Easy Baked Cinnamon-Sugar Donuts: Make Your Entire House Smell Like a Bakery
My sons adore these baked donuts with cinnamon and sugar. I love how easy they are, and how they make the whole house smell like a bakery. And don’t assume you can eat just ONE!
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Howdy! Chef Alli Here. Let’s Get You Cookin’…..Shall We??? 🙂
As I said, my sons adore these baked donuts. Just this morning when I made a batch of them to take new photos for this post, Scooby “followed his nose” to the kitchen and when he saw the donuts, he immediately said “Sweet!” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had some really good conversations with my sons over donuts and milk for breakfast. Food is such a great connector, eh?
Baked Donuts are the Best!
I’m super thankful I no longer have to get out the skillet and the oil to “fry” donuts for my family – so dang messy! Baked donuts are more “cakey” inside and they actually taste better once they are fully cooled, unlike fried donuts. They also keep a lot better, too. Baked donuts will hold for 1-2 days, while fried donuts are a “we better eat all of these right now” kind of thing…..I’m betting you know exactly what I mean.
Long story short: you’re going to love making these donuts!
Tips for Making The Best Baked Cinnamon-Sugar Donuts
- What tools do I need for making baked donuts? All you really need, aside from the usual mixing bowl and measuring cups, etc., is a donut pan. If you don’t have a donut pan, you’re not out of luck – just use a muffin pan….it actually works pretty great. (See my photo above to get a peek at the donut pans I use.)
- The recipe calls for buttermilk. I never have that on hand. Is there an easy substitute? So glad you asked! Yes, there is, and it’s EASY: Just add 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar to 1 1/2 cups milk and let it rest for 10 minutes. Now you have “buttermilk” for making these delicious baked donuts!
- How come my donuts don’t want to come out of the pan easily? It’s likely because you are trying to take them out too soon. After you remove them from the oven, let the donuts cool for at least 5-10 minutes before loosening them around the edges with a butter knife and lifting them out. If they crumble or stick to the pan as you are trying to lift them out, give them a few more minutes of cooling time.
- Making baked donuts seems time consuming when you can just buy them. I totally get that, truly. However, you can make these donuts, start to finish, in less than 30 minutes. And no store-bought donut can hold a candle to these little babies. But don’t take my word for it…..bake them and see for yourself.
Easy Baked Cinnamon-Sugar Donuts Recipe
Easy Baked Cinnamon-Sugar Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk, or sub sour milk made with 1 ½ cups milk and 1 Tbs. cider vinegar
- 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 6-8 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar combined with ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 doughnut pans well with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla. Now add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until combined.
- Spoon the prepared batter into the sprayed doughnut pans, filling each one a little more than three-quarters full.
- Bake the doughnuts, 12-15 minutes, or until they spring back when touched lightly with your finger. Allow the doughnuts to cool for at least 5-10 minutes before trying to remove the doughnuts from the pans. I loosen them a bit with a butter knife around the edges, then gently lift them out. (If the doughnuts don't seem to want to release themselves from the pan, or crumble as you try to loosen them, let them rest/cool a few minutes longer, then try again.)
- Dip the top of each doughnut into the melted butter, then dip each one into the cinnamon/sugar mixture. EAT. AT. ONCE.
Notes
Nutrition
More Breakfast Recipes You Will Enjoy:
- Cowboy Breakfast Bites
- Instant Pot Pop-and-Go Egg Bites
- Glazed Cranberry Crescents with Walnuts
- Pumpkin Spice Cake Donuts
- Oven-Baked Caramel Apple French Toast
- Instant Pot Cheesy Bacon Egg Bites
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Muffins
- Instant Pot Strawberry Jam
- Cinnamon Roll Waffles
- Easy Deep Dish Cheese and Broccoli Quiche
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Let’s Get You Cookin’,
Chef Alli
Recipe shared on Meal Plan Monday and Weekend Potluck.
These are amazing! I didn’t have a donut pan so used my muffin pan and they still turned out fantastic. I will be investing in a donut pan now because the entire family loved these! Thank you for an another delicious breakfast recipe.
Hi There – So good to hear from you!
I’m thrilled you liked the donuts and that you tried them in the muffin pan first. I did the exact same thing and then realized I’d be making those things ALOT! We are also in love with this breakfast recipe too:
https://chefalli.com/2014/02/14/cowboy-breakfast-bites/
Hope to see you soon!
Alli
I stopped using sugar because I have high blood sugar. I use Truvia instead. Do you know how much of that I would use instead of sugar?
Hi Kathy – I’m so sorry, I don’t! I have experimented with Truvia in any recipes yet. If you try it and are successful, please let me know for future reference!
Thank you, Chef Alli
Hi Kathy –
Gosh, I’m so sorry you had a bad experience with the jam. I know that when I use my 8 quart pot, I do have to make time adjustments but there’s absolutely no reason your 8 quart shouldn’t make that jam! If your pot was spewing, that means there’s sufficient moisture inside to create the steam to make the pressure. I will make a batch of this jam in my 8 quart to see how it goes for me and I’ll send you another reply. We will get this figured out for you, I promise. I was so excited at how good this jam is in my pot and I want you to be successful as well. Stay tuned!
Donuts are everything.
Agreed!!!!