Make soft, fluffy cake donuts with this easy recipe. These tasty Baked Vanilla Donuts are topped with glaze and decorated with sprinkles.
This recipe makes a much healthier version of a popular treat. They may be baked instead of fried, but taste just as good.
Why This Recipe Works
- Using Vanilla Bean Paste gives a deep vanilla richness.
- Using melted butter instead of oil gives a much more flavorful result.
- Double Glazing gives an extra thick coating of glaze.
Baked Donuts Anyone Can Make
Baking donuts are really simple! There’s no fancy equipment needed! All you need is a bowl, wooden spoon, and a donut pan!
The hardest part of this recipe is melting the butter, but it’s well worth the extra effort because it adds a lot of flavors.
How To Make Baked Vanilla Donuts
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Then Make a well in the flour mixture
Pour the egg mixture into the well and stir until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the baking pans, filling each one a little more half full.
Bake 15 Minutes.
Before icing let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
To Make Glazed Donuts
- Dip the donuts, you glaze while they are still warm.
For the icing mix the sugar, butter, and vanilla together in a bowl and then add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached (I like mine fairly thick).
Dip the cooled donuts into the icing one at a time covering the top half of the donut.
Place back onto the cooling racks and dip again for a thicker icing look. Then top with sprinkles of your choice.
These Easy Baked Iced Vanilla Doughnuts are really amazing. They are soft, fluffy and it might be odd to say, but they are like real doughnuts.
I say that because quite often, homemade baked donuts are more like cakes with a hole in the middle, but that’s not the case here.
These donuts are just as good as the ones you get in a bakery, but without being fried so there is a lot less guilt.
For Perfect Baked Donuts
- Don’t overfill the pan. Do a test run with a single donut to make sure they don’t rise too much (making an uneven donut).
- Use a squeeze bottle to pour the batter this keeps things neat and more precise.
- Be sure to grease your pan. Most donut pans are nonstick, but that’s not always a guarantee.
- Don’t have a donut pan? If you’re in the US, you can get a like mine, you can get it here on Amazon. (#paidlink). I highly recommend the two-pack.
FAQs
Baked donuts store easily. To freeze baked donuts, once cooled place (without glaze) in a freezer bag, seal and freeze for up to three months.
To store these baked donuts, put them in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Did you make this?
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Let’s Make Baked Vanilla Donuts
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1¼ cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or good quality vanilla extract)
For the icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
- sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/175C degrees. Grease 2 doughnut pans well.
- Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
- Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Spoon the batter into the baking pans, filling each one about ½ full.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then tap the doughnuts out onto a sheet pan and transfer to a rack to completely cool.
- Place baking paper under wire racks to catch the excess icing.
For the icing:
- Prepare by mixing the sugar, butter and vanilla together in a bowl and then add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached (I like mine fairly thick).
- Dip the cooled doughnuts into the icing one at a time covering half the doughnuts then place on the cooling racks.
- Add the sprinkles before the icing sets.
- Leave on cooling rack to completely set the icing before serving.
Tips + Notes
- Don’t overfill the pan. Do a test run with a single donut to make sure they don’t rise too much (making an uneven donut).
- Use a squeeze bottle to pour the batter this keeps things neat and more precise.
- Be sure to grease your pan. Most donut pans are nonstick, but that’s not always a guarantee.
- Don’t have a donut pan? If you’d like one like mine, you can get it here on Amazon. (#paidlink). I highly recommend the two-pack.
Lisa Mallis says
Mine stuck to the pan, and I super greased in a non stick. 1 1/2 cups of sugar caused the batter to caramelize and stick terribly. The recipe most likely works with only 1 cup of sugar. Future warning so you don’t have a sticky mess to clean up like I did!
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi Lisa. I appreciate your feedback and the warning about the sugar amount. It’s important to share experiences like this to help others have a smoother baking process. If you found that the donuts stuck to the pan and the sugar caused them to caramelize and stick, reducing the sugar to 1 cup is a helpful suggestion for avoiding this issue. It’s possible that a lower sugar content might lead to a less sticky result. Thank you for sharing your experience and the tip to improve the recipe!
Diane B says
I’m on the hunt for a Duck Donut copycat-type recipe, but unfortunately this one isn’t it. It’s very flavorful, but the texture is a bit too rubbery for my taste.
Erren Hart says
Hi Diane, Thanks for the feedback! If the donuts came out rubbery, you may have overmixed them. That said, try my glazed donut recipe. I think it’s a lot closer to duck donuts. I can’t say it’s exactly because I only tried them once, but it’s close as far as I remember.
Susan says
Hi, these look amazing and will be making them tomorrow. I have a grandchild that has to have dairy/soy free food. Do you think almond milk would work? Also I can’t use butter but we use earth balance for her. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!!!
Erren Hart says
Hi Susan, soy milk will work just fine. I would just use oil in place of the butter as you’re just looking to add moisture. I hope she likes them!
Marie says
My son loves donuts and I am constantly trying to find a healthier version for us to bake at home, but the results have always been disappointing. These are by far the best I have ever tried, they look beautiful and the taste gets a big thumbs up from my son and friends! I halved the sugar and added strawberry jam (and red color) to the icing to add some variety. Will DEFINITELY be making this again!
Erren's Kitchen says
I love to hear this Marie, and the strawberry jam in the icing sounds amazing! 🙂
Miriam says
My kids really liked these donuts. I reduced the sugar to 1 cup and did not use the icing at all, and they were still slightly sweeter than I would prefer. If you want to add the icing or a glaze, I would recommend cutting the sugar down even further.
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you for the feedback Miriam, I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Lorraine says
Hi, did you add anymore flour when using only 1 cup of sugar?
Dianne says
I just made these this morning! They were amazing! I dare you to eat just one!
Erren Hart says
I’m delighted to hear you liked it so much! 🙂
Karina Barrett says
Lovely easy recipe came out perfect will defo follow this recipe
Erren's Kitchen says
Fantastic, thank you Karina 🙂
Kelly says
Can u freeze the donut batter??
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi Kelly, yes you can freeze the batter, I wouldn’t leave it in the freezer for more than three months, and I would let it defrost overnight in the fridge. I hope this helps 🙂
Annie says
Hi Erren, when I made the donuts I felt as though they didn’t rise very much and had a more whitish texture on the top than expected. I also noticed that there were some small air pockets in the donuts. Any idea on what I may have done wrong?
Erren Hart says
Hi Annie, Air pockets can happen if the baking powder isn’t mixed evenly throughout the batter which can also cause them to not rise properly. If you try making them again, try sifting the baking powder into the flor before starting. This helps to combine them better. Hope this helps!
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you Judy, I’m so pleased you like them
Mary Chalk says
These are delicious! But a little too sweet for me, was wondering if you could reduce the sugar? If so how much, and would I need to add some flour to replace…do not like artificial sweeteners!
Erren Hart says
I’ve never done it, but this is a great article on reducing sugar https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2017/04/26/reduce-sugar-in-cake Hope it helps!