milk with soy milk + coconut oil. Have you thought about it? What kind of quantities would you reccomend?
I am so glad that you are trying this.
Yes you can replace coconut milk with soy milk.
I don’t think you’d need to add any more oil, but if you must, you can use about 130ml soy milk and 1 tbsp coconut milk (to replace 160ml coconut milk).
I would suggest adding soy milk gradually so you can stop when the dough is at right consistency or add a little more if necessary.
Hope this helps! and please let me know how it went!
cheers
Hi! I want to try this, and I’m curious if, since I am dairy free and not egg free, how many eggs would I use instead of tofu?
2 eggs and one yolk. Be careful when adding liquid. You might not want to use all of it as eggs add extra moisture.
Or you can try my sourdough doughnuts recipe and replace milk with a dairy free version. Link below
sourdough doughnuts
https://myloveofbaking.com/sourdough-doughnuts/
Hello
I wanted to try this but was looking at ingredients I have at home. Do you think I can completely omit the tofu or does something need to be substituted in?
I have oatly barista milk so I think it has thickener in it. Could I use this instead of the coconut milk?
In the post I have mentioned that you can skip eggs(tofu) and/or milk. Also you can substitute milk with any other milk.
But you will have to adjust the dough consistency then, to get it perfectly soft and non sticky.
I haven’t tested these substitutes, they are just suggestions if you want to try out
substitutes for tofu: chia powder/flax seed powder ( 1 tbsp dissolved in 3 tbsp water) or chick pea water (2-3 tbsp)
This was a fantastic recipe. Crunchy from the outside and pillowy from the inside. Paired with vegan custard. Definitely a winner. Thank you!
Thanks 🙂
Hello, this recipe looks fantastic and I would love to try making this! But don’t have silken tofu at hand, would aquafaba work?
Thank you 🙂
Yes, use three tablespoons of aquafaba and if you do, take off 3 tablespoons of milk to balance out moisture.
Or you can skip tofu altogether too.