Zucchini pancake donuts [nut free, refined sugar free]

Sometimes repeating your tried and tested recipes is the best. Sometimes repeating old recipes can become a little boring. Sometimes both of those things is true – so what do you do then? Come up with a little twist on the same reliable recipe which feels new and exciting, that’s what. A great example of such transformation are these zucchini pancake donuts.
It’s pretty much the same recipe as my fluffy zucchini pancakes but I’ve substituted the hazelnut meal for some seed meal (made from pepitas and sunflower seeds blitzed in a food processor), slightly increased the maple syrup (because you won’t drizzle these with syrup before eating) and also added some fruit. This now makes them nut free and perfect for kids’ school lunchboxes. And because everything is better when in donut form, I’ve used my Wilton mini donut pan (always a good idea!).

What’s in these zucchini pancake donuts?
Well, all good things, obviously. As you know from my other zucchini posts, we’ve been blessed with a wonderful zucchini crop this summer and we’ve been using zucchini in everything. It’s at a point at the moment where the kids ask: “Mum, why do we eat zucchini at every meal?” Because it’s organic, delicious and nutritious, obviously.
Other than a cup of shredded zucchini, you will need:
- wholemeal flour or wholemeal spelt flour
- seed meal (I just blitz together about equal amounts of pepitas and sunflower seeds)
- tapioca powder
- baking powder
- speculaas spices or cinnamon
- salt
- eggs
- macadamia oil (or substitute MCT oil or sunflower oil)
- vanilla extract
- milk (non-dairy can be substituted)
- maple syrup
- cherries, berries or other fruit

Life lately (not zucchini related)
But enough about zucchini. What have you been up to? What are you watching, reading, listening to? What activities have you done with your kids that have been great experiences?
Lately, I’ve been listening to the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast. It’s a recent discovery for me but one that I’ve enjoyed a lot (I even have a brand spanking new shortcut on my iPhone which starts playing the podcast as soon as I get into my car in the morning!). If you follow me on Instagram, you may know that I’ve already put together my “20 for 2020” list, a list of 20 concrete goals for 2020 (rather than New Year resolutions, which I think is a great idea as I can absolutely see how being specific about what you want to achieve this year makes it easier to reach). If you’re interested, I’ve included things like:
- read 20 books (on track – the last one I read was a cracker and I really couldn’t put it down. I think I read it in about three days which is really fast for a mumma who works full time, has two little ones and a blog. Check it out for yourself here.)
- start learning a new language (I love languages. My kids have just started learning Italian in kindergarten so I’m thinking this is a great opportunity to learn it with them. I am a big fan of the Pimsleur language method and have already learnt Japanese and French with this course. So intuitive and it works well for me.)
- take a photography course (this is still outstanding. I am always keen to learn new photo techniques but just cannot find enough time in a day. Can anyone recommend a good one?)
- plan at least 6 adventures with kids (I have only planned our long holiday so far, for September/October this year, which allowed me to check off another item on my list. When I wrote this down, I was thinking about a number of different things like a spontaneous road trip, a zoo visit, maybe a weekend at the coast. Since then, we’ve had bushfires, floods and now Coronavirus so it’s not looking great for travelling with kids. I’ll have to keep thinking about this one.)
- catch up at least three times with at least five friends (definitely on track with this one. I love seeing my friends but, like everyone, our lives sometimes get busy, or you just feel exhausted at the end of a long week, so cancelling becomes a very tempting option. I love that this goal motivates me to stay in touch and doesn’t bind me to any particular way of catching up – lunches, dinner, movie dates, it all counts.)
Have you made a list like this, or do you have any New Year’s resolutions? How are you going with it/them?
Zucchini pancake donuts [nut free, refined sugar free]
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour or wholemeal flour (I have used either in this recipe and both work fine)
- 1/2 cup seed meal (I used a mix of pepitas and sunflower seeds)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp tapioca
- 1.5 tsp speculaas spices (or substitute cinnamon)
- pinch of salt
Wet ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp MCT oil, or a combination of MCT oil and sunflower oil (or use macadamia oil if you do not need the donuts to be nut free)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (no need to squeeze it out)
- 155 g fresh (not frozen) cherries or berries or other fruits (I've used cherries, blueberries and chocolate chips in different recipes – they all work)
Instructions
- Blitz 1/2 cup of pepitas seeds and 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds in a food processor. (You may end up with a little more than the 1/2 cup required.) Alternatively, you can deliberately blitz more of each (like I do) and store the remainder in a glass jar at room temperature. It will keep for a while.
- Pre-heat the over to 180C.
- Remove stones from the cherries, if using. Cut cherries in halves or quarters.
- Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together all the wet ingredients (except for zucchini) in a large measuring cup or a bowl.
- Pour all the wet ingredients into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined.
- Mix in the shredded zucchini until well combined.
- Gently mix in the cherries, or berries, or other fruit/chocolate chips.
- The mixture will be quite runny but that's ok.
- Pour into a 12-hole mini donut pan (you will have a little extra – use them to make a couple of small cakes, or mini muffins).
- Bake for 15 minutes or until set.
- Cool and enjoy!
Notes


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40 Comments
Michelle
I never thought I would ever see zucchini and donuts together as a recipe. But this actually sounds amazing! I’ll have to give this a try! That’s really neat that you’re learning a new language. It’s always great to keep our minds buys learning new things.
Katerina
Haha.. yes, it might seem strange but it actually really works (and they’re delicious)! Thank you – that reminds me I need to do some more Italian!
Shubham Varshney
It looks so delicious, in fact you gave me a task for the quarantined-day.
Katerina
Thank you, Shubham, glad to help!
Carrie Tyler
Hi Katerina, OMG, I am definitely making these! I mean healthy zucchini + pancake + donuts! Heaven!
Katerina
Thanks so much, Carrie, much appreciated. I hope you enjoy them!
Jamie
I love how cute and delicious these pancake donuts are! Such a great healthy treat to have around!
Katerina
Thanks so much, Jamie!
Judit
Dear Katerina, these donuts look amazing and it sounds really healthy on the top of it! Thank you for sharing and nice greetings from Hungary! 🙂
Katerina
Thank you so much, Judit! Happy Thursday ♥️
Ashley
These little zucchini pancake donuts look delightful!
And I need to check out the Pimsleur method- I want to re-learn French!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
Katerina
Thanks very much, Ashley! Definitely check it out, I swear by it!
Rosemary Squires
WOW!! I absolutely love all the ingredients in here! I never thought of using seed meal in doughnuts! I will have to try that next time I make some. PS– I love your reading goal! I’m trying to get through 50 books this year.. may have set my bar high, but good thing its only the 3rd month of the year 🙂
Katerina
Thanks so much, Rosemary!! That’s definitely too high for me right now but what a goal! I’m impressed!
David @ Spiced
We’re heading into gardening season over here – well, another 6-8 weeks or so, but close enough – and I can’t wait to plant zucchini! There’s nothing better than having a whole bunch of zukes ready come mid-summer. These donuts sound delicious, and they’re a fun way to use the extra zucchini! I love the idea of adding a handful of blueberries in there, too!
Katerina
I couldn’t agree more, David! We’re definitely planting more zucchini next year!
marcie
I love how wholesome these look, yet they’re still so fun and delicious and I’m sure! These would make a great meal prep breakfast!
Katerina
Thank you Marcie! Yes they absolutely do ♥️
Christie
These zucchini pancake donuts sound so good!! I love how fluffy they are. I also appreciate how they are refined sugar and nut free!
Katerina
Thank you so much, Christie! The texture is really beautiful!
stevevhan
OMG, thanks for sharing, i am loving baking these days and this just comes so handy!
Katerina
Thanks very much – hope you enjoy it!
Hena Tayeb
They look yum!
Katerina
Thank you!
Rach
YUM! I want to make these donuts! And I’m very impressed with what is going on with your life lately!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
Katerina
Thank you Rach!
Lovely
What a brilliant idea, love to try it!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Katerina
Thank you!
BarbaraFrenchVegan
Th’as really surprising ! Donuts pancakes with zucchini sounds original. These look delicious by the way 🙂
Katerina
Thank you Barbara!
Leanne
I’m all about sneaking veggies into my sweet treats, and zucchini sounds perfect for these donuts. And yay, another use for my mini donut pan! Great recipe Katerina! Happy weekend!
Katerina
Thanks so much Leanne!
jodie filogomo
I love the idea that you could basically take a pancake recipe and make donuts. How brilliant is that?
OXOX
Jodie
Katerina
Haha.. briliant, of course! Thank you so much, Jodie!
Ramona
These zucchini pancake donuts look amazing. I’m going to try them as soon as this weekend. Love the sound and the look of these. Mmmmm. Yumm.
Katerina
Thanks so much, Ramona!! Hope you enjoy them!
Gemma @ Makeup Muddle
Oh these look really tasty, and they look so fluffy too! Thank you for sharing the recipe with us xo
Gemma | Makeup Muddle
Katerina
Thanks so much, Gemma!
Laura Bambrick
I love zucchini in anything! These sound delicious and are so cute in doughnut form! Great idea!
Katerina
Thank you so much, Laura!