Baked Vanilla Donuts + 3 Yummy Toppings (Vanilla Glaze, Chocolate Glaze and Cinnamon-Sugar Topping)
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Whether you’re enjoying these baked vanilla donuts with breakfast and a hot cup of coffee or as an after-dinner sweet treat, you’re sure to appreciate the rich vanilla flavor and different toppings we’ve included. This recipe for baked donuts comes together in just half an hour and will leave you with a dozen warm donuts, ready to please a crowd.
While a baked donuts recipe might sound complex, this is the perfect recipe to recruit some helpers and get your kids into the kitchen. Your kids can help make the batter, or they can simply glaze and top their own donuts. When you take that first bite through the hard-set glaze into these buttery baked vanilla donuts, the extra work (and clean-up) of having the kids help with the baking will all be worth it — not to mention the memories made in the process.
5 ways kids can help make these baked vanilla donuts:
Selecting the glaze for their donuts
Stirring ingredients together
Using the piping bag or zip-top bag to put the batter into the donut pan (depending on their age)
Dunking donuts into the glaze. (It will be messy and not perfect, but they’ll have fun)
Adding toppings like sprinkles, chocolate chips, marshmallows, nuts, peppermints or cookie crumbles
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Baked Vanilla Donuts – 3 Ways (Vanilla Glaze, Chocolate Glaze and Cinnamon-Sugar Topping)
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Impresses: 12
Ingredients
For the donuts:
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
⅔ cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the vanilla glaze:
1½ cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the chocolate glaze:
1½ cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the cinnamon-sugar topping:
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
Method
For the donuts:
Heat oven to 350 F. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until the ingredients are just combined and no flour streaks remain. Avoid overmixing.
Using a pastry bag or zip-top bag with the corner cut off, pipe batter into the donut pan. (Alternatively, spoon batter into the donut pan.) Fill about ¾ full.
Bake donuts 8–10 minutes, until the tops are springy and soft. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
For the glazes or topping:
Vanilla: In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. The mixture should be thick but easily stirred. Add a splash of milk if too thick.
Chocolate: In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. The mixture should be thick but easily stirred. Add a splash of milk if too thick.
Cinnamon sugar: In a small bowl (but big enough to place a donut), melt butter. In another bowl, mix cinnamon, sugar and salt.
To assemble:
Baked vanilla donuts should be cooled before glazing. Prepare the cooling rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath the rack to catch excess glaze.
For the vanilla and chocolate glazes: Dunk the top of the donut into the glaze. Then, place donut on the cooling rack again to set. Once the first dunk of glaze is set, dunk the donut a second time in the glaze and place on the cooling rack to set completely. Repeat with all donuts.
For the cinnamon-sugar topping: Dip donut into melted butter and flip it all around to completely cover it. Then, dip the donut into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and roll around to cover the entire donut. Place on the cooling rack to set. Repeat with all donuts.