sidecar doughnuts Archives - Sweet Potato Bites

I have a new obsession and it is in the form of the coffee from Sidecar Doughnuts. I’ve written about their doughnuts numerous times, but it wasn’t until recently that their Forty Winks blend made with Stumptown coffee has stolen my heart. I get the same order every time; large cup of coffee with some steamed almond milk to add just a slight bit of sweetness. So what does this have to do with paleo chocolate doughnuts?

As we all know, Sidecar makes delicious doughnuts. And every time I step into their shop to grab a coffee you can smell the freshly baked doughnuts in the air. The Englishman and I have now established a Sunday tradition where we pop into Sidecar to get a morning cup o’joe and sometimes a doughnut (gluten-free for me) or two. If you follow me on instagram, then you probably saw that we also started a birthday coffee and doughnut tradition.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in treating yourself and enjoying delicious things like these doughnuts, but for my wallet and waistline I can’t exactly buy them every time I step into the shop. So what’s a doughnut-lovin’ gal to do? Make her own!

These paleo chocolate doughnuts are simple low in sugar, and the perfect accompaniment to my Sidecar coffee. The great thing about these doughnuts is that you can add nuts or chocolate chips into the batter…or just top your doughnuts with them!

If you don’t have a doughnut pan, you can easily convert these into muffins as well.

Paleo Chocolate Doughnuts (adapted from The Detoxinista)

Makes 6 doughnuts

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup olive oil or coconut oil

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

1 egg

2 egg whites

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease your doughnut or muffin pan.

In a medium bowl whisk together your coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gently fold in your olive oil, egg, egg whites, water and vanilla until everything is well blended.

Gently fold your batter into the doughnut pan and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the doughnuts cool for 15 minutes.

Pair with your favorite cup of coffee (or tea!).

Now serious question: do you spell it donuts or doughnuts? I always have the “ough” when I write it out but I see the other spelling quite often too.

I have been eagerly awaiting the opening of Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee since I first tried their doughnuts back in January. After weeks and months of following their delivery truck updates on Facebook and Twitter, Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee is finally open for business in Costa Mesa!

I had an opportunity to attend a special preview event at Sidecar which just further emphasized my love for their doughnuts. Upon arriving, I was presented with a plate with a wide variety of different cake and yeast doughnuts.

Sidecar bakes their doughnuts in-house every morning (in fact, they fry a new batch every hour) and all the doughnuts are made with natural ingredients and free of additives and preservatives. You can tell just by looking at them how fresh they are.

On this visit, I got to sample the following flavors:

Birthday Cake– covered in rainbow sprinkles and pink icing and reminded me of the sprinkle doughnuts I would get as a kid

Coconut – this was glazed with coconut milk icing. I love all things coconut and loved this.

Huckleberry – I first tried this doughnut back in January, and still love it.

Maple Bacon – If you are a bacon lover or a maple lover or love sweet and salty you’ll love this.

Raspberry – Nice raspberry glaze on this one. It’s the perfect spring doughnut.

Cinnamon Crumb – I loved the crunchy crumb topping on this one – very unique and tasty.

Malsada with Haupia – This doughnut had a nice cream filling. I don’t always like cream filling in doughnuts but this was top-notch.

Callebaut Chocolate – Pretty much perfection. Can’t go wrong with chocolate.

If you have a gluten allergy, fear not! I had the opportunity to speak with Chef Brooke Des Prez as well, and she shared that Sidecar would also be offering a gluten-free doughnut every Friday starting April 19th. The plan is to have one gluten-free flavor in the shop every week (the flavor may change) and if the gluten-free doughnut is popular they will continue to add more flavors as well. The gluten-free flour blend contains brown rice, garbanzo and potato flour. There’s also talk of a vegan doughnut in the works as well.

Chef Des Prez also shared that Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee would also have seasonal flavors, with the Guava doughnut being the first one for spring. And if you like savory doughnuts, Sidecar has a Rosemary doughnut that is sure to be up your alley.

In addition to the amazing doughnuts, Sidecar also offers coffee from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a Portland-based company that prides itself on sourcing the best coffee in the world and maintaining strong relationships with their farmers.

Now I am by no means a coffee connoisseur, but this coffee was some of the best I’ve had in a long time. My latte was rich, creamy, and didn’t have the bitter aftertaste that some coffee can have. I can see why this coffee and doughnut pairing is a match made in heaven. Thanks Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee for bringing your delicious goods to 17th Street.