recipe for a slow morning: blueberry basil doughnuts + homemade hemp milk

There's something very soothing about a warm, rainy summer day. This morning I rose earlier than expected, opened the windows to let the quiet shush of the rain in, scooped some organic hemp seeds into my vitamix to blend up some delicious, creamy hemp milk, made espresso, and started on a batch of doughnuts. 

The doughnuts we make are far from conventional, but I have a fondness for those dense, old fashioned doughnuts I would sometimes have as a kid from the country store down the street from where I live. They were golden brown, a bit crunchy on the outside, with a soft, melt-in-your-mouth interior. These days, I enjoy spending my days off in the kitchen, whipping up healthy, plant-based alternatives to these classic favorites from my rural Vermont upbringing. On the brink of publishing my latest novel, Sparrow Rising (so excited!!) I find it incredibly relaxing and therapeutic to take a step away from the desk and get my hands in dough, or fresh veggies on the chopping board. For this recipe, I did a bit of both.

 

I opted for something berry - and herby! My two favorites, especially right now, while our local farm stands and farmers markets are BURSTING with these two ingredients.

This recipe was inspired by the blackberry basil doughnut recipe in the lovely baking book Baked Doughnuts for Everyone, by Ashley McLaughlin. I adapted the recipe quite a bit and made it my own to facilitate the local, seasonal ingredients that are fresh now, and also to make them vegan. One of my favorite things about the basic doughnut recipes in this book is that almost all of them include almond meal, which I constantly have an abundance of from making homemade almond milk. 

In this wholesome, vegan, gluten free, and sugar free recipe I also used my easy, make-it-in-three-minutes organic hemp milk. (Which froths LUXURIOUSLY, btw) I'm going to share this delicious recipe as well, just in case you want to use it for the doughnuts, or if you're looking for a delicious foamy cloud of milk as a companion to your favorite coffee. It's creamy, sweet, frothy, and soooo easy to make - no soaking necessary.

Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free Blueberry Basil Donuts + Vanilla Maple Coconut Cream Glaze:

For the doughnuts:

1/2 oat flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/3 cup organic agave nectar

1/4 cup of almond meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp himalayan salt

2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons of ground flax to 6 tablespoons of water. Mix separately and let stand for 5 minutes before adding to wet ingredients.)

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp hemp milk

5 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup fresh blueberries

3 tablespoons of fresh, finely chopped basil

For the glaze:

1/2 can of organic, full fat coconut milk

1 tsp arrowroot starch

1 tsp of vanilla extract

3 tsp maple syrup

Pinch of himalayan salt

Blend for about 15 seconds in a high speed blender, and chill until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 350 fahrenheit. Grease doughnut tray (or muffin pan, if you want to make these into muffins) with coconut oil. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized batter bowl, and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir in wet ingredients until combined, then fold in the basil and blueberries. Fill the doughnut tray, leaving a little room at the top of each mold. Bake for 20-24 minutes. Frost with the glaze and enjoy with a cup of coffee, tea, or a glass of fresh, chilled hemp milk.

Organic Vanilla Agave Hemp Milk

In a high-speed blender, combine:

1 cup of organic hemp hearts

4 cups of water

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend on high for about 45 seconds, or until the seeds have been thoroughly blended into a pulp. Squeeze through a high quality, non-porous silk nut milk bag, and store in the fridge in a mason jar for up to a week. Enjoy it straight, in coffee or tea, on granola, or in recipes like the delicious blueberry basil doughnuts above!

I hope you enjoy these sweet, summer bounty treats. They were just what my soul needed on this drizzly morning. 

What have you been creating lately? Do you love crafting something sweet but plant based on a rainy day? Think you'll take a crack at either of these plant based recipes? Tell me if you do in the comments below! I would love to hear what you think, my friend. <3

stay stoked,

kate