How to turn aquafaba into doughnuts – recipe

Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan boasts the title of Richard Makin’s new book. And it turns out that’s true: Makin, AKA School Night Vegan, is a genius recipe developer and blogger who creates wonderful plant-based dishes. His doughnut recipe caught my attention especially, because they’re made from one of my favourite byproducts, aquafaba. Here’s my wholegrain version.

Vegan wholegrain doughnuts

Richard Makin has made it his mission to reinvent and veganise classic recipes, from New England-style lobster rolls to nonna’s lasagne. His recipes are great fun and, importantly, they work, too.

It’s miraculous what the liquid from a tin of chickpeas is capable of, and these clever aquafaba doughnuts are a case in point. The aquafaba binds the dough, which puffs up into delicious, pillowy treats. I’ve tweaked Richard’s original recipe to make these doughnuts a whole food, and even made with wholegrain flour they are light and fluffy.

They’re best eaten fresh, so fry only as many asyou want to eat at a time. If need be, prove the rolled doughnuts in the fridge overnight or even freeze them (remove from the fridge or freezer and, when fully defrosted and doubled in size, they’ll be ready to fry).

Save any leftover oil for cooking other foods or to fry your next batch of doughnuts. Once cool, strain it through a fine sieve and/or a clean cloth, seal in a clean container and store. Use up any leftover cinnamon sugar, too, in a cup of chai or sprinkled over cereal.

Richard fills his cooked doughnuts with a scrumptious jam made with doughnut peaches, but experiment with your own fillings – my maple apple butter from last week goes really well with them, too.

Makes 10 mini doughnuts

150g wholemeal bread flour
80g fine plain wholemeal flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp unrefined sugar
2 tsp easy-bake yeast
½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp (30g) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for deep-frying
160g aquafaba (ie, the liquid from 1 tin of chickpeas)
50g unrefined sugar – I used rapadura sugar, but any will do
1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

In a stand mixer or bowl, combine the bread flour, plain flour, yeast and salt. Stir in the two tablespoons of oil and the aquafaba, and knead in the bowl for 10 minutes, until the dough turns from sticky to smooth and strong. Cover and leave to rise for an hour, until doubled in size.

Tip the dough on to a lightly floured surface, cut and shape into 10 balls, then space them well apart. Cover with a cloth and leave to prove for another hour, or doubled in size. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the sugar and ground cinnamon, if using.

Put a small saucepan filled with 2cm oil on a medium heat, and bring up to 170C (if you don’t have a temperature probe, drop in a crumb of bread: when it bubbles to the surface, the oil should be ready). Carefully drop in the doughnuts one by one without overcrowding the pan, cook for a couple of minutes, until golden brown underneath, thenflip and cook until golden on the other side. If need be, turn down the heat to avoid burning the oil.

Lift out each doughnut as it’s cooked, immediately roll in the sugar, then transfer to a serving plate and leave to cool before eating.