These Baked Chocolate Frosted Cake Donuts are a classic baked cake donut with chocolate ganache frosting.
Homemade donuts really are easy and simple to make and you don’t have to fry them. This baked cake donut recipe is easy to do and the donuts come out delicious every time.
I love donuts. If I see a local donut shop anywhere, I will stop. I don’t care if we are in the middle of nowhere. Donuts are so good. While I love my little fried donuts, I prefer to avoid the frying and make baked donuts instead. They can be just as good.
My kids love donuts as well. While I would like to take credit for that little obsession, it all comes from my dad. Ever since my kids were very little, anytime they went over to their house for a gathering, Papa & Nana play-date, or for babysitting, my dad would run to the store and grab some “papa donuts”.
“Papa donuts” are just mini Hostess chocolate donuts. He would always buy the powdered sugar ones as well and those eventually became known as
“Nana donuts”. I will have to admit though, that I simply love a chocolate cake donut from my local Kroger store (King Soopers). My sisters and I just love those.
But making homemade baked cake donuts is really fun and this is my favorite recipe. They’re perfect at any time – breakfast, brunch, dessert or as a snack.
Baked Donuts Ingredients
- Softened butter
- Vegetable oil
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Large eggs
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Milk
How do you make Baked Cake Donuts?
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease 2 donut pans.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl or mixer beat together the butter, vegetable oil, granulated, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and beat until well combined.
Mix in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla, until batter comes together.
Mix in the flour and milk, adding the flour and alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix batter until smooth and well combined.
Gently spoon the batter evenly into the lightly greased doughnut pans, filling until just shy of the rim.
Place pans in the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven, allow donuts to cool for 5 minutes before you remove from the pans. Prepare frosting during this time.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
In a double boiler over medium heat combine butter, chocolate chips, and corn syrup. Stir until completely melted and well incorporated.
Once glaze is done and donuts are cool, dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze and turn over, back onto the cooling rack. Glaze side up.
Allow glaze to harden, if you wish for 10-15 minutes or like our family, serve right away… yum!
Now I am just sitting here drooling over these donuts and thinking about which donut recipe I will make next. I am leaning towards Copycat Starbucks Devil’s Food Cake Donuts.
Have a great day, friends. Cheers to baked, glazed, and “papa donuts”.
XOXO San
More Recipes to Try
Love this recipe? Be sure to check out these other cake donuts that will have you eating more than one for breakfast.
- Baked Blueberry Cake Donuts, A Dash of Sanity
- Chocolate Pumpkin Cake Donuts, from A Dash of Sanity
- Powdered Sugar Donut Holes, from Shugary Sweets
- Baked Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts, from A Dash of Sanity
- 10 Minute Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes, from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Don’t forget to pin this to your favorite Pinterest board.
Baked Chocolate Frosted Cake Donuts
Ingredients
Donut
- 1/4 cup butter room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup milk
Frosting
- 3 tablespoons butter cut into ½ inch squares.
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips dark chocolate is my preference
- 1 tablespoon honey agave nectar or corn syrup would also be fine.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease 2 donut pans.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl or mixer beat together the butter, vegetable oil, granulated, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and beat until well combined.
- Mix in baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla, until batter comes together.
- Mix in the flour and milk, adding the flour and alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix batter until smooth and well combined.
- Gently spoon the batter evenly into the lightly greased doughnut pans, filling until just shy of the rim.
- Place pans in the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven, allow donuts to cool for 5 minutes before you remove from the pans. Prepare frosting during this time.
Frosting
- In a double boiler over medium heat combine butter, chocolate chips and corn syrup. Stir until completely melted and well incorporated.
- Once glaze is done and donuts are cool, dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze and turn over, back onto the cooling rack. Glaze side up. Allow glaze to harden, if you wish for 10-15 minutes or like our family, serve right away… yum!
Notes
They look yummy! Have you ever used buttermilk in place of the milk? Would you need to change any of the other ingredients?
I honestly love using buttermilk in place of milk but I have never tried that in this recipe.
San
Can you use anything else, if you don’t have a donut pan?
I have used a mini cupcake pan before, but never large cupcakes 🙂
Very dense, I followed the choc. that came out also very thick.
Next time add a little butter or coconut oil to thin it out, also a little cream would work too.
Could I somehow make this recipe into a cake? My son wants a donut-chocolate-glazed themed cake and yours sounds like the best one!!
How much nutmeg? Just says “1/2 ground nutmeg”. I assumed tsp and did that. Hope it was right?
Yes, 1/2 teaspoon is correct! It has been updated in the post, thank you so much for bringing it to our attention.