Baked Chocolate Donut Recipe (2024)

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Baked Chocolate Donut Recipe makes soft baked, not fried, chocolate cake donuts. They’re topped with rich homemade chocolate frosting.

Today we’re talking about one of my favorite things – donuts!

Store bought doughnuts can be very good, but it’s also nice to be able to make your own when the craving strikes.

This easy chocolate donut recipe lets you make chocolate cake donuts at home whenever get you the craving.

Are cake donuts baked or deep fried?

Traditionally, cake donuts are deep fried. However, you absolutely can bake cake donuts.

How do you bake doughnuts?

Donut pans are the easiest way to bake donuts. They’re available everywhere from Amazon to Target and Walmart.

I’ve even seen them at my local grocery store. Though most donut pans are nonstick, I like to use a baking spray with flour when I bake with them.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Tools used to make this Baked Chocolate Donut Recipe:

Donut pans: These are the donut pans that I have. I’ve had them for several years, and they’ve gotten a lot of use during that time. They’re still in great shape, and they’re a must-have to make baked donuts.

Baking spray with flour: I use baking spray with flour most of the time when I’m baking. I like that it greases and flours all in one spray, and I’ve never had trouble with anything sticking when I use it.

More baked donut recipes!

Baked Churro Donuts
Baked Funfetti Donuts

If you’ve tried this baked chocolate donut recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes! You can SUBSCRIBE to receive my latest recipe newsletters or FOLLOW MEonFACEBOOK,INSTAGRAMandPINTERESTfor even more delicious food.

5 from 8 votes

Baked Chocolate Donut Recipe

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Soft baked chocolate donuts topped with rich chocolate frosting

Ingredients

Baked Chocolate Donuts

▢ 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour 180 g
▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar 99 g
▢ 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 21 g
▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
▢ 1 large egg
▢ 1 cup low-fat buttermilk 224 g
▢ 1/4 cup vegetable oil 50 g
▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

▢ 3 tablespoons butter 42 g
▢ 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 170 g
▢ 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 standard sized donut pans (12 donuts total); set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add egg, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined. Batter will be on the thinner side.
Spoon batter into a donut pan, filling about 3/4 full.
Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Donuts should spring back when lightly touched.
Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
Remove from pan, and set on wire cooling rack.
Once donuts are cool, prepare glaze.
In a heavy saucepan over lowest heat, melt butter half-way.
Add chocolate chips and corn syrup. Stir regularly until completely melted and well-incorporated.
Once glaze is ready, dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze.
See Also
Creamy Mushroom Beef Chuck Roast Recipe Sweet Almond Pastry | Easy Braided Almond-Filled Puff Pastry Recipe!Sweet Potato Biscuits recipe | Frugal Living NW Raspberry Sweet Rolls Recipe
Set on a wire cooling rack, and let glaze set up, if desired.

Notes

*Nutrition facts are estimated.

Nutrition

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Created by Kate

Kate got her first cookbook when she was five years old, and she hasn't stopped cooking since then! Her delicious recipes have been featured on Food Network, MSN, Better Homes & Gardens, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and more. When she's not cooking or baking, she can be found on her mini farm with her husband and her five kids.

Reader Interactions

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Comments & Reviews

Ella Coller says
September 21, 2019

This is the best recipe for donuts ever! I only ever use this recipe. It is not complicated, it uses less dishes (so I don’t have to clean very many), and it tastes just delicious!
Reply
- Kate says
  September 23, 2019
  Thank you! I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for commenting. =)
  Reply
Michele says
July 21, 2019
I ordered the Wilton silicone donut pans. I bake the donuts for 10 minutes. They taste very doughy and I am not sure what I did wrong. Any suggestions? Do I need to add more time because they were baked in a silicone pan? Also when I bake them again can I put the donut pans on top of a cookie sheet.
Reply
- Kate says
  July 21, 2019
  Hi! Yes, you can put the donut pans on a cookie sheet. That will help to stabilize them and can make it easier to get them into and out of the oven. Silicone pans require a bit of trial and error to get baking times and temps down. If you found that the donuts weren’t finished baking at 10 minutes, go ahead and continue to bake them. They should spring back when you press them once they’re finished baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
  Reply
Liz says
May 27, 2019

These are easy to make and yummy to eat. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Reply
- Kate says
  May 28, 2019
  You are very welcome! I’m so glad that yuo liked the donuts. Thanks for taking the time to comment! =)
  Reply
Kristin says
April 20, 2019
I follow your recipe exactly and the batter was extremely thick. I’m wondering if this was a typo in your recipe, or if I need to add more than one cup of buttermilk?
Reply
- Kate says
  April 20, 2019
  Hi! No, no typos. The recipe is correct as-written. The batter shouldn’t be extremely thick. How did you measure the flour? Flour can easily by compacted, so I recommend stirring or sifting the flour, lightly spooning it into the measuring cup, and then leveling it off. You can try adding more buttermilk to thin the batter, but, depending on how much extra ingredients are in the batter, you may have more batter than will fit in the donut tins and may need to make more donuts.
  Reply
Angela G Anthony says
January 20, 2019

These donuts were a HUGE hit!! I did substitute with whole wheat flour, sucanat, melted coconut oil, and keifer. The first batch was gone so fast, I had to whip up another one!!
Reply
- Kate says
  January 22, 2019
  Thank you! I’m glad that it worked out well for you. =) Thank you for commenting!
  Reply
Lori says
January 4, 2019
How long will buttermilk keep in the fridg?
Reply
- Kate says
  January 4, 2019
  It really depends on what the buttermilk carton says. It should come with a “use by” date.
  Reply
Ann says
December 2, 2018
What can I substitute the buttermilk with for the baked chocolate doughnuts?
Reply
- Kate says
  December 3, 2018
  You can make soured milk, which is just where you add vinegar to milk and then let it sit for a few minutes. You can also use a mixture of milk and sour cream or Greek yogurt.
  Reply
Brenda says
November 23, 2018

They were good husband pleased but they were a bit dry batter was. It thin didn’t have buttermilk so I used yogurt and milk with cream of tarter
Reply
- Kate says
  November 24, 2018
  Thank you! I’m glad that it came out with those changes. =) Thanks for commenting!
  Reply
MJ says
November 11, 2018

OMG these are simply delicious! I used agave instead of sugar and increased the flour.
I want to make other flavors
Reply
- Kate says
  November 12, 2018
  Thank you! And thanks for your note about using agave. I have quite a few other baked donut recipes if you’re interested.
  Reply
Kate H. says
September 30, 2018

Delish!!!!! You can eat these with or without the glaze and they are still so very very tasty!!
Reply
- Kate says
  September 30, 2018
  Thank you! I’m so glad that you like the donuts. Thanks for commenting! =)
  Reply
Mudita Kapoor says
August 23, 2018
Can’t dounuts be made without eggs ? If yes kindly tell the substitution and it’s quantity
Reply
- Kate says
  August 24, 2018
  It depends on the recipe. Unfortunately, I haven’t tried an egg-free version of these donuts and can’t give you quantities for a replacement.
  Reply
- Linda says
  October 19, 2018
  You can replace the eggs with flex or chia eggs (1 tbl of chia seed or flex seed and 3tbl of water)you let them sit for about 10 or 15 minutes and then you can use them in your recipes
  Reply
  - Kate says
    October 20, 2018
    Thank you so much!
    Reply
Sara says
June 10, 2018
Is there a substitute for the corn syrup in the glaze?
Reply
- Kate says
  June 10, 2018
  The corn syrup helps to keep the glaze smooth. You could use cream or a little milk in place. It might not set up exactly the same, but it should still be tasty.
  Reply
Kathy says
April 14, 2018

Tried this recipe and the donuts are SO good!!! I could’ve eaten them all! Great reicpe
Reply
- Kate says
  April 14, 2018
  Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed them! It would be easy to eat all of the donuts. ;)
  Reply

FAQs

Are Doughnuts better fried or baked? ›

While many prefer the light and crispy texture of a fried donut, leaving the deep fryer in the cabinet and baking your cake donuts instead makes for healthier, less oily donuts. It's also safer and easier to clean up, given that you don't have to deal with lots of hot oil.

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Do baked donuts have less calories? ›

Is A Baked Donut Recipe Healthier Than A Recipe For Fried Donuts? Yes, they definitely are. A typical fried glazed donut will be around 269 calories, while a baked donut will have much fewer. The difference is the fact that you won't be dealing with any extra fat from the oil from frying when you bake.

View Details ›

Why are my baked donuts chewy? ›

The key to good baked donuts is to: NOT overmix the batter. This is similar to making muffins. Overmixing will create gluten which creates a tough, chewy donut and not a light fluffy one.

What happens if you let donut dough rise too long? ›

If the bench time is too long, volume could be lost in the proofing process; the donuts will shrink during frying; the texture will be coarse; and the flavor will not be up to your standards. Always let the dough rise on the bench for approximately 45 minutes before proofing.

Get More Info Here ›

How does Krispy Kreme make their donuts so fluffy? ›

A batch of original glazed starts with Krispy Kreme doughnut mix, water and yeast, the same single-cell fungi used to make bread rise. The yeast is what makes the original glazed so light -- it puffs the dough up with air, so it's not dense like a cake doughnut (more on this later).

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Can diabetics eat chocolate donuts? ›

Skip the Doughnuts Due to Their Sugar and Fat Content

Doughnuts are sweet, fun to eat, and look gorgeous on social media, but their nutritional profile makes them a no-no in a healthy diabetes diet.

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What has more sugar than a donut? ›

You may have heard not to eat bananas because they can contain as much or more sugar than a donut. Sure, that may be true, but they also contain soluble fiber to help your body digest sugar more slowly and boost your gut health, and potassium to help keep your blood pressure in check and your heart healthy.

Get More Info Here ›

How much sugar does 1 Krispy Kreme doughnut have? ›

So a single Krispy Kreme doughnut, which has 10 grams of sugar, takes up a good bulk of your recommended daily intake. But healthy sounding snack replacements such as yogurt and raisins can actually rack up more sugar than you might think.

Discover More Details ›

Are baked donuts healthier than fried? ›

Are baked donuts healthier than fried? Yes they are, as there is only a small amount of oil used which is sprayed on the donut pan rather than being deep fried into oil. How long can you store donuts? Store donuts in the fridge for up to 4 - 5 days.

Read The Full Story ›

Why are donuts fried instead of baked? ›

The main difference between fried and baked donuts lies in their texture, flavor, and cooking method. Here are the key differences: Texture: Fried donuts have a crispier outside and a melt-in-your-mouth texture, while baked donuts are slightly denser, chewier, and crumbier.

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Does Dunkin donuts bake or fry their donuts? ›

Some Dunkin' locations bake their donuts in house, but not all. There are three ways Dunkin' locations can acquire donuts, according to TikTok user and franchise owner Amir Mohamed.

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