These baked donuts are soft and fluffy cake donuts coated in chocolate frosting then topped with festive sprinkles. A fun and easy treat that’s perfect for any breakfast or brunch gathering!
Skip the trip to the donut shop and make these baked donuts at home instead! They’ve got all the same great flavors without the grease. When I want a grab and go breakfast I make cereal bars, baked oatmeal cups or these baked donuts!
My kids adore donuts, but I don’t buy them that often. It’s not always convenient to run out to the donut shop on a Sunday morning, and in my opinion, some donuts can be on the heavier side and weigh you down for the rest of the day. These baked donuts are the perfect solution – they’re light and fluffy, and can be whipped up at a moment’s notice with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry! Add colorful sprinkles to fit your occasion and you’ll have a treat that both kids and adults will enjoy.
These donuts are perfect for holiday mornings and big crowds. When you have a lot of people over for breakfast take a look at my festive cranberry muffins with orange glaze, tempting cinnamon roll french toast casserole and the heavenly donut bread pudding! Want more fabulous kid friendly recipes? Take a look at my collection of 30 Kids Breakfast Ideas!
Table of Contents
Baked Donuts Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need all purpose flour, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs, unsalted butter, vegetable oil, milk, vanilla extract, sprinkles, heavy cream, semisweet chocolate and white chocolate.
How Do You Make Baked Donuts?
Preheat the oven and coat a donut pan with cooking spray. Place the flour, two types of sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients of eggs, melted butter, oil, milk and vanilla to the bowl. Stir until a smooth batter forms. Place the batter mixture in a piping bag or freezer bag with the tip cut off. Pipe the batter into the donut pan. You will need to work in batches unless you have two donut pans. Bake the donuts, then cool them on a wire rack. To make the frosting, place hot cream into two bows. Add semisweet chocolate to one bowl, and white chocolate to the other. Cover the bowls and let them sit, then stir until the frosting is smooth. Dip the cooled donuts into the frostings, and top with sprinkles.
Tips For The Perfect Donuts
- Be careful not to overfill your donut pan, the indentations should be no more than 3/4 of the way full. If you add too much batter, the donuts will expand over the edges of the pan and lose their shape.
- You will need a non-stick donut pan for this recipe. Most major retailers carry donut pans and they typically come with 6 donut indentations to a pan.
- I use a piping bag or a freezer bag with the tip snipped off to pipe the donut batter into the pan. It’s the best way to keep the mess to a minimum and end up with perfectly shaped donuts.
- Let the donuts cool completely before you dip them in the frosting.
- I often make these donuts on Christmas morning which is why I’ve decorated them with holiday sprinkles, but you can also make these donuts for any other occasion with different sprinkles.
Quick Tip
The donut batter can be made the night before, and then stored covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
Recipe FAQs
You can store your baked donuts in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Just be sure the frosting has fully dried before you stack them so that they don’t stick together.
Baked and fried donuts can be very different in terms of texture. Fried donuts tend to have a crispy exterior, while baked donuts are soft. The frosting is similar for both versions. It really depends on the texture you’re looking for in terms of deciding which type of donut is better.
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Flavor Variations
I typically make vanilla donuts because I like for the frosting to add the majority of the flavor. That being said, there are many different ways to customize the flavor of your donuts.
- Funfetti: Add 1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles to the batter.
- Chocolate chip: Add 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips to the batter.
- Spice: Add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg to the batter.
- Glaze: Instead of chocolate frosting, make a glaze by combining 2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 5-6 tablespoons of milk.
- Cinnamon Sugar: Skip the frosting and roll the donuts in melted butter, then cover them in cinnamon sugar. You can make cinnamon sugar by adding 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to 1 cup of granulated sugar.
Once you taste these baked donuts, you’ll never want to go back to the deep fried variety. Try them this year on Christmas morning and watch the rave reviews come in!
More Great Breakfast Recipes
Chocolate Chip Muffins
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Breakfast Egg Muffins
20 mins
Easy Acai Bowl Recipe
15 mins
Hash Brown Egg Casserole
55 mins
Sticky Buns Recipe
3 hrs 30 mins
Baked Donuts Video
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Baked Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sprinkles
- cooking spray
For the frosting
- 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons heavy cream divided use
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chopped
- 1 cup white chocolate chopped
Instructions
For the donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a donut pan with cooking spray.
- Place the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine.
- Add the eggs, butter, oil, milk and vanilla extract to the bowl. Stir until smooth.
- Place the batter in a piping bag or freezer bag. Snip off the tip of the bag with scissors.
- Pipe the batter into the wells of the pan. Reserve the remaining batter for the second batch.
- Bake the donuts for 10 minutes. Let the donuts rest for 3 minutes, then remove them from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
- Wipe the pan with a paper towel and coat with cooking spray. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
- Let all of the donuts cool completely.
For the frosting
- Place 1/4 cup of cream in one bowl and 3 tablespoons of cream in a second bowl. Microwave the 1/4 cup of cream for 30 seconds and 3 tablespoons of cream for 20 seconds.
- Pour the semisweet chocolate into the bowl with 1/4 cup cream and white chocolate into the other bowl. Cover each bowl with plastic wrap.
- Let the bowls sit for 3 minutes, then uncover and stir until smooth. You may need to microwave the bowls for another 15-20 seconds if chocolate isn’t completely melted.
- Dip each donut into either the semisweet chocolate or white chocolate. Top with sprinkles.
- Let the donuts sit for about 15 minutes until the frosting has started to firm up, then serve.
Notes
- Be careful not to overfill your donut pan, the indentations should be no more than 3/4 of the way full. If you add too much batter, the donuts will expand over the edges of the pan and lose their shape.
- Let the donuts cool completely before you dip them in the frosting.
Those donuts look so good! I love how they are a little bit healthier than fried donuts.
I’ve never attempted to make donuts, sounds easy enough! My kids would be so happy if I started making them for a treat (me too)
I’ll have to save this recipe to use soon!
Douts are one of our favorite snacks and breakfasts when we are on the go! These look like they would be so very easy.
wow! sounds so easy! I didn’t know that making donuts could be so easy! Want to try it!
Those are seriously gorgeous looking donuts, and I can’t believe they’re baked! I need these in my life!
I’ve not made donuts like this before. They look pretty and I bet they’re delicious too!
These look absolutely amazing! I would have guessed they came from a bakery!
These donuts look so delicious! I’ve never made homemade donuts before, but this recipe sounds pretty easy. You can also control what you’re putting into your donuts, which is nice.
Great recipe! I really want to cook it myself! Donuts are perfect for Christmas!
These look amazing! I loved how its baked little less guilt free than frying!
that looks so pretty, delicious and festive! I am craving some donuts now! Love that you shared how to make them. I’ve never made donuts at home but thanks for the recipe
Oh my goodness these look absolutely amazing! My kids would have so much fun with these 🙂
I’ve never made donuts as I never liked to fry them, these baked ones look so much healthier. I would love to try these.
I never realised how easy donuts are to make……need one of those trays
I need to go buy a donut pan asap. I am so in love with donuts and these sound just amazing!! And easy – makes me wonder why I haven’t been making donuts all along LOL.
I’ve never been brave enough to make donuts, but I love that these can be baked! And you listed those helpful tips. I think we will definitely add this to our Christmas break activities list.
I need this in my life! I’ll now be looking for a donut tray like the one here, and trying this recipe over the Christmas period, thank you!
These look so good and I love that they are baked! I can’t wait to make them.
Mmm, I love donuts, and these look great. And they’re baked!? Brilliant! Can’t wait to try!
Woo hoo! I love donuts, and I just recently tried my hand at making baked ones. They turned out pretty well, so I can’t wait to try this recipe!