Baked Cinnamon Donuts
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These baked cinnamon donuts with vanilla glaze are golden, fluffy and tender. Filled with fall flavor, these yummy pastries are deeply satisfying. Enjoy the pleasure of bakery-fresh donuts that are baked not fried!
With this easy recipe there’s no rolling or cutting out dough. No messy deep frying with oil splattering all over the stove. Just combine wet and dry ingredients. Pour into wells of a donut pan and bake. Smells so good!
Baked cinnamon donuts remind me of buttery cinnamon toast my mother would make. It was for special occasions, like the first day of school. Such warm aromatic goodness. It brought feelings of comfort and happiness.
Once the pastries have cooled, drizzle with vanilla glaze as it drips from a spoon. No pastry bag needed. If desired, you can also use a more traditional cinnamon sugar topping, or a bakery-style apple cider glaze.
FOR APPLE CIDER GLAZE: Stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons bottled apple cider, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream. This yields 1/2 cup of icing. For a thicker glaze, add more powdered sugar.
FOR CINNAMON SUGAR TOPPING: Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a small skillet. Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Dip donuts in warm melted butter, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Baked cinnamon donuts taste best when enjoyed fresh from the oven, or within the first 12 hours. They’re ideal for breakfast, brunch, snack time and dessert. Make a double batch and freeze half for later.
Serve freshly-baked donuts with maple whipped coffee or a warm delicious mug of pumpkin spice hot chocolate.
🛒 Ingredients
Donut Batter
- All-purpose flour
- Light brown sugar
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Sea salt
- Large egg
- Whole milk
- Vegetable oil
- Maple syrup
- Pure vanilla extract
Vanilla Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
👩🏻🍳 Easy Ingredient Substitutions
Missing an ingredient for these cinnamon donuts? Don’t put on your shoes and head to the market. Instead, head to your fridge and pantry. Check for these easy ingredient swaps.
It’s convenient and money-saving to use ingredients you already have on hand!
- All-Purpose Flour: This ingredient gives baked donuts structure. Pastry flour or cake flour can be used as a 1:1 substitute for these baked cake donuts.
- Light Brown Sugar: Use dark brown sugar or granulated sugar.
- Ground Cinnamon: Use chai spice, ground nutmeg, or ground mace.
- Whole Milk: This is the main wet ingredient, so it’s very important. Substitute with the type of milk you have on hand, including non-dairy.
- Vegetable Oil: This ingredient keeps the donuts moist. Use melted butter as a 1:1 substitute for oil. After melting the butter, let it cool a bit before using it in this recipe.
- Maple Syrup: This ingredient adds a beautiful richness to the baked cinnamon donuts. Substitute with honey or agave syrup.
- Vanilla Extract: This ingredient enhances the cinnamon spice and nutmeg. Sub with maple syrup, bourbon, amber rum, or brandy.
- Powdered Sugar: Make your own powdered sugar from granulated sugar. Process sugar in a blender or food processor until fine and fluffy. One cup granulated sugar yields about 2 cups powdered sugar.
🍩 Best Pan for Baked Donuts
For tender, perfectly-baked cinnamon donuts, use high-quality bakeware. For this recipe I use 2 non-stick donut pans by the brand USA Pan.
Add 2 donut pans to your collection
Buy Now → 📖 Recipe Steps
RECIPE PREP: Preheat oven to 350°F. Over the sink, spray 2 donut pans with cooking spray.
- STEP 1: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- STEP 2: In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: egg, milk, vegetable oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix briefly until no large lumps remain. But don’t over-mix or the pastries will be dense.
- STEP 3: Divide batter between the 12 wells of 2 donut pans. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until they spring back when you touch them. Insert a cake tester into the center of a donut. It should come out clean.
- STEP 4: Gently tap donut pan on a work surface to loosen the pastries. Flip over pan on a clean surface. Transfer to a wire rack for cooling.
Vanilla Glaze for Donuts
In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. For thicker icing, add more sugar. For thinner icing add more milk.
Drizzle icing over donuts with the back of a spoon. Or spread the glaze over the surface of the pastry. Let icing set before stacking or serving.
🤔 Recipe FAQ
These are the most commonly-asked questions for baked cinnamon donuts, and the most helpful answers for recipe success.
Use a 6-well cupcake pan instead. Grease the pan well with cooking spray. Divide the donut batter between the wells. Adjust cooking time as needed.
Yes, you can! A seasonal favorite is diced apples. But you can try blueberries or chopped strawberries too. If desired, add a light sprinkling of lemon zest or lime zest to the batter.
The easiest way to remove donuts from a nonstick pan is to tap the pan 3 times on a work surface (countertop or wooden board). This loosens things up. Flip the pan over and the donuts should slide right out.
Add chopped walnuts or pecans on top of the glaze. Try drizzling the donuts with chocolate icing. Top with orange, white and green candy sprinkles. For a tropical flare, try shredded sweetened coconut.
Substitute almond milk for whole milk in both the batter and glaze. Another option is rice milk.
Replace the egg in the batter with applesauce.
When stored in an airtight container, leftover donuts will stay fresh for 1 day on the countertop in room temperature when not in direct sunlight. In the fridge they can last 3 to 4 days, and 1 month when frozen.
🍁 More Fall Desserts
If you love baked cinnamon donuts, you’ll also enjoy these seasonal favorites. Each fall dessert is a time-tested recipe. Keep them handy. Add them to your recipe arsenal. Pin them to Pinterest or print them out.
- Cinnamon Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
- Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Apple Pop Tarts
- Maple Donuts
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread
- Sweet Potato Fluff
- Apple Galette
Rate This Recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Friends and family who’ve enjoyed these baked cinnamon donuts say the taste and texture rivals the best glazed cake donuts from a bakery.
If you agree these are the best oven-baked donuts, give this recipe a 5-star rating in the comments. Then be a recipe hero! Share it with a friend.
BAKED CINNAMON DONUTS
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 12 Servings 1x
Description
These baked cinnamon donuts are golden, fluffy and delicious. Drizzled with luscious vanilla glaze, they’re irresistible! Make this easy recipe in 30 minutes. Enjoy for breakfast, snacks or dessert.
Ingredients
DONUT BATTER
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
VANILLA GLAZE
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
BAKED DONUTS
RECIPE PREP: Preheat oven to 350°F. Over the sink, spray 2 donut pans with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: egg, milk, vegetable oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix briefly until no large lumps remain. But don’t over-mix or the pastries will be dense.
- Divide batter between the 12 wells of 2 donut pans. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until they spring back when you touch them. Insert a cake tester into the center of a donut. It should come out clean.
- Gently tap donut pan on a work surface to loosen the pastries. Flip over pan on a clean surface. Transfer to a wire rack for cooling.
VANILLA GLAZE
- In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. For thicker icing, add more sugar. For thinner icing add more milk.
- Drizzle icing over donuts with the back of a spoon. Or spread the glaze so it covers the entire surface on the top half of the pastry.
Notes
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE WITHOUT A DONUT PAN: Use a 6-well cupcake pan instead. Grease the pan well with cooking spray. Divide the donut batter between the wells. Adjust cooking time as needed.
HOW TO REMOVE PASTRIES FROM DONUT PAN: The easiest way to remove donuts from a nonstick pan is to tap the pan 3 times on a work surface (countertop or wooden board). This will loosen things up. Flip the pan over and the donuts should slide right out.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 20 Minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Baked Cinnamon Donuts 👉🏻 Join the Convo
When was the last time you enjoyed warm, baked cinnamon donuts? Was it at your favorite bakery or coffee house? What do you think of this easy baked donuts recipe? Share your thoughts below!
These are so delicious. Just looking at them made my mouth water. I ran to the kitchen to make a batch. 30 mins later and they’re done. Yummy!
simple to follow, easy to eat and seriously pleasing on the eye too – everything about this recipe just works!
Yum these sound perfect for this weekends breakfast when my sister and niece will be here. Adding to the must make list. They’re going to love these!
This is my new favorite donut recipe! So yummy and easy to make! I’m planning on making a second batch this weekend.
these were delicious – its a taste of fall – so good