Valentine’s is quickly approaching. Impress your loved ones with these easy, baked Gluten Free Red Velvet Doughnuts topped with cream cheese frosting.
By now you should know, I love baked doughnuts. Since stopping by the doughnut shop on the way home isn’t an option, the only real answer is to make your own. And by investing in a simple doughnut pan (or even those little doughnut baking machines), you can have fresh gluten free doughnuts ready in less than half an hour.
This recipe uses gel colour to get the bright red colour without the added liquid that bottled food colouring would add. If you don’t want to use it, you are free to omit it, you just won’t have a reddish hue to the doughnuts. From my understanding, red velvet USED to be achieved when cocoa powder and buttermilk were mixed – there would be a chemical reaction that would result in a red colour. However, today the cocoa powder is made differently, and it no longer reacts with buttermilk the same way. You can read more about that process HERE if interested. Today, in order to make anything “red velvet”, colour needs to be added to the batter – either artificial or natural (beetroot powder may give these a slight reddish colour).

Gluten Free Red Velvet Doughnuts
Impress your loved ones with these easy, baked Gluten Free Red Velvet Doughnuts topped with cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Red Velvet Doughnuts:
- 2/3 cup (107 g) brown rice flour
- 1/3 cup (67 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (31 g) tapioca starch
- 3 tablespoons (23 g) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 g) xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) buttermilk
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) red gel colour (optional)
Cream Cheese Glaze:
- 3 ounces (85 g) cream cheese, very soft
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
Red Velvet Doughnuts:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a 6 cavity doughnut pan.
- Whisk together the rice flour, 1/3 cup sugar, tapioca starch, cocoa powder, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, and stir to combine.
- Spoon the batter into a large resealable bag. Cut a hole in one of the corners of the bag, and pipe the batter into the prepared doughnut pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the top of the doughnut bounces back when gently pressed on.
- Let the doughnuts sit in the pan for 5 minutes before removing them to a wire cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Glaze:
- Stir together the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth and creamy. Spread on cooled doughnuts.
Tools of the trade:
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Cindy @ Hun... What's for Dinner? says
These donuts look fantastic Jeanine. Great for Valentine’s day!
Jeanine says
Thanks, Cindy!
Shirley LeBoeuf says
I will be making these for a Bake Sale, and if the are as good as your Citrus Chiffon Cake, then we are in for a real treat, that cake was the best that I have eaten since having to be Gluten Free, I have passed the recipe on to friends with every confidence that they will love it too…Thank you for all your great recipes and hard.
Jeanine says
So glad to hear that you loved the chiffon cake, Shirley! Woohoo!!
Drea says
I am totally focused on making an awesome gluten free treat for my families holiday breakfast! This is exactly what I was looking for! Cannot wait to try this out.
Jeanine says
Hope you enjoyed them, Drea!
Naomi says
Just made these and they came out so good! Thank you!!!