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These jelly donut holes are grain-free, dairy-free, and taste just like the real deal! They’re easy to make AIP.

A jelly donut hole in a hand.

Who doesn’t love jelly donuts?! When I was brainstorming what to share on the blog this year for Hanukkah, jelly donuts popped into my mind, and these are just so perfect. They’re cakey, the perfect balance of sweet without being too, too sweet, and they taste like the real thing. A whole batch of these goes fast in my house, and for good reason… they’re just straight-up amazing.

This version is gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free, and can easily be made AIP with just a small tweak of leaving off the powdered sugar.

The Ingredients For Jelly Donut Holes

  • Tigernut Flour, Tapioca Starch, and Coconut Flour. This is the flour blend that I find works best for this recipe. You can swap tapioca starch for arrowroot starch.
  • Gelatin. This works as a binder in the recipe, and we add it in dry! A regular egg won’t quite work the same, but you can try agar instead.
  • Baking Powder.
  • Palm Shortening. Though I haven’t tried it myself, readers have told me that coconut oil works well here too… I just find that palm shortening yields a very cakey texture.
  • Apple Sauce and Maple Syrup. These are the sweeteners in the donut holes themselves.
  • Powdered Sugar. I use organic powdered sugar to avoid cornstarch.
  • Strawberry Jam. I like using strawberry jam for donut holes, but other flavors work too!

A plate filled with jelly donut holes.

The Tools for the Jelly Donut Holes

  • Donut hole pan. This isn’t a necessity, but it makes it much easier to get that perfect shape for donut holes! If you don’t have a pan like this, you can also just roll the donut holes into balls and bake on a baking sheet, though they won’t be as round.
  • Piping bag and narrow tip. This is used to fill the donut holes. In a pinch, you can also use a Ziploc bag with the tip cut.

How to make Gluten free Jelly Donut Holes

  • Combine the dry ingredients. Cream together the palm shortening, apple sauce, and maple syrup in a separate bowl.
  • Combine both bowls together. Stir to combine until a dough forms.
  • Form about 8-9 donut holes. Roll into balls and add to the donut hole pan and transfer to the oven.
  • Fill the donut holes with jam. Fill a pastry bag with a tip (or ziplock bag with a tip cut) with the jam. Using a paring knife to carefully pierce a hole in the donut holes. Fill with jam until you can feel the jam pushing back, and there’s a small amount of jam on top of the donut holes. Repeat for all of the donut holes.
  • Top with powdered sugar if desired and serve!

Photos detailing steps of making the dough to baking the jelly donuts

 

Storage instructions

Keep these donut holes in the fridge in a glass container for 2-3 days… if you can make them last that long!

How to make this recipe AIP

  • Omit the powdered sugar. You can add a sprinkle of coconut sugar instead, or leave it off altogether.
  • Make sure you use a sugar-free jam! You can use storebought, or homemade like this. 

A plate of jelly donut holes.

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Jelly Donut Holes (Gluten free)

  • Author: Michelle
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 8 donut holes 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free
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Ingredients

Units Scale

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray the donut hole pan with avocado oil spray (or line a baking sheet with greased parchment paper)
  2. Combine the flour, gelatin, and baking powder together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together the palm shortening, apple sauce, and maple syrup until thoroughly combined.
  3. Combine the palm shortening, maple syrup, and flour and stir to combine until a dough forms.
  4. Use your hands or a small cookie scoop to scoop about 8-9 donut holes. Roll into balls and add to the donut hole pan (or baking sheet) and transfer to the oven.
  5. If using the donut hole pan, remove from the oven after 10 minutes of baking and very carefully rotate the donut holes to allow the other side to bake. Bake for another 5 minutes or until fully baked. If using a sheet pan, bake for 13-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
  6. Transfer the donut holes to a cooling rack and allow them to cool.
  7. Fill a pastry bag with a tip (or ziplock bag with a tip cut) with the jam. Using a paring knife to carefully pierce a hole in the donut holes. Fill with jam until you can feel the jam pushing back, and there’s a small amount of jam on top of the donut holes. Repeat for all of the donut holes.
  8. Top with sifted powdered sugar if desired and serve!

Notes

To make AIP, Make sure you use a sugar-free jam! You can use storebought, or homemade like this.

All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Estimations do not include optional ingredients.

  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 15
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baked

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 donut hole
  • Calories: 145
  • Fat: 8.8g
  • Carbohydrates: 17.6gf
  • Fiber: 3.3g
  • Protein: 1.7g

Keywords: baked jelly donuts, gluten free jelly donuts