Preheat the oven to gas 5 / 190C/ 375°F
Grease an 8"or 9" round tin with spray oil
Mix the flour, starch, salt, sugar and xanthan gum in a bowl
Add the applesauce and coconut oil, warmed milk and yeast. Mix together to form a soft dough
It should be more batter-like, a very soft dough, not sticky but not dense at all. If you made a ball of it and dropped it on counter top it would flatten a little. Don't be tempted to add more flour thinking that the dough is too soft
Mix the sugar and cinnamon from the topping ingredients together and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of it into the greased tin
Make balls out of the dough about 2 inches in diameter or enough dough to fit in the palm of your hand
Spray the donuts with the oil and sprinkle liberally with the cinnamon sugar
Place them in a single layer in the tin
At this point you can bake as they are for 18 - 20 minutes then let cool for in the tin for 5 minutes. Lovely donuts!
Invert onto a serving plate and enjoy. Any leftovers can be frozen for up to 3 months. Just defrost then warm through in the oven at the same temp for 4 minutes to refresh them
If you want the caramel sauce topping to make the doughnuts into monkey bread, melt the leftover cinnamon sugar with just over 3/4 it's weight of butter in a pan until the sugar has dissolved
Pour over the coated donuts and bake for 25 - 30 minutes
Let cool in the tin for 10 minutes to let the caramel sauce thicken then invert onto a serving plate
It's probably better to make the balls half the size if doing this, around an inch wide, just because of the sweetness
