Strawberry Sprinkle Donut Hearts Totally Dye Free!

These baked strawberry sprinkle donut hearts are made with crumbled freeze dried strawberries, and a sweet lemon glaze, for a gorgeous dye free strawberry lemonade treat.

INGREDIENTS AND SUPPLIES FOR STRAWBERRY SPRINKLE DONUT HEARTS

Here’s what we used to make these cute strawberry sprinkle donut hearts. By clicking one of these links, we get a small commission on anything you buy from Amazon, without it costing you any extra. Thanks for supporting our family business!

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DYE FREE STRAWBERRY SPRINKLES

One of the biggest ingredients I’ve had parents I’ve talked with express concern about is red food dye. Which is why I was super excited when I got to the bottom of my can of
Thrive Life freeze dried strawberries and saw a whole bunch of beautiful ruby red, strawberry flavored powder. It’s all natural because the only ingredient is strawberries, but it’s flavorful and beautiful, and perfect for baked goods.

It is important to note that so far, I have not gotten a bright red color in baked goods like you do with a food dye. It’s more of a subtle golden pink. But it could totally dye frosting or non baked items red if you used enough. My kids LOVE sprinkles, and they also LOVE eating freeze dried strawberries by the handful. So it’s no surprise that they were thrilled to smash up some strawberries to make their very own strawberry sprinkle donuts.

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Yield: 12 donuts

Baked Strawberry Sprinkle Donut Hearts

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Freeze dried strawberries are the secret to dye free strawberry sprinkles for these cute strabwerry sprinkle donut hearts. You can crush the strawberries by hand for the sprinkles, but I suggest using a food processor, or pounding them in a plastic bag to make the powder. Make sure to plan on double the cooking time if you are making the full recipe with only one heart shaped donut pan.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Donuts

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberry powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Toppings

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup crumbled freeze dried strawberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your donut pan with cooking oil.
2. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, strawberry powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In another large bowl (I use my stand mixer), mix together the sugar and egg. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract and buttermilk then mix well to thoroughly combine.
4. Gradually add the dry ingredients in the first bowl to the wet mixture, mixing just until combined.
5. Use a spoon to carefully fill prepared donut pan with the batter, filling each opening about two-thirds full. 
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes (donuts should spring back with touched lightly).
7. Cool completely on wire rack.
8. With a wire whisk, combine all incing ingredients (water, buttermilk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar) until smooth.
9. Dip the donut tops in the icing, letting excess fall back into the bowl then set on a wire rack over a surface that is easy to clean dripped icing from.
10. Sprinkle each donut with crumbled strawberries before the icing dries.