Vegan Samoa Doughnuts

Samoas were always my favorite Girl Scout cookies growing up, what's not to love about a vanilla cookie with chewy caramel, coconut and chocolate?!  So now I love making desserts with that same flavor profile.  I have made cakes, cupcakes, replica cookies, granola, energy balls.  This time I decided to make Vegan Samoa Doughnuts!  I have been buying a lot of vegan doughnuts lately so I thought why not make some of my own.  These turned out so delicious I decided to share them with you all!

I love having a doughnut pan, so I can make different flavors of doughnuts at home!  Plus it is a bit healthier than buying fried doughnuts.  For these I made vanilla cake doughnuts, since the samoas have a vanilla cookie, and they smelled so delicious while baking I knew these were going to be good! I needed a caramel to top them off with and I decided on making a simple coconut milk brown sugar caramel that always turns out well and is perfect for topping things like these with since it thickens a lot when it cools.  I then stirred finely shredded coconut into it to create the samoa topping. You want to use unsweetened dried shredded coconut for these.

I dipped the doughnuts into the coconut caramel, let it set, then I drizzled them with vegan dark chocolate.  Once the chocolate had set as well I could not wait to try them!  These turned out so delicious with a sweet vanilla cake portion for the doughnut, gooey coconut caramel and rich dark chocolate!  They had all of the flavors of a samoa cookie!  If you are a fan of Samoa Girl Scout Cookies, definitely give these Vegan Samoa Doughnuts a try!

Vegan Samoa Doughnuts

Makes 10

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder (1/2 tsp plus 1/4 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp golden ground flax seed mixed with 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp filtered water, allowed to sit 15 minutes)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp avocado oil or other neutral oil
• 1/2 cup plant based milk
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Caramel:

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup finely shredded dried unsweetened coconut

Chocolate Drizzle:

• 3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees, and oil a doughnut pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt and whisk to blend.
3. Add the flax eggs, avocado oil, oat milk, and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer for about a minute (or 3 minutes if doing it by hand with a whisk).
4. Pour the batter into the prepared doughnut pan filling the holes 3/4 full.
5. Place the in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until the doughnuts are done in the center (you are able to insert a toothpick into the center and it comes out almost clean with a few moist crumbs).
6. Remove from the oven and let cool 20 minutes, then remove the doughnuts from the pans by tapping on the counter. Place the doughnuts in the freezer, until they are frozen (about an hour) to make them easier to work with (the caramel will set faster).
7. To make the caramel sauce, combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until it starts to thicken.  Remove from heat and let cool about 15 minutes.  Stir in the coconut.
8. Dip each doughnut into the caramel on one side to coat it, then place on a wire rack.  Repeat until all of the doughnuts have been dipped.  Place them on the rack in the refrigerator until the caramel has set, about 15 minutes.
9. Melt the dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler until smooth, then place in a pastry bag and pipe/drizzle over the doughnuts or drizzle over with a spoon it just won't look as neat).  Place doughnuts on rack in the refrigerator until the chocolate has set, about 10 minutes.
10. Enjoy!  Store any leftover doughnuts in the refrigerator in a container for up to 1 week.