This baked donut recipe is a simple way to enjoy soft, homemade donuts without the need for frying. Made with basic pantry ingredients and baked until light and fluffy, this easy baked donut recipe is perfect for breakfast, brunch or an afternoon treat.
Best of all baking makes them a healthy doughnut alternative to fried donuts and as a bonus they're a crowd pleaser.
Try these Double Chocolate Donuts, the perfect baked cake donut or my classic Pistachio Pudding Bundt Cake. And if you are into apples try my Homemade Apple Fritters with Icing because if my dad likes them, you'll like them too!
Visit my recipe box for some more great recipe ideas inspired by Italian tradition!
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Why You'll Love these Healthy Doughnuts
You'll love these donuts not only because they are healthy, but because they're:
- easy to make
- versatile that you can place any topping on them
- kid friendly
- soft doughy texture version of the original fried counterpart without vegetable oil for frying
- these aren't cake donuts but rather a healthy version of yeast doughnuts that are baked without a donut pan
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Ingredients
To make baked donuts, you'll need: dry yeast, sugar, whole milk, butter, large eggs, all purpose flour, salt, cooking spray, and confectioners' sugar.
You'll also need various ingredients for the tops of the donuts like a glaze made of cocoa powder, vanilla extract, sprinkles and/or milk.
For exact measurement details and directions see recipe card...
How to Make Homemade Donuts
In a small bowl, add warm milk, yeast and 1 tbsp sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the yeast starts to get frothy.
In a medium bowl or mixing bowl of a stand mixer using a dough hook, mix large egg, melted butter, and remaining sugar, salt. Add in yeast mixture and using a measuring cup add flour a little at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and kneed until it comes together, but do not add too much flour. Place the dough into large bowl that has been lightly greased and let proof in a warm place until it has doubled in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a surface and roll out to ½ inch thick. Using the rim of a large glass and a narrow glass (or doughnut cutter), cut out the large doughnut shape and then the doughnut hole. Place on the baking sheet. Cut out remaining doughnuts and place on baking sheet. Spray top of doughnuts with cooking spray or brush lightly with cooking spray.
You can also place the donut holes on the baking sheet to make cinnamon sugar donuts.
Cover the doughnuts with saran wrap and let proof in a warm place. Once doubled in size bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. (not more or they will be as hard as a rock) Remove from oven and let cool down. Once completely cool transfer to a wire rack so you can decorate the tops of the donuts by using a spoon to pour the glaze over the tops of the donuts or by dipping the donuts into the glazes.
Once doubled in size bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. (not more or they will be as hard as a rock) Remove from oven and let cool down. Once completely cool transfer to a wire rack so you can decorate the tops of the donuts by using a spoon to pour the glaze over the tops of the donuts or by dipping the donuts into the glazes.
The fun part about making these donuts is decorating them with the various toppings.
See recipe card for topping options.
Storage
Obviously, leftover donuts do not store well and they will get stale very quickly. However, if you made too much and you wanted to store them, the time to store them would be before your frost or fill them. Store extra "naked" baked doughnuts in an air tight container in the freezer for not more than one month. You can then thaw them out in the fridge overnight and prepare to decorate them.
Actually, by using previously frozen doughnuts, you skip the step of having to wait for them to cool down. I think that's awesome.
Top Tips
If you don't have a donut cutter, use the rim of a large glass and smaller glass to make the donut shape.
This recipe for baked doughnuts calls for 3 cups of flour. Because these doughnuts are baked, adding more than 3 cups of flour will make your doughnuts bake denser, chewier and tougher. Hold back from using more than 3 cups of flour.
Shaping your doughnuts for the first time, may take you the longest as you decide, what shapes you want to create. For example, you might just want to create regular doughnuts with a hole in the middle. The hole will also become a "doughnut hole" doughnut. You can make twists. You can make filled doughnuts with either jelly or cream.
If you decide to fill your doughnuts, you will need some kind of a filling tool, like a piping bag and tip. Or you can make your own, get creative! It doesn't matter if they look messy, so long as they taste good!
Make a batch of these healthy doughnuts and freeze them. Thaw out to glaze and decorate the tops for special occasions.
Variations
I've made these doughnuts a number of times. Here are the different flavors I've made so far:
- Glaze - dip your donuts in chocolate, white chocolate or vanilla glaze and then top with shredded coconut or chopped nuts
- Donut Holes - make donut holes with the donut middle and after baked toss them in a cinnamon sugar mixture
- Fruit - add fruit like apples to make apple fritters or strawberries
- Cream Filled Donuts - instead of carving out the hole in the middle of the donut leave it so that you can fill the donut by piping pastry cream, fruit filling or chocolate ganache in the donut cavities
All of these combinations where dearly loved by my family and parents too! Let your inner foodie go wild here.
I'd love to know what topping you created for your donuts. Leave me a comment and let me know.
Main Dishes You'll Like
Recipe Details
Healthy Homemade Doughnuts
https://easyhomemaderecipes.caAffiliate Disclosure
This page contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting the work I put into this site! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ¾ cups whole milk warm
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cups sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cooking spray
Vanilla Glaze
- 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
- 2-3 tbsp whole milk
- sprinkles
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 1½ cups confectioners sugar
- 3-4 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2-4 tbsp whole milk or water
- ¼ cups coconut flakes (optional topping)
Maple Glaze
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
Dough
- In a mixing bowl, add warm milk, yeast and 1 tbsp sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes or until the yeast starts to get frothy.1 tbsp dry yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, ¾ cups whole milk, ½ tsp salt, 3 cups all purpose flour
- In a medium bowl or mixing bowl of a stand mixer using a dough hook, mix large egg, melted butter, and remaining sugar, salt. Add in yeast mixture and using a measuring cup add flour a little at a time until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and kneed until it comes together but do not add too much flour. Place the dough into large bowl that has been lightly greased and let proof in a warm place until it has doubled in size.2 tbsp melted butter, 1 large egg, ⅓ cups sugar
- Once the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a surface and roll out to ½ inch thick. Using a the rim of a large glass and a narrow glass (or doughnut cutter), cut out the large doughnut shape and then the doughnut hole. Place on the baking sheet. Cut out remaining doughnuts and place on baking sheet. Spray top of doughnuts with cooking spray or brush lightly with cooking spray.1 cooking spray
- You can also place the donut holes on the baking sheet and toss them in a cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Cover the doughnuts with saran wrap and let proof in a warm place. Once double in size bake at 375 degrees for 7 minutes. (not more or they will be as hard as a rock) Remove from oven and let cool down. Once completely cool transfer to a wire rack so you can decorate the tops of the donuts by using a spoon to pour the glaze over the tops of the donuts or by dipping the donuts into the glazes.
Vanilla Glaze
- For the vanilla glaze, I suggest that you place icing sugar in a flat bowl and add vanilla, then add one tablespoon of milk at a time until you get a thick pasty icing. It shouldn't be so runny that you are able to pour it, otherwise it will pour down the sides of your doughnuts and none will remain on them. Dip the doughnut in the mixture, twist and pull out of mixture, set aside on baking sheet to set. You can add coconut flakes or sprinkles on top. If the icing is too runny, add more icing sugar.1 ½ cups confectioners sugar, 2-3 tbsp whole milk, sprinkles, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- For chocolate glaze repeat the steps to make the vanilla glaze and add cocoa instead of the vanilla extract.1½ cups confectioners sugar, 3-4 tbsp cocoa powder, 2-4 tbsp whole milk or water, ¼ cups coconut flakes
Maple Glaze
- For the maple glaze, melt butter in a pan add maple syrup, vanilla and icing sugar. Stir with a whisk, once it is the consistency that you need dip the doughnut in the pan and let set on a paper towel or on baking tray. If the glaze stands for too long and get's thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time to make it more spreadable.2 tbsp butter, 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar, 2 tbsp maple syrup
Notes
This recipe for Baked doughnuts calls for 3 cups of flour. Because these doughnuts are baked, adding more than 3 cups of flour will make your doughnuts bake denser, chewier and tougher. Hold back from using more than 3 cups of flour.
Shaping your doughnuts for the first time, may take you the longest as you decide, what shapes you want to create. For example, you might just want to create regular doughnuts with a hole in the middle. The hole will also become a "doughnut hole" doughnut. You can make twists. You can make filled doughnuts with either jelly or cream.
If you decide to fill your doughnuts, you will need some kind of a filling tool, like a piping bag and tip. Or you can make your own, get creative! It doesn't matter if they look messy, so long as they taste good!
Make a batch of these healthy doughnuts and freeze them. Thaw out to glaze and decorate the tops for special occasions.
Nutrition
Make these now or PIN it for later.
Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check the Government of Canada Food Safety Guidelines or see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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