If you’re bored on a rainy day, you need to try this baked pistachio donuts recipe with lemon & honey glaze. They are easy to make, light and flavorful. The lemon & honey drizzle provides sweetness, but it doesn’t overwhelm. In fact, honey really enhances the pistachio flavor. I opted to eat them with whipped cream.
These donuts can be kept in the freezer for up to 4 months. Just make sure not to freeze the whipped cream. When you’e ready to eat them, thaw them in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
This pistachio donuts recipe takes less than 1 hour to make since the donuts are baked. They are leavened with baking powder instead of yeast (as with traditional fried donuts), which takes less time. Another benefit is that they are significantly lower in fats, and contain ZERO trans fats as there is no oil in the recipe.
The pistachios you use should be raw and unsalted. The flavor is much stronger when you roast them right before baking. However, if you cannot find raw ones, make sure they are unsalted.
For those who don’t like pistachios, you could replace them with peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, or other type of nuts you may have.
Alternatively, you can also skip on the glaze and dip the donuts into melted chocolate.
See more donut recipes here.
Here you have the recipe for the pistachio donuts with lemon & honey glaze:
Pistachio Donuts Recipe with Lemon & Honey Glaze
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup (150 g/ 5 ¼ oz.) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
- ½ stick (60 g/ 2 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml/ 4 ¼ oz.) cream (35% fat content)
- 50 g (1 ¾ oz.) pistachios, roasted and finely chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature for greasing the pan
For the glaze:
- ½ cup (170 g/ 6 oz.) honey
- zest and juice from one medium lemon
- Optional: whipped cream
Instructions
Roasting the pistachios:
- Turn on the oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Place pistachios on parchment paper in a baking pan. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Let them sit at room temperature until cooled down, then chop them.
For the batter:
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
- In a bowl sift the flour, then add the baking powder. Mix them with a whisk and set aside.
- Gently melt the butter over low temperature. Make sure the butter does not bubble. Once melted, set it aside and allow it to cool a little.
- Crack the eggs into another bowl, add the sugar and beat at high speed with an electric mixer. The mixture is ready when almost triple in volume and light in color. Add the vanilla extract, salt, cream and mix.
- Using a spatula, add the flour mix to the egg mix in 2-3 steps, mixing gently after each step. Make sure the flour is well incorporated, but do not over mix. Once the flour has been incorporated, fold in the melted cooled butter. Then add the finely chopped pistachios and gently mix. Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.
- Grease the donut pan with room temperature butter. Pipe the batter filling ¾ of each cavity. Bake for 10 minutes, or until donuts spring back when gently pressed.
- Once baked, take the pan out of the oven and allow the donuts to cool in the donut pan 2-3 minutes at room temperature. Transfer them to a rack and let them sit until completely cooled.
For the glaze:
- In a pot over low heat add the honey with the lemon zest and juice. With a spatula, stir until it begins to simmer. Let it simmer 2-3 minutes. Take off the heat and let it cool in the pot at room temperature. Drizzle the honey lemon glaze over the donuts.
- Optional: serve with whipped cream.
