Recipe: Baked Red Velvet Donuts

These low-calorie, low-fat Baked Red Velvet Donuts are perfect for Valentine's Day — or any day you're craving donuts! The kids will love them, and so will hubby. It's too difficult to choose between the red velvet donut and the cream cheese glaze, but we're willing to bet you'll want seconds of both! And at only 121 calories and 5 SmartPoints per donut, you'll have no problem doing so.

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Pro tips:

• If you're worried about removing the donuts from the donut pan, don't be! An easy way is to loosen the edges and pop them out with a straight-edged spatula.
• There will be extra glaze that you will not need — however, you need "more" than necessary in order to get a good dip.

Recipe: Baked Red Velvet Donuts

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 8-10 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Serving size: 1 donut with glaze

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup white whole wheat flour

• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 1 egg

• ¼ cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

• 6 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 teaspoon red food coloring

• 2 ounces fat-free cream cheese, softened

• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

• 1 gallon-sized resealable plastic bag

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 6-count donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, applesauce, almond milk, vanilla and food coloring until incorporated.

4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

5. Pour the batter into the gallon-size bag, squeeze out excess air, and zip it shut. Cut about a ½-inch opening at the tip, and evenly fill the prepared donut pan with all of the batter. (The batter comes out fast, so before baking, wipe away any run-off on the pan.)

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing the donuts and cooling fully on a cooling rack.

7. While the donuts are cooling, whisk the glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

8. Dip the tops of each cooled donut in the glaze and allow to dry 10-15 minutes before enjoying.

Nutrition Information
Per Serving (1 donut with glaze):
Calories: 121
Calories from fat: 15
Fat: 2g
Saturated Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 29mg
Sodium: 217mg
Carbohydrates: 25g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 13g
Protein: 4g
WWP+: 4
SmartPoints: 5

3.1 The nutrition content of recipes on Popculture.com have been calculated by Registered Dietitian, Jessica Penner, of Smart Nutrition.