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This baked donuts recipe is irresistibly delicious! Skip the bakery and make homemade vanilla or chocolate-glazed donuts.
There’s no need to run out to the bakery if you’ve got a donut craving. Try these baked donuts! They’re irresistibly tender and sweet, with a moist crumb. They are pure perfection topped with a rich chocolate glaze. Add a bit of confetti sprinkles, and what could be more fun?
All you need is a donut baking pan and a hankering for a project. I made these for my son’s birthday festivities one year, and they became a forever hit (because…donuts!).
5 Star Reader Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ These were fast and easy, which I appreciated for my first time making donuts. Very tasty too! Not sure if I underfilled them, but I got 24 donuts. Oh well, more for the grandkids! -Sandi G.
What You Need for This Baked Donuts Recipe
There’s one special piece of equipment you’ll need for this baked donut recipe…a donut pan! Baked donuts are made in a special pan, and the batter is more like cake or cupcake batter. Traditional yeasted donuts are made with a yeast dough, cut into circles, and then deep-fried, which is fun for another day.
Outside of the donut pan, the ingredients are simple ones you likely already have in the pantry and fridge. Here’s what you need:
- Donut baking pan: Here’s a link to the donut baking pans I used. You can also use a mini donut pan to make Mini Donuts.
- Pastry bag: A pastry bag is optional but helpful for piping the dough into the pans. It can become a sticky mess otherwise!
- Flour
- Granulated sugar
- Cinnamon
- Baking powder and salt
- Egg
- Butter
- Milk
- Vanilla
Tips for Filling the Donut Pan
The only tricky part of this recipe, other than finding a donut pan, is getting the batter into the baking pan. It might not sound hard, but the batter is sticky, and it’s easy to use too much! Here are a few pointers:
- Don’t overfill the pan! If you add too much batter, the donut hole in the center will be too small, and the shape won’t look right. It will seem like you’re not adding enough batter, but remember that it puffs up in the oven! Fill the holes about halfway full, dividing the dough evenly between 12 donuts.
- The dough is sticky, so a pastry bag can help. Using a pastry bag to pipe the batter into the pan helps it go in cleanly. But not everyone has one! A spoon works, but you may need to wipe off the center of the donut hole after adding the batter. (If you want to make Mini Donuts, a pastry bag is crucial.)
Once the batter is in the pan, baked donuts are a breeze! Let them bake, and they’ll puff up like a charm.
Topping Ideas
You can eat these baked donuts plain, and they’re incredibly tasty: sweet and cinnamon-scented! In fact, I prefer them without any toppings. But if you want to do it up extra like a real bakery-style donut, try these donuts with a quick glaze! It’s fast and easy to make the glaze, and it comes out rich and creamy. Here are a few options for baked donut toppings:
- Plain: They’re actually great with no topping at all!
- Cinnamon sugar: Top with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, or dip them in melted butter, then dip both sides into a plate of cinnamon sugar (for bakery-style).
- Powdered sugar: Place each cooled donut one at a time into a sealed bag of powdered sugar and gently shake until coated.
- Chocolate glaze: This Chocolate Glaze recipe is fast and easy; you don’t even need chocolate (just cocoa powder!)
- Vanilla glaze: This Vanilla Glaze is quick and tasty. Add food coloring for fun colors.
- Maple glaze: Try this tasty Maple Glaze if you’re a maple donut fan.
- Sprinkles: Sprinkles always add flair!
And that’s it! I made this recipe for my son’s donut-themed 5th birthday party, and suffice it to say, he’s pretty obsessed.
Storage Info
How long can you store homemade baked donuts? Here are a few tips on storage:
- Store fully cooled donuts at room temperature for up to 2 days in a sealed container. Keep the lid cracked to prevent them from getting soggy. If they start to dry out (or if they are unglazed), you can close the lid.
- Freeze un-glazed baked donuts in a sealed container for up to 2 months. Defrost and bring to room temperature before glazing.
Dietary Notes
Vegetarian.
Baked Donut Recipe
This baked donut recipe is irresistibly delicious! Skip the bakery and make homemade vanilla or chocolate glazed donuts.
- Prep Time: 18 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For topping: 1 recipe Chocolate Glaze, or cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
- Sprinkles, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Liberally grease two 6-hole donut baking pans, enough for 12 donuts. (You can also make 24 Mini Donuts with 2 mini donut pans.)
- In large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and kosher salt. In a medium bowl, whisk egg and then add the milk and vanilla extract, and finally the melted butter. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until just combined (resist the urge to overmix).
- Evenly divide the batter into the 12 donut holes so the holes are about half full: make sure not to overfill them! It’s easiest to use a pastry bag to fill the holes evenly (especially for mini donuts). You can also use a spoon to gently spoon in the batter, then smooth out the tops with a spoon or your finger.
- Bake 12 to 13 minutes until toothpick comes out clean, switching the top and bottom pans halfway through. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. Remove from the pan (using a knife to run around the edges as necessary). Transfer to a baking rack and allow to cool before glazing.
- If making glazed donuts, make the Chocolate Glaze in a medium bowl. Dip the donuts into the glaze, twisting each as you remove it to allow the excess glaze to drip back into the bowl. Top with sprinkles.
- Storage info: Store fully cooled donuts up to 2 days at room temperature in a sealed container with the lid cracked to prevent them from getting soggy. If they start to dry out (or if they are unglazed), you can close the lid. Freeze un-glazed baked donuts in a sealed container for up to 2 months; defrost and bring to room temperature before glazing.
Can you do it in another shape except a doughnut shape?
Yes, you could do bottom of a muffin tin.
Hello! I can’t wait to try this recipe out! But first I wanted to know if there’s any way to replace the butter? Or would it work if I don’t use butter at all? Please let me know!
Thank you so much!
Hi! You could replace with oil, but I wouldn’t omit.
This was the worst donut I’ve ever put in my mouth, it tastes like flattened cake, mediocre cake. Waste of time
These were fast and easy which I appreciated for my first time making donuts. Very tasty too! Not sure if I underfilled them but I got 24 donuts. Oh well, more for the grandkids!
The glaze to me was more of a soft frosting and did not set up. My children said it tasted like chocolate pudding, not like doughnut glaze. I used premium coca powder, so I believe it is simply the ingredients.
If you are looking for a more traditional baked doughnut flavor and not a cinnamon doughnut, swap the cinnamon for 1/2 tsp of nutmeg.
I love these doughnuts. Made them with unbleached flour, because that’s what we had here. Otherwise, right by the recipe, and I personally wouldn’t change a thing. My husband says there’s too much cinnamon, so I will decrease it some next time for him. Great with the vanilla glaze I’ve been making for decades to go on cinnamon rolls and pound cakes – just confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and a tad of milk. Maple glaze would be great, too (super easy to make with pancake syrup). Thanks for sharing this! It was my first try at baked doughnuts, and was a total success!
These donuts were really good. I did use cake flour instead of all purpose and they still came out great!
I made these baked doughnuts yesterday. I cut the sugar just a tad. I used 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup. This was the only change I made and it was still sweet. Unfortunately, they turned out very dense. I also topped them with chocolate glaze(the recipe listed on this site) and sprinkles. The chocolate glaze was too watery. So, I added another cup of powdered sugar and more chocolate. All in all, if I make these doughnuts again, I will add another egg so hopefully the doughnuts rise more. As well as, I will make regular chocolate icing, not this glaze. Thanks for the general recipe. It is easy and simple. The kids had a blast adding the topping and eating them =)
Can’t wait to see how they turn out
A bit too much cinnamon and definitely a heavier donut. Otherwise good taste!
These baked donuts look delicious! Can’t wait to try them 😍
Great recipe!
My wife asked for donut pans for Christmas and this has been our favorite.
Easy to make with the pastry bag. Nice cinnamon flavor.
We ate too many of them, but so perfect with our Saturday morning coffee.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed.
Loved this! I read all directions and nailed it on the first try! This worked perfectly! Fast and easy – Thank you!
Let us know if you have any questions!
In your baked donuts recipe it says to switch top and bottom pans halfway thru. What am I missing? They would be on one rack as they would fit.
We have 2 6-hole pans that we use.