Donuts have to be in the top 10 when it comes to desserts. Doesn’t matter what the flavor is, they are always delicious.

Baked Cake Donuts

I’ve had a love/hate relationship when it comes to baking donuts. For the past two years, I’ve attempted to make sufganiyot, also known as fried jelly donuts, during Hanukkah. Let’s just say they never come out as planned. They never rise fully, always fry up weirdly, and are super dense. Because of this, I was super skeptical about making donuts. They’ve just never worked out for me.

Luckily, that is all about to change thanks to these baked cake donuts. I know, I know they aren’t technically the same as a fried donut so it doesn’t count. However, these cake donuts are just as good and pretty simple to make.

These baked cake donuts are the perfect base for a quick and simple donut. They are easy to put together and had in pretty much any mix-in for a great flavor combo. This time around I kept it simple with some sprinkle, but I can’t wait to try out more flavor combos in the future.

If sprinkles aren’t your thing or you just feel like mixing it up, pretty much anything topping would work. Chocolate chips, crumb toppings, or even some crushed cookies would go great.

Simple Glaze and Flavoring

The glaze for the donuts stays simple as well. It’s the classic powdered sugar and milk combo. You can make it as sweet as you like depending on how many layers of glaze you want to put on the donuts. You can also quickly get a chocolate glaze by melting a few tablespoons of chocolate into the mixture.

The glaze could also be adjusted depending on the donut flavor. Let’s say you made an orange donut with orange zest, definitely make the plain glaze and add a few tablespoons of orange zest into the glaze as well!

When the baked cake donuts came out of the oven, I knew I had a winner. These donuts looked like they were supposed to and not rock hard like they had in the past. I had definitely redeemed myself with those friend donuts.

Whatever combo you choose will be delicious with these donuts. Check out the recipe below and let me know what flavor you choose!

Baked Cake Donuts

Recipe by Margo GothelfCourse: All Recipes, Sweets, DessertCuisine: DessertDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Add in whatever flavors and mix-ins you would like to yield about 12 donuts, but eat them fast! They don’t stay fresh for more than a day!

Ingredients

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tea vanilla extract
1/3 cup sprinkles
Glaze
1/4 cup whole milk
2-3 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tbsp chocolate, melted (if making chocolate)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a donut pan and set it aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and granulated sugar. Mix until combined, then set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients. Whisk the milk, yogurt, and egg until they are combined. Next, add the melted butter and vanilla continuing to whisk until the items are fully combined. Whisk until smooth.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients using a spatula or wooden spoon. You don’t want to over mix the batter so it will be pretty thick. Once everything is combined, fold in the sprinkles.
Add the mixture into the prepared donut pan. Fill them about 3/4 of the way full. Don’t worry if it looks like there isn’t enough batter. The batter will fill out significantly in the oven. You can use a spoon to add the batter to the pan but it will be a little messy. It will be easier to transfer the batter to a Ziploc bag and pipe the batter into the pan.
Bake the donuts for about 8-10 minutes. The edges will be golden brown when they are done.
While the donuts are in the oven, make the glaze. In a medium-sized saucepan combine the milk, confectioners sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture has a smooth consistency. Keep the mixture on low heat. If adding chocolate to the glaze, divide glaze in half and stir in melted chocolate to the mixture.
When the donuts are cool, dunk the donuts into the warm glaze. Make sure the glaze is still warm or the glaze won’t stick as well. Transfer the glaze to a wire rack to cool. Make sure you put down a paper towel or sheet pan to catch the falling glaze. It will get a little messy.
Add additional sprinkles if desired and enjoy!
These donuts are best enjoyed fresh. They go stale pretty quickly and don’t seem to last beyond a day or so.