Healthy donut does exist in a donut peach. These are a new kind of peach.
These peaches are glazed with egg white, honey, unsweetened coconut, and melted dark cacao.
Taking a bite in, this is clearly a peach and not a floured donut (in case you were in doubt)! 😊
These peaches are also known as Saturn peaches and flat peaches. 🪐
Overhead, they look the same as regular peaches. You can eat these as plain whole fruit too!
Have you seen these before at the grocery stores?
You may have seen them come in a package of four.
I think they’re slightly sweeter than most peaches I’ve had. And have less juicy pulp.
But make no mistake, they still taste sweet like peaches.
And if you want to kick it up a notch, I have a neat way to prepare them so they can be a baked and healthy low-sugar “donut” dessert and sweet snack (instead of reaching for a real heavy donut! 🍩).
The first step is to cook the donut peaches.
If you skip this part and only bake them, the skin on the peach donuts will dry out some and they will be darker in color because the peach naturally starts off darker in color.
When cooking is added as a step, the peaches lose their vibrant peach skin color and turn warm-ish brown color (more like a Krispy Kreme donut or a whole wheat donut color).
…Which btw, if that distracted you and donuts are a missing hole in your life, try a healthier and traditional donut that you can make as a low-sugar donut hole made with whole wheat flour.
And getting back to the peach healthy donut, after cooking you can set-and-forget bake for a few minutes until it’s time to glaze.
To glaze, I like the opaque look of egg white and water. They remind me of cinnamon swirl donuts I had when I was younger. Plus egg whites are healthy.
Tip: When separating your egg, do it first when it’s easier out of a cold fridge temperature. Refrigerate your yolks and save to make bearnaise sauce, ice cream, and/or lemon curd are some of my faves.
Let peaches ripen at room temperature until they're about a day away from soft eating. Then cook in simmering water to soften. Time will vary depending on how ripe your peach is to begin with. The original peach color will change. This step can take about 20-30 minutes.
Bake on 300°F for about 20 more minutes. Again time will vary based on ripeness and how long you cook from the first step.
Make the glaze: Whisk egg white and water together at room temperature.
Use a brush to coat the peaches in the oven and then about 10 minutes in, re-coat. Keep adding glaze coats until you get the opaque white color you like.
Add any zhugh like sprinkles or crumbles when the top coat is still wet. You can also add maple syrup or honey after they cool and then zhugh (or zhugh again).
Donut baked with low-sugar cinnamon and honey is a way to love the original fried dough dessert that tastes amazing. 🍩 And these are made with healthy flour and ingredients. Recipe below.
The hole is credited to a sea captain on the waters in 1847.
Holed-donuts even look a bit like life preservers 🛟… and his story (and history) goes like this: the captain wanted more even cooking all around, so he punched a hole in the middle.
Then years later, donuts became “oily cakes” from the earliest donut shop recorded on land in the U.S.
And today, you can avoid oil and water (in cooking) by easy baking low-sugar donuts.
And you get more of an even bake like I did, using your special pans.
I used my Nordic Ware for this baking project that would hold up to any heated baking wars inside the oven. 😊
When you mix in whole wheat flour, you’re getting more fiber and protein than all-purpose flour. It’s a small tweak you can make in your cakey dough recipes.
The dough-batter will be a little darker in color.
I grew up on whole wheat sandwiches so it was an easy substitute for me.
You can see it holds up well in the pan of whole and hole donuts. With holes too, you get double the w(hole), plus more.
And sometimes a low-sugar healthy sweet cinnamon donut hole bite is all you need to fulfill the sweet tooth inside the pie hole (mouth).
When I worked with food event planning in Lebanese restaurants, one of the more popular desserts was Awamat (donut holes).
So this is where it can get confusing… is the hole the space in the middle of the donut or the donut round hole? 😁
In my party planning days 🥳, it was the round holes.
Those were often the choice for birthday parties or special dinner events that could be built up into a Croquembouche display (like a Christmas pine cone tree 🌲).
Holes in the middle can’t do that as they’re just air.
So the solid holes was something special and new to me. 🍩
Another new change I learned: donuts aren’t just for breakfast anymore like they used to be.
And the decked out party cinnamon donut holes I worked with were made with honey instead, and zhughed with saffron that gave a tangy tasting top.
…Plus a pretty interesting look with the stringy red strands.
In reminiscing about those special event donut days, this is my low-sugar healthy whole wheat version of the donut that you can decorate for any sweet occasion. You can make these anytime.
When you want a sweet bite, these fill the hole with a low-sugar, healthy baked snack.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, lebanese
Servings 4
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
1-1/2cupwhole wheat flour
1/4cupmilk of choice
1tspbaking powder
1tbsphoney (or maple syrup)
1tbsplight extra virgin olive oil
1egg, beaten
1tbspcinnamon spice
additional cinnamon for zhughing (optional)
Instructions
Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients until fully combined.
Roll 8 balls with hands and add to baking sheet pan (or make 2 donut rings and 4-5 1" balls).
Bake on 350°F/180°C for about 20 minutes. Don't overbake. Tips: With whole wheat flour, you'll tend to think that it may not be baked through so time is more reliable. About a few minutes or 5 minutes before finished, you can also flip the donut bottom to top of the pan, and see that the bottoms are slightly darker and finish your bake more evenly. Or for the donut holes, have fun rolling them around!
For a simple glaze, save your egg white and add a splash or water. Glaze donuts about 5 minutes before end of bake. You can also add a melted chocolate, light honey, or maple syrup glaze after the donut pan is cooled. Or simply zhugh with a dusting of cinnamon.
Cinnamon roll is how I roll! …You too? C’mon buns (as in cinnamon buns).
Or cinnamon swirls that are whimsical. 🍥 You can bake and get these anytime you want from your oven!
They’re so swirly whimsical 🌀 and tasty comforting in the mouth (and inner child). 🍥
And hint: if you’re feeling adult anxious, a warm cinnamon roll and cinnamon tea any season of the year can comfort and hug you in a way like no other… ok, maybe a cozy blanket and a warm and fuzzy movie would go great too!
Those you can grab with your foolproof cinnamon roll.
FOOLPROOF because these decadent sweet bread rolls come out soft and airy light every time. 🥮 Or as long as I’ve been baking weekly since 2020.
I sacrificed… and bit into one with to show you the inner workings.😂
The air pocket, rise, and moist difference is in the flour type and yogurt add. Bread flour gives the rise and the yogurt helps the moist.
So often we’re confronted with which flour to use? And sometimes it’s a cake-bread or bready cake (…is that a type of dessert?).
…How I like to set the two apart is between either using yeast OR baking soda and baking powder.
If yeast is used, then bread flour (or in some cases whole wheat flour) is my go-to and that’s for a mostly bread-like consistency… like a cinnamon roll.
And if it’s cake, then some all-purpose or cake flour will give the cake texture.
And if you mix-and-match these flours, then you’ll like get more of a cake bread as the gluten-level is somewhere in the middle. Makes sense… and you don’t have to be good at math.
And to keep the math even more simple, this recipe uses all bread flour. So it’s no-mistake bread. 💯
Bread flour (or a mix with whole wheat flour) does the best for cinnamon buns in my opinion, but you can definitely substitute with crumbly gluten-free “healthy” flours and add natural xantham gum or other natural binders.
The bread prep can be done in 10 minutes by hand mixing 4 ingredients: warm water, flour, instant yeast, and salt.
This is an enriched dough so you can let it rest for a few minutes and start baking if you’re in a hurry… but better if you let it proof for an hour or two.
The moist and healthy vibes come from a healthy fat (light EVOO) and yogurt.
And below are the easy recipe steps.
B-ready?
Which btw, cinnamon rolls are delicious to pair with a cinnamon tea or if that’s too much cinnamon, an Earl Grey tea with raisins in tea (and on top of buns if you like)… a little zhugh I learned along the way that adds to A BUN DANCE (abundance on a plate 🍽️).
…So you can be anticipating your bake with your warm bevy in hand.
Low-Sugar Delicious Cinnamon Roll
This is a low-sugar cinnamon roll and you don’t need refined white sugar for this refined cinn-roll 😊 bread recipe. That’s especially good if low-sugar only is one of your healthy goals. It’s always a plus!
For sweetness: this recipe uses raw honey and cinnamon for sweetness that are anti-inflammatory ingredients. And with many healthy seasons in, I’m usually light-handed with sweet… BUT this sweet duo I douse on heavy-handed as healthy and tasty good.
…This gives the punchy cinnamon ooey-gooey vibes that combined are comforting and anti-inflammatory.
And I recommend adding honey in the dough and as a final glaze ontop. You can use honey directly ontop (of an egg wash if you choose) or make a simple syrup mixed with a little heated water.
Also, add a bunch of cinnamon spice in the dough for the sweet that’ll make your oven smell like an autumn bakery.
Because healthy fat is used, it will be a little different than a flaky butter finish like you’d get in a pastry… but still epic.
C’MON- Cinnamon Roll
Ingredients (for 8 rolls in a rectangular pan) or in the recipe below 👇 you can use a round pan to make a flower 🌼 design:
8”x 4” (or 9”x5”) pan
1-1/2 cups total flour (you can mix bread flour, whole wheat, gluten-free bread)
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 Tbsp sea salt or pinch of salt
1 Tbsp raw honey (or maple syrup)
1 Tbsp plain yogurt (Greek yogurt recommended)
1 generous Tbsp of cinnamon spice (Cassia or common cinnamon for baking)
¾ cup warm water (+ possibly more)
neutral oil for lining pan
Directions:
Knead flour, yeast, water, and salt ingredients with a dough hook in a mixing bowl on medium-high speed adding just enough warm water until all the flour is incorporated.
Some of the dough will be stringy (shaggy?) dough pieces or crumbs, and not a smooth dough (not like a baby’s bottom 👶)… yet.
Knead until a smooth consistency about 7-9 minutes. Add in the cinnamon, yogurt, and honey and turn on the mixing machine a few more times just to fully combine.
Common questions (to make this fully foolproof so you can’t mess this up!):
Dough too wet? If your dough seems to wet when you’ve been kneading a few minutes, add a little flour back. You can use any bench (e.g. all purpose or bread flour).
Dough too dry? If your dough seems shaggy dry, add a little more water 1 teaspoon at a time as needed until you get a smooth consistency that naturally slides off the dough hook.
What type of cinnamon? In stores, you’ll often find two types: Cassia and Ceylon cinnamon. Cassia cinnamon is the common kind you see that’s good for these rolls and baking in general with. Leave the Ceylon cinnamon for your tea or warm bevy.
And after you’re confident with your dough, let it rest as a ball for 1-2 hours covered in a pan full lined with neutral oil and covered with a tea towel (or clean T-shirt cover will work).
You can also leave overnight covered in the fridge. If leaving overnight, add enough oil or water to the dough so it doesn’t dry out.
When you’re ready to bring the dough out either same day or from the fridge overnight, lay it on top of a little bench flour (any baking flour will work. I like to stick with the same ones I’m using in the buns or whole wheat flour).
Roll out the dough (not too thin but to about 1/4-1/2″ thick) into a rectangle shape and then cut strips with a pizza wheel cutter or knife, saving the dough scrap ends.
Roll out the remaining dough and combine with the dough scraps, to make 8 total long pieces about the same size.
These strips will be your rolled up buns with spirals up. ꩜
Bake time will vary depending on flour choices, dough thickness, baking pan, and oven. As a guideline, bake until a little darker than golden brown as the outside is browner then the inside that can still be a little moist/unbaked.
Suggested time and temperature: bake at 350 °F/180°C for about 45 minutes or until dark golden brown on the bottoms.
You’ll be tempted to think that they’re done sooner or maybe around the 30-35 minute mark, but inside they will still likely be raw… but you’re almost there! So let your rolls bake a little longer than the outer appearance.
Around the 30 minute mark while you’re checking, you may also want to add a glaze. I recommend 1 egg white with a teaspoon or so of water.
Mix and brush on top. It will leave a milky opaque glaze that will be good on its own OR as a primer for your final shiny (honey) glaze.
These are foolproof.
Best to enjoy the buns while they’re warm out of the oven.. or you can keep out for a day or so, and/or refrigerate covered for a few more days.
OR you can freeze for another occasion and bring out a day or two before you want to re-heat.
For more zhugh pairings, you can also add sweet orange zest. Looks like a pain aux raisins, n’est-ce pas? 🧡
This one is surrounded by a bergamot (Earl Grey) tea bath. 🫖
1tspinstant yeast (if you use active yeast add to warm water to activate first)
1/4tbsppinch of salt
1Tbspraw honey
1Tbspplain flavor yogurt
1Tbspheaping spoon of Cassia cinnamon
3/4cupwater
Instructions
Make bread by mixing flour, water, salt, yeast for at least 7 minutes or until it comes together and passes the slapping water stage to build up gluten.
Let proof for at least 1-2 hours at room temperature in a covered bowl lined with oil to keep the dough moist. TIP: use the same pan you will bake in and you'll have one less sticky dough item to clean up. Use a round cake pan for round cinnamon rolls and a square pan for squarish rolls.
Roll dough out then roll up into a log (or that looks like a sleeping bag).
Cut into even slices with cooking thread or dental floss. You can also use a serated knife to not smush down the buns that you want to rise.
Place rolls with swirls up in baking pan and bake on 350°F until deeper or dark golden brown for about 45 minutes so the bottoms and all is baked through. Optional shine: Add egg white wash when almost done baking (and/or glaze after baking and cooling). You can also add honey to tops after baked and cooled.
Notes
Dough too wet? If your dough seems to wet when you've been kneading a few minutes, add a little flour back. You can use any bench (e.g. all purpose or bread flour). Dough too dry? If your dough seems shaggy dry, add a little more water 1 teaspoon at a time as needed until you get a smooth consistency that slides off th dough hook.
Sugar cookies can be tasty and healthy cookies with honey as the sweetness. And this recipe uses 4 ingredients and is one-bowl easy.
And with strawberry (or any berry), that’s berry good! 🍓 Like this plate of cookies is made low-sugar, gluten-free… and tasty good. Recipe below 👇
How this low-sugar sugar cookie recipe is different and can be cookie controversial is that there is no white sugar (or sugar crystal substitutes like Stevia that alters tastes).
With an optional light strawberry chocolate glaze at the end, you can keep this naturally low-sugar without missing a sugar beat! 🎉
Think of the strawberry seeds as sugar seeds 😊 And the gluten-free cookie crumbly bits falling off as sugar bits to please your sweet cravings.
This is a cookie challenge because with sugar in the name, NO table sugar doesn’t make sense… but if you’re like me, you’re up for the low-sugar challenge for your healthy body!
It’s a good balance FOR sweet taste buds with a healthy mix so there’s NO compromise.
And this is an EASY challenge because there are only 3 wholesome ingredients needed for these one-bowl sugar cookies to come together. And white table sugar is not one of them.
It’s 1/2 teaspoon of natural honey sugar per regular-size cookie cutter cookie. And you can substitute butter that’s usually in cookies with coconut oil if you would like to make your sugar cookies more healthy.
But it was not easy to come up with this on my end…
This was a journey… because I remember the crunchy hard sugar cookie vividly with sugar crystals on top shaped in dainty flowers with a whole in the middle that I once happily dreamed about. 🧒🏻
I had a sweet relationship with sugar.
…Never in my wildest dreams did I think making and eating my own cookies would be a typical Day in the Life that I’m happy about.
…And I never thought I’d graduate to making my own sugar cookie… without sugar crystals.
Maybe you get it because you too ate spoonfuls of sugar (and enjoyed every sugary food thing out there) like those of us who have a sweet tooth (or a full set of sweet teeth 😊)?
Thankfully for us who also aspire to healthy… the less sugar we eat, the less we crave and the fewer sweet taste buds as we get older.
That helps us align happy and healthy living.
Happy living is good for mental health.
And so if you want to add a glaze top to cookies and desserts, you can balance the healthy and happy ways (…and that’s what pleases my healthy and ex-catering self 😊).
Here on this plate I use a melted chocolate. I chose strawberry chocolate, but white or dark chocolate would work great too.
But in reality, most people use powdered sugar with a flavored liquid for a quick sweet glaze.
And that’s where sugar amounts can be over the top (in more ways than one!). ☹️
Because powdered sugar glazes are using another form of potent table sugar and even more white sugar, that’s not good and can tip the scales.
…AND you need a-lottta powdered sugar to make very little glaze. About 1-3/4 cup of powdered sugar is needed to replace 1 cup of granulated sugar… UGH!
So finding healthier ways like melting real chocolate is a smart and sweet tasty idea…
And you can happily smear the melted chocolate glaze on tops as you anticipate your cookie plate.
That’s one glaze that will go far! A mere 2 oz. of chocolate with a teaspoon of coconut oil will give the shine and get the job done for half-a-dozen cookies.
…You can make this no-guilt, low-sugar cookie batch in minutes when you get the sweet hankering!
It is anti-inflammatory healthy with the ingredients in the chocolate cake recipe below 👇… butdon’t let the healthy fool you.
Because this is a DELICIOUS and moist cake (you’ll see the batter below) that smells chocolate amazing from the oven when baking.
You may be surprised at the good food tastes and healthy, plant-based ingredients… and this may tip you in favor of becoming a healthy chocolate cake convert. 🧡
…Plus this individual chocolate cakes have a melt-in-your-mouth soft cake texture like that from an ice cream sandwich or a packaged dessert with cream in the middle… 😋
On that note, you can add a cream in the middle or on the top… and maraschino or glace cherries too like in this ice cream illusion trio. 🍒🍦
Based on the previous descriptions, it’s hard to believe that mostly gluten-free flour is part of the chocolate cake mix.
Gluten-Free Flour
Since non-gluten flours are softer (and mostly used in this healthy chocolate cake recipe), you will need more gluten-free flour than if you were using all or mostly gluten flours like all-purpose flour commonly used.
Gluten-free flours will make a soft batter without gluten. So you will not need to use a mixer. All you need is a spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients.
It’s so easy to mix that I even just used one of the plastic teaspoons I was using to measure in ingredients to mix, that works just fine. Less cleanup. 😊
This is the perfect lazy day bake!
And you can use a silver spoon (or messy whisk) to mix ingredients if you prefer (or whatever makes you happy!).
The batter consistency almost looks like chocolate ice cream. How fitting!
And what makes this cake special and low-sugar healthy is the special sugar choice…
Maple Syrup
Table or white sugar is not needed for most bakes to add sweetness. And it’s not needed in this cake recipe, as the more healthy sugar choice is maple syrup.
A little maple syrup goes a long way to sweeten… and is low glycemic which means it won’t spike your blood sugar the way table sugar would.
That’s good for anti-inflammatory benefits.
Vermont Grade A maple syrup is one of the best.
And you can easily source maple syrup all over the Northeast. Maybe even around their sugar maple trees. 🌳
I used maple syrup from the Adirondacks for this recipe below. But our Canadian friends are also well known for their maple syrup that’s part of the country’s tradition.
…It’s not just GOOD for pancakes. 🥞
Maple syrup is also a cooling food, so it’s a great sweetner choice for warm days, your Pitta stress and irritations you have in your life. 😊, and for ice cream cool chocolate cake…
This is where it gets happy and fun!
Pick Your Flavors
For your chocolate cake batter, you can lean into pure chocolate with just the cocoa in the recipe, or you can add sophisticated adult tasting vibes with ginger, coconut flour, or dark cocoa (more like an Oreo cookie vibe).
You get to choose your flavors before you bake… like when you’re in an ice cream parlor shop picking out flavors.
If you want a dark cocoa vibe, you can add black cocoa that will be a more intense cocoa. Think of the blackish color from the black cocoa as dramatic chocolate like in your cookies and cream desserts.
Keep in mind, adding dark cocoa will mean that it’ll take longer to bake as any time you have dark (blackish) color bakes (cakes, cookies, bread, etc.), they take longer than lighter bakes to bake.
And for this healthy cake, if you prefer more chocolate and pure chocolate tastes, you can add chocolate chip morsels (approx. 1-2 tbsps) where you’ll get pops of chocolates in your baked bites like a chocolate chip cookie. 🍪
And if you want to make this cake with chocolate coconut-y vibes 😋, you can include 1 tsp of coconut chips. And substitute the almond flour in the recipe with coconut flour that’s also gluten-free.
And for more choices and variety, if you don’t mind a spicy kick… pair with pungent ginger (that’s delightful!). You can add a teaspoon of ginger powder. Red (chili) pepper flakes also go great with chocolate.
There are very few baking spices that don’t pair well with chocolate! 🍫
Other Tips:
Flatten and even out your chocolate cake batter with a plastic lid. Dust with cocoa (or a little flour) so that it doesn’t stick. Easy peasy! No need for a rolling pin.
Also, you can pre-score cut your cake shapes before baking. Or use a round springform pan for a traditional cake if you will be making a round cake to more easily pop the cake out since the cake won’t be as springy like with a mostly gluten-flour cake.
You’ll know when it’s baked done when you can lift the bottom in one baking piece. Don’t over bake this one or you’ll have cookies! 🍪🍪
And technically, you could eat this without baking like a chocolate mousse and don’t need to bake this cake batter because there’s no egg, BUT for the decadent light chocolate cake texture (and not no-bake cocoa balls), pop it in the magical oven.
And if you want to use egg, you can. I did an experiment to see the rise difference and there wasn’t much. Can you tell which ice cream chocolate cake has egg?
…Didn’t think so.
It’s the one on the right that’s slightly fuller and higher but only by comparison. 🐣 You’d not notice the difference on a ready-to-eat plate.
So the choice is yours… to egg or not. Either way, enjoy these crowd pleasers for your next table party!
Healthy chocolate cake where you can make one 8" or 9" round cake or 4 - 3" wide cakes shaped in ice cream cone or fun cookie cutter shape (your choice). Great for parties and all ages!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
1cupalmond flour
1/2cupalmond milk, plus additional (add as needed)
1tbspmaple syrup
1tbspcocoa powder + 1 tsp
1/2tspbaking soda
1tbspall purpose flour
1tspapple cider vinegar
11/2 tsplight olive oil (or neutral oil)
pinch of salt
Instructions
Mix ingredients by hand with a spoon. Almond flour is a gluten-free flour that will make a softer batter. Work in enough wet ingredients so the batter falls off the spoon together. The batter will be noticeably more grainy and less gloppy/smooth than a full gluten flour batter. For chocolate cake sandwiches, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake at 325°F for about 20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Don't overbake or you'll get cookies.Sometimes the bottom is still moist, so if you use a springform cake pan, you can take a small peek or simply add another 5-10 minutes to ensure it's dry at the bottom. When you bake at low temps and slow, you don't have to worry about burning your cake and still getting a little rise.
