Perfect Baked Chocolate Donuts

These Chocolate Donuts are soft baked donuts that can be topped with glaze, sprinkles, or cinnamon sugar! They’re rich with chocolate flavor and are the perfect breakfast, snack, or dessert!

Important Ingredients Needed

• Cocoa Powder: I recommend natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch process) for this recipe because it leavens with baking soda, which can interfere with the acidity of dutch-process cocoa.
• Vegetable Oil: May substitute canola oil or liquid coconut oil.
• Milk and Powdered Sugar are needed for the chocolate ganache-like glaze. Corn syrup is also used, but it’s optional. It just makes the glaze dry harder and shinier.
• Cinnamon Sugar and Melted Butter are needed for the coated donuts.

How to make Chocolate Frosted Donuts

• Whisk flour, cocoa, soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside. Whisk the wet ingredients in a measuring cup. Whisk into dry ingredients.
• Transfer the batter to a large gallon size resealable bag or piping bag. This is the easiest way to get the batter into a donut pan.
• Bake until a toothpick just comes out clean. Let cool about 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Glaze: whisk powdered sugar and cocoa, then whisk in milk and corn syrup slowly. Dip the cooled donuts upside down in the glaze and place them on a cookie sheet or flat surface, glaze side up. Sprinkle with sprinkles.
• Cinnamon sugar topping: Whisk sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Dip donuts in melted butter, then dredge in cinnamon sugar.

Expert Tips

• You can make these gluten-free by using GF 1:1 all-purpose flour
• The recipe makes about 9 donuts, so you’ll need 2 pans or you can let the pan cool before baking the rest.
• Store donuts in an airtight container. The cinnamon sugar donuts won’t last as long as the glazed ones.
• For a more traditional donut, try my donut hole recipe.

Baked Chocolate Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

5 from 2 votes

These are the PERFECT Baked Chocolate Donuts! This recipe gives light and fluffy donuts two ways: chocolate glazed or cinnamon sugar churro!

Recipe Video

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Yield 9 donuts

Serving Size 1 donut

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

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Ingredients

 

For the Donuts:

• ▢ 1 cup (124g) all-purpose flour
• ▢ ¼ cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup milk (see note)
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30ml) vegetable oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Glaze (makes enough for the entire batch):

• ▢ 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (15g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (30ml) milk
• ▢ 1 teaspoon corn syrup
• ▢ Sprinkles optional

For the cinnamon sugar donuts (makes enough for the entire batch):

• ▢ 5 tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter , melted
• ▢ 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray donut pan(s) with nonstick cooking spray.
• Whisk flour, cocoa, soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Whisk the milk, egg, oil, and vanilla in a measuring cup. Whisk into dry ingredients.
• Transfer the batter to a large gallon size resealable bag. Cut off one tip and pipe into prepared donut pan(s).
• Bake for 7-8 minutes until a toothpick just comes out clean. Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove and top with glaze or cinnamon sugar topping.
• Glaze: whisk powdered sugar and cocoa, then whisk in milk and corn syrup slowly. Dip the cooled donuts upside down in the glaze and place them on a cookie sheet or flat surface, glaze side up. Sprinkle with sprinkles. Let sit for about 20 minutes for the glaze to set.
• Cinnamon sugar topping: Whisk sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl. Dip donuts in melted butter, then dredge in cinnamon sugar. Once you’re done with all of them, give them a second dusting in the cinnamon sugar.
• Best eaten the day they’re made, but they’ll last up to 2 days in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

• Recipe makes 8-9 donuts. If you only have one donut pan, fill and bake 6, let them cool 10 minutes, then remove them from the pan, respray the pan with nonstick cooking spray and fill with the rest of the batter. You can also make these as mini muffins. Baking time will be affected.
• You can use any kind of milk (regular, low or fat-free or nondairy)
• The corn syrup is optional but helps the glaze dry shiny and harder than without it.
• You can use dutch-process cocoa in the glaze, but it has not been tested in the donuts themselves (baking soda can affect the outcome when mixed with the acids in dutch process cocoa).

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1donut | Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 110mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 253IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Dorothy Kern

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