I have this theory that doughnuts are good for the soul. Krispy-Kreme was good, but I was always a Dunkin’ Donuts girl myself.
And every Tuesday morning in high school I treated myself to a soft glazed doughnut at our weekly worship meeting. Now looking back, I’m not sure if I was more there to worship or just eat doughnuts, but I’m sure Jesus understands those kinds of things. Eating doughnuts could, to some, be considered a spiritual experience in and of itself.
Especially when you are an underdeveloped fifteen year old girl wearing Gap Kids sweaters and think a date to Homecoming will solve all the world’s problems…but that’s another story.
Instead, let’s talk about these doughnuts! To start off, they’re baked, not fried, and are a dead ringer for those old school Sweet Sixteen powdered sugar doughnut holes.
Minus the powdered sugar, that is. The doughnut part tastes exactly the same! It’s almost ridiculous. If you have no idea what Sweet Sixteen doughnut holes are….go to 711. And get a slurpee while you’re at it.
I got the idea to make these yesterday while I was packing and came upon my old doughnut pan. It didn’t even take five minutes for me to stop what I was doing and start baking!
I based the recipe on my recipe for baked spice doughnuts, but honestly, I like these better! They totally beat my expectations and are a great healthy alternative to the real deal.
And the glaze! Oh, the glaze. It soaks into the doughnuts and forms a crackly sweet layer, just like the beloved Dunkin’ Doughnuts confections of my past.
Oh yeah, and they only took 30 minutes to make: start to finish. Beat that, Dunkin’!
Glazed Cake Doughnuts
makes 6 doughnuts
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T cold butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
glaze:
1 T milk
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like sand. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the buttermilk, vanilla and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pipe into a greased doughnut pan using a pastry bag or plastic bag and bake for 15 minutes.
Let cool and mix together glaze ingredients. Drizzle glaze over doughnuts and top with rainbow sprinkles.
Time:
25 minutes
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{ 94 comments… read them below or add one }
oh my word…no time to make doughnuts today but i’m going to be SURE to get those done this weekend! my husband will love me…and maybe get me another puppy…
Hmm I should have probably saved one for my boyfriend then because maybe after tasting them he would have gotten me a puppy, too. Sigh.
Ooohh I love that these are baked! I also love how rainbow sprinkles make EVERYTHING better.
OMG, what a lovely Thursday morning treat!
I love doughnuts – especially with sprinkles! Confession…last time I went to pick up doughnuts for my mom’s work, they were out of the sprinkle ones up front and instead of just picking out some different flavors, I asked them if they had any in the back. They did…and I left with my day a little happier
Thank you, thank you, thank you! These are so cute. I’m going to make them with all my leftover Valentine’s sprinkles. Those things just can’t go to waste.
Indeed!! Cute Valentine’s Day sprinkles should be acceptable all year round!
These totally remind me of being a kid! In Canada, our Dunkin Donuts equivalent is Tim Horton’s and I remember after my basketball games we’d go there and get Timbits (which are donut holes). God help anyone who got in between me and the coloured sprinkle ones!
I’m with you Angela- I loved Timbits! I love going to potlucks/parties because you just KNOW someone will forget to bake and bring a 20 pack haha
yum, I love donuts! And I’m not particular about which kind I eat
I take it you need a donut pan for this though? I could probably use a muffin pan or mini muffin pan and make little donut cakes I think 
Cake doughnuts are my favorite of all time!! I’m not a huge doughnut person, but put a fresh cake doughnut in front of me and I lose all feeling in my legs.
What I got out of this was was that I need to go out and buy a doughnut pan. That’s why you wrote this, right? Because I need a doughnut pan in my life? Thought so. Thanks
I just made baked pumpkin cinnamon spice donuts this morning. I’m going to try your recipe.
Hehe. I definitely just “wish-listed” a donut pan… I loved your whole 2nd paragraph : “Eating doughnuts could, to some, be considered a spiritual experience in and of itself.” …Amen, sister
I have such a weakness for doughnuts. Do you know how many calories they have in them?
I thought doughnuts were calorie-free???!
just kidding. I honestly have no idea though–I’m sorry!
I plugged it in and they are 232 with 5g fat per doughnut. Not bad!!
Wait wait wait… I need a special pan? Is there any way to avoid this and just cook them on a cookie sheet?
No…you need the pan. But the good news is that it’s only $8.99 at most cooking stores. You could also bake these as muffins (in lined tins–bake for 20 minutes or so).
I love this whole line of thought. In middle school and high school, my Sunday School class often walked to our amazing local bakery to have our lesson there. Our theory was that “God is with us everywhere,” so he would probably rather be with us as at the bakery than in the classroom, too.
Amen.
you’re killing me! now i have to have a doughnut. i always had a glazed doughnut every Sunday when i worked at my farm! i guess i should start making it a weekly thing again. looks delicious!
ooh, I love me some Dunkin Donuts! And 30 minutes? Oh this recipe will definitely be evernoted!
Oh yes. Yes yes. We would certainly like some of those please.
These are gorgeous! Love that they’re baked.
I was always a Dunkin Donuts girl, myself. And we often had Sweet Sixteen powdered sugar donuts in our house on the weekends. Good times.
Sold! I’ve been wanting to try jam doughnuts forever since that’s what we used to get with my mum every so often on a saturday morning when she’d take us to the library to get a new book….ahhh those were the days! These look splendid though and at 30 minutes a try…can’t beat it!
jam doughnuts! So interesting. That sounds lovely.
Gorgeous photography!!!
Mmmm, all I need is a doughnut pan!
I love how you show us all these things that look hard as being actually fairly easy to make: like gnocchi, those truffles, this, etc. That’s one thing I love about your blog! These look so good…if only I had a donut pan.
I must say, I think both Krispy Kreme and Dunkin Donuts are the most overrated places EVER!
FUN! I just need to get a donut pan now : )
Yum! I love cake donuts much better than the yeast ones. I need a donut pan!
Oh yum. And you even added sprinkles. Everyone knows Dunkin’ Donuts with sprinkles are the best.
looks like there’s a general consensus that doughnut pans need to be bought
Doughnut pans are less than $10 and can be bought at any cooking store!! Mine was $8.99
Dunkin Donuts is sooooo much better than Krispy Kreme. But these look better than both!
plus, Dunkin’ has “dunkaccinos” those sickingly sweet cappuccino-like drink. They were amazing when I was 17.
These are just adorbs! Ew, I hate that word and can’t believe I typed it out.
Totally agree–how could something so delicious not be good for the soul??
this is awesome. the other donuts i was making were fried and so time consuming. this will definitely be my next baking adventure!
We were out of food last night (headed to TJs this afternoon) except for a can of clams and a bag of pasta. You know what I made and it was delicious!
I added spinach to get some greens in.. ..YUM. I am aware this post has nothing to do with clams but I had to share.
I’m a dunkin girl myself. krispy kreme was a weird phase and we never even got them on them in new England.
Thanks, Jenna. I bought a donut pan and made your baked spiced doughnuts. Delicious. I was hoping for some more doughnut recipes. I will definitely try this one.
Where I’m from, the maple water is starting to run and that means the start of MAPLE SYRUP! There’s this little place in Virginia that makes the most fabulous maple donuts. You can get cake or yeast donuts (I like the cake!) and they are smothered in this gooey maple-ly glaze. Can’t wait til I get my hands on some fresh syrup AND a donut pan!!
that sounds amazing!! If you have a recipe, send it my way—I’d love to make some!
Actually, I’m working on creating my own. I’m going to use your cake donut recipe and a maple glaze that I’ve been “tweaking” for about three years now. I’ll send it your way when I’ve got it perfected.
Another fun and lovely creation Jenna!
I’m not even a huge doughnut fan and these look awesome!
When I was a kid, every week at the grocery store I was allowed to pick “one thing” and I always, always picked a bag of Sweet Sixteen doughnut holes.
I’d completely forgotten about them until now(!)… how could I do that?! They we’re amazing! I’m using my lunch break to grocery shop and making these tonight!
Thanks, Jenna!
I don’t even like donuts, but those are too stinkin’ adorable. I’ll take twenty.
Krispy Kreme has nothing on Dunkin’…seriously, why aren’t there any out here?! Those rainbow sprinkles alone in your photo drew me in. YUM. Must go buy a doughnut pan asap!
Oh – my – gosh. These look incredible…and the fact that their baked….I mean that means they’re good for me, right??? Right. haha I used to love DD’s chocolate frosted glazed donut – melt in your mouth fried goodness. I’ll admit….I indulge with one every once in a while.
Our church always did “coffee, donuts and fellowship” after mass on Sundays…needless to say, I think the donuts had something to do with me actually making it to church.
Dunkin Donuts all the way! I’m pretty sure I keep the one down the street in business
These looks awesome! Especially before lunchtime…seems like a naughty, naughty treat..muhahahahahahaha
I have always been a Dunkin girl myself too! Growing up Strawberry Frosted and what they used to call their Chocolate Honey Glazed, now their Chocolate Glazed Cake Donut, were my fav. I still pop in every now and then for the chocolate one!
i need a donut pan just to make these!
They’re so pretty and fluffy! I’ve always wanted to try my hand at doughnuts, but they seemed daunting. Not so?
these look awesome! I never thought of baking doughnuts, I love this recipe. There is always wiggle room for one.
Church groups and Sundays were made for doughnuts. Jesus totally understands this. In fact, I truly believe he’s an avid supporter, especially when it comes to glaze and sprinkles!
Oh no you didn’t !? You are a genius
uhhhh-mazing.
I was always a Dunkin Donuts kind of girl too – the cake donuts are where it’s at!!
There are nooo Dunkin’ Donuts in So Cal…at least that I know of. How unfortunate. I guess I will have to make these tasty morsels to make up for it! Thanks Jenna
Why were you packing?? are you moving??
Yum! I haven’t made doughnuts in such a long time..but they sure are delicious! I’ll have to give these a try.
Krispy Kreme’s all the way! Dunkin is sacrilegious!
OK, wow. Amazing.
Jenna they look awesome!
Anything with sprinkles always does
And I love how the sprinkles sort of match the flecks in the plate. I am noticing these little details more and more since I actually pay attention to food photography (after 2 years of my own blog!) like never before.
Better late than never
It sounds like a sugar coma and I like where you’re going with it! I’ve never made donuts but I just might have to try them, especially if they are baked.
My daughter LOVES donuts but I won’t let her have them often because they are sooo bad! I would love to be able to make her some healthy one’s
and she would be so thrilled!!!!
Hello, poor college student here again salivating over your donuts! I’d lovee a donut pan! I’ve recently given up dunkin donuts after a visit to colorado and I learned that the east coast is known for fattening, grose Dunkin. I’m not happy about that and I’m hoping this donut pan will propel my success into the next great homemade donut maker. BTW you will be very proud of me, I planned my very own dinner party! My parents are recently divorced and my mom really missed my aunts from that side of the family so I planned a girls dinner party! i made pear salad with your cheesey zuccini pizza (HUGE SUCCESS) with lemon brown sugar chicken and spinach with cannelini bean side (another HUGE success)! with apple pies for one for dessert! do you know how happy my mom was???! she acted like I was a world reknown chef, but don’t worry I gave you all the cred! they all admired your blog while listening to DMB too. it was lovely. thanks jenna!
I have the same doughnut pan as you (got it for Christmas!) and I’ve made the recipe that came with it twice and they turned out pretty bad- really hard and not sweet. I’m going to try your recipe and hope I have better luck. These look delicious!
I love Dunkin Donuts, too! I grew up in CT and always had DD. My faves were the vanilla creme filled and the ones with coconut. My fave now is the cakey crumb donut from Crystal’s.
packing?? are you moving?
Jenna- I have always steered clear of the doughnut pan because I was convinced that they wouldn’t taste as good. Hearing you say otherwise makes me SO excited!!
I am a total doughnut addict. They could be my dessert, oh, I mean desert, island food.
thanks for sharing- now I will go out immediately and buy a doughnut pan.
I had no idea making donuts, especially semi-healthy ones could be so easy! These looks beautiful, and I love the plate!
is there anything better than a doughnut hot out of the oven? it is transcendant.
Dad used to bribe us to behave in church with a visit to the bakery afterwards where we could each choose a donut. Got my donut fix in early, so when Crispy Cremes came to Molly Stone Market….I was on to Canneles de Bordeaux around the corner at Le Patissier. Food Network has a recipe…but no way am I brave enough to tackle that.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-dreams/canneles-from-bordeaux-canneles-de-bordeaux-recipe/index.html
One of my student’s parents owns a bunch of Dunkin Doughnuts around where I live/teach.
I don’t think Dunkin’ has anything on these homemade doughnuts!
Those are the most adorable and scrumptous looking donuts EVER!! I’ve never had homemade donuts, but would LOVE to try them!
my boys would love these!!!!
Hello! Donuts and I are BFFs. I am making these for sure!
Sounds delicious!
I was just looking at donut pans last weekend but bought a new muffin trays instead. Now I HAVE to go back and buy a donut pan
DONUTS!!!! My 4-year old daughter and my husband have a weekend tradition of making something yummy for breakfast…crepes with nutella and fruit, waffles with fruit and whipped cream, chocolate chip-banana pancakes…yum! Maybe we need to add donuts into the mix. LOVE
Thank you for what you do and how you have positively impacted my life and recipe book! YOU ARE AMAZING!
I just adore how these donuts are baked!! Love the concept, love donuts! Thanks for the tip!!
My kids would love this. Plus the possibilities are endless…..
I would eat these if you mailed them to me.
I just made these for breakfast with one slight alteration. I always loved DD’s blueberry cake donuts so I added lots of blueberries to this recipe. Worked like a charm and made them a bit more healthier!
I LOVE these!!! Your recipe inspired me to make some gluten-free donuts! http://gabbysgfree.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/crave-gluten-free-donuts/?ref=nf
I made baked homemade donuts for the first time last night. I love them!! http://countingmycupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/08/donuts-make-me-happy.html
I can’t wait to make them again. They were so easy and delish!
These were so yummy! Such high quality. I cooked these in my donut maker and these were super fluffy and perfect. Will make again for the holidays and try different decorations. Thanks for sharing!
Unfortunately these didn’t work out for me. I used a mini-donut pan and only had enough batter to fill about 16 of the 24 rounds. Then they puffed up so much that they looked more like muffin tops. The finished product made a very soft cake and most of them ripped apart when I was trying to get them out of the pan. I guess I should have filled them less full. Simple recipe, but I’m not sure I’ll try again.
Also, how do you suggest storing these? I saved the cake pieces to munch on and within hours they’ve gotten pretty soft and soggy sitting in an airtight container on my counter. Maybe it’s our 80 degree, 50% humidity weather. Ho hum. Guess I’ll stick to store bought for now.
Jenna, these are absolutely fabulous! I just made a batch as mini cupcakes for a test run, and I am in love with them. I will definitely be picking up a donut pan the next time I go to Target!
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