Baked Doughnuts Three Ways: this triple play is a homerun!
January 16th, 2012 by PJ HamelRecipe: Baked Doughnuts Three Ways
You know, I used to be afraid of deep-frying.
Vats of boiling oil. I mean, doesn’t that sound like some form of medieval torture? Just the thought of it gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Still, if you want homemade doughnuts…
“Leave the kitchen, kids! Get out from underfoot, there, puppy dog. Cat: off the counter. Mama is making doughnuts!”
Hmph. Makes me want to don my hazmat suit.
Heck, it isn’t as if I’ve never heated a pot of oil. At one time or another, I’ve made Jelly Doughnut Holes, Classic Beignets, Vermont Doughnut Holes, Mashed Potato Doughnuts, Fried Dough…
No french fries – yet. But I’m considering them.
Still, even with my favorite shallow-frying method (1″ of oil in an electric fry pan), doughnuts are a production.
Unless they’re BAKED doughnuts – and then they’re just about as easy as muffins.
Which is to say: E.Z.
And versatile. I started thinking about all the different things you could do with baked doughnuts.
Frost ‘em. Fill ‘em. Coat ‘em with coconut, or chocolate. Roll ‘em in cinnamon-sugar, or powdered sugar.
All of which we’re going to try out in the recipe below.
Are you ready?
“Into the kitchen, kids. C’mon, puppy dog. Cat, you can sit right there next to the toaster. Mama’s going to bake doughnuts.”
Coconut doughnuts, chocolate chip doughnuts, and cinnamon doughnuts, to be exact.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans.
Can you make these baked doughnuts without pans?
Sorry, but no. You can, however, make Doughnut Muffins – same batter, different shape, just as yummy.
Mix the following until smooth:
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
Add 2 large eggs, beating to combine.
Stir in the following:
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, to taste*
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*Use the smaller amount of nutmeg for coconut or chocolate chip doughnuts; the larger amount for cinnamon doughnuts.
Stir 2 2/3 cups (11 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour into the butter mixture alternately with 1 cup milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.
The batter should be smooth and glossy.
Next, it’s decision time. Want to make chocolate chip doughnuts? Stir in 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate mini chips (first choice) or semisweet chocolate chips. Spoon batter into the pans, filling each well right to the brim.
Want to make coconut doughnuts?
Sprinkle 2 teaspoons toasted coconut into each of the wells of the doughnut pans, shaking the pans to distribute the coconut.
Divide the batter evenly between the pans, filling each well to within about 1/4″ of the rim. Sprinkle the top of each doughnut with an additional 2 teaspoons toasted coconut.
Can you use plain instead of toasted coconut? Not really; it browns unevenly, and doesn’t produce as good a result.
How about chocolate “frosted” doughnuts? Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons crushed chocolate chips (or any crushed chocolate) into the wells of the doughnut pans. Fill pans with batter.
“Make mine plain,” you say? Just spoon the batter into the wells of the prepared pans, filling to within 1/4″ of the rim.
Bake the doughnuts for 10 minutes.
What are those lava-like doughnuts on the left? My attempt at making streusel-stuffed doughnuts. They tasted pretty good, but boy, what a mess… plus it was a pain trying to spoon just a little bit of batter into the doughnut pans, add the streusel, then cover with a little more batter. Not worth the effort, IMHO.
Remove the doughnuts from the oven; wait 5 to 7 minutes before turning them out of the pans onto a rack.
For cinnamon doughnuts, shake warm doughnuts in a plastic bag with about 1/4 to 1/3 cup cinnamon-sugar.
For sugar-coated chocolate chip doughnuts, shake doughnuts in a plastic bag with about 1/2 cup non-melting white sugar (for best results), or confectioners’ sugar.
Here’s what I mean by best results: on top, that’s non-melting white sugar on the left, confectioners’ sugar on the right. Both look fine.
But by the next day, look what’s happened to the confectioners’ sugar: gone, melted into the doughnut. While the non-melting sugar still looks great.
And here are those chocolate “frosted” doughnuts. See why I say these are “frosted?” The chips don’t melt; they just soften. Still, the final effect is mighty tasty!
Store doughnuts airtight, at room temperature, for several days.
Read, bake, and review (please) our recipe for Baked Doughnuts Three Ways.
Print just the recipe.
Tags: baked doughnuts, cinnamon, Coconut, doughnut pan, doughnuts
January 16th, 2012 at 11:42 am
Oh PJ!
My mouth is watering…the chocolate chip baked doughnuts, the chocolate “frosted” doughnuts, then dipping them in powdered sugar…I know what I am making this weekend for my kiddos! Do you think that I could take the basic recipe and add pumpkin puree to it or should I replace some of the ingredients with the pumpkin puree? I am thinking of making one batch of pumpkin cinnamon chip doughnuts, or maybe using the cinnamon flavor bites…or using butterscotch chips, or all three…the possibilities…
LOVE that idea, Anne – how about substituting 1 cup pumpkin for the milk? If the batter seems stiff, drizzle in a bit more milk… PJH
January 16th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
when making the donuts can you substitute the gluten free flour for the same amount and get the same results? Or do you need to adjust some of the other ingredients?
That would be an experiment. We have not tried this. At a minimum, you’ll need g-f flour and xanthan gum. For a light batter like this, I’d try using 1/4 teaspoon xanthan for every 1 cup of flour. Frank @ KAF.
January 16th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Quick Hint for filling the doughnut pans – I always seem to get the batter all over the pan when I use a spoon to fill each well. So – I put the batter in a plastic zippy bag, snip off an end and pipe the batter into each well. No more mess!
Good thinking – thanks for sharing! PJH
January 16th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
Would these turn out well with white whole wheat flour in place of the AP or would they end up dense/dry? I just got a doughnut pan for Christmas so baked whole wheat doughnuts would be great!
They’d definitely be denser and dryer – how about substituting half whole wheat to start, see if you like them? PJH
January 16th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
PJH–i love knowing that your cat/cats sit on your kitchen counters–my mother would cringe at the idea, but anybody who lives with cats eats cat hair with every meal, so why always be yelling at the cats? they’re gonna be up there when you aren’t looking anyway, so why not let them help cook? they enjoy it!! that is my laugh for the day!
Thanks – you’ve got me smiling, too…
PJH
January 16th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Wow… coincidence that I just purchased a doughnut pan from KAF today?!? How perfect.
January 16th, 2012 at 2:52 pm
I do the ziploc bag thing to make really pretty frosted cupcakes – like the ones on cupcake wars, but I never thought of it for the donuts. I usually use a small ice cream scoop, as that helps containg the mess as well. Thanks for the tip!!
January 16th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Would these freeze well? Would like to make them in advance for a family get together.
Meesh, no baked goods really freeze well, except perhaps cookies. You can do it – but they’ll suffer. I’d suggest freezing; then thawing overnight in the fridge; then reheating breifly ( 5 minutes or so?) in a 350°F oven, tented loosely with foil. That would be about the best you could do – good luck. PJH
January 16th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
PJ-
I couldn’t wait…I made chocolate chip doughnuts, and the pumpkin spice doughnuts. I added 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice and substituted the pumpkin for the milk. It was a bit thick, so I ended up adding almost 1/4 c whole milk to the batter. They were delicious! Some had the cinnamon chips, some the cinnamon flavor bites, and I did a couple with caramel bits. The kids went crazy over them! Thanks again PJ for your great posts.
Anne
Anne, glad they all worked out, esp. the pumpkin – I’ll add a tip to that recipe, telling how to make pumpkin doughnuts. Thanks for letting me know – enjoy! PJH
January 16th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
The last time baked doughnuts were featured, the recipe called for pastry flour. I have made the baked doughnuts with all-purpose flour and they were tough and dry. Why the switch back to all-purpose?
We like to give options, Marsha – all-purpose flour is more readily available than pastry flour. The pastry flour recipe is different than this one; you might want to try this one (if you haven’t), which is written specifically for AP flour. At any rate, both are available on our site, so it’s bakers’ choice!
PJH
January 17th, 2012 at 9:06 am
I have the mini-doughnut pan- how long should I bake the minis?
Gosh, I don’t know – didn’t try with the minis. If you’ve baked minis before, I’d assume it would be the same time/temp. you’ve used. If not – bake less than the standard. Maybe start checking at 6 or 7 minutes? PJH
January 17th, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Would your Pancake Pen work with this batter to make filling the doughnut pan a little less messy? Or is the batter too thick?
Yes, this is a great tool for filling the doughnut pan! ~Amy
January 17th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Okay, I need to get out more. A doughnut pan??? Looks like I need to make another trip up north. I’m really touchy feely about my purchases. I’ll put this on the back burner and hope I don’t forget it. Of course I did read the words fried dough in the article. I think I have a cast iron skillet that is just waiting to satisfy the need.
Fried dough and a cold winter morning go together like – well, like pancakes and syrup! I say go for it – PJH
January 18th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Could you do chocolate doughnuts? May try this soon!
January 18th, 2012 at 1:55 pm
Well, I made the mini doughnuts today. I baked them for 9 1/2 minutes and I got 18 doughnuts, but I overfilled the first batch and I probably would’ve gotten 24. I made the cinnamon-sugar variety, but my cinnamon-sugar mix (1/4 C sugar and a little over 1/2 tsp cinnamon) didn’t stick very well to them. I tried letting them cool in the pan a bit, but the mix didn’t stick at all- with the 2nd pan I took them right out of the pan one by one as soon as I took them out of the oven and shook them in my cin-sugar mix and that helped, but still didn’t coat them well. Next time I’ll make a glaze or frosting. They were a very nice cake texture; a little too nutmeggy for my taste (I used the lesser amt. in the recipe), but I can make an adjustment for the next batch. This is the first time using my mini doughnut pan. Overall I’m pleased with them. I’d like to make chocolate or apple cider doughnuts next. Oh, and I used the tip of placing the batter into a baggie and cutting off one corner to fill the pan- was the right way to go!
Sounds like a work in progress – you’ll discover just the right amount of nutmeg, and some frostings you like, I’m sure. I found that shaking the doughnuts in a bag with the cinnamon sugar a couple of times helped it adhere. And thanks for reinforcing the plastic bag tip – good one! PJH
January 18th, 2012 at 10:45 pm
I’ve been baking doughnuts for awhile now (using the pans KAF sells), but I usually always have the same problem. The top is cooked well, but the bottom is always under done. I’ve tried scooping the doughnuts have way through baking to flip them only to make a mess. What am I doing wrong? Are there any other work arounds? I know my ovens hot spots and I know that is not the problem.
And as an example of what I’m talking about – scroll to the very first picture above – the top cinnamon sugar doughnut on the right sorta looks like what I’m talking about.
Help please!
P.S. I’ve always found the batter too thick to use one of those pancake/cupcake pen things – which I bought only to make doughnuts!
Katie, when I bake them, they’re not underdone – just not browned on top as they are on the bottom. Is this what you’re talking about? The top crust is very light, the bottom crust nice and golden. That’s why I like covering them with powdered sugar or cinnamon… It’s just the nature of the pan, nothing you’re doing, if that helps- PJH
January 18th, 2012 at 10:46 pm
P.S. I’ve always found the batter too thick to use one of those pancake/cupcake pen things – which I bought only to make doughnuts!
January 19th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
No – my problem is opposite – the top of the doughnut is perfect, it’s the bottom (the part where batter hits the pan) that’s always underdone.
Hmmm… well, Katie, that’s unusual! I’d say try baking on your oven’s bottom rack – that should definitely make a difference… PJH
January 21st, 2012 at 10:18 am
My sons love sour cream and buttermilk donuts, how would I substitute for this recipe?
It is fine to use buttermilk or a combination of sour cream and buttermilk in this recipe in place of the regular milk. ~Amy
January 23rd, 2012 at 10:11 am
Any suggestions for modifying this recipe to make apple cider donuts? We used to have a farm stand near our former house and bought them all the time, but can’t seem to find cider donuts near our new house.
Thank you!
Enjoy this recipe for cider doughnuts. ~Amy
January 23rd, 2012 at 12:34 pm
“no baked goods freeze very well”
HUHHHHH?????
I have frozen baked bread, filled buns, doughnuts, cake, cookies, pizza….they taste just like fresh if you are careful.
First of all make sure the baked goods are not overbaked. Let them cool completely and pack them into freezer-grade zip bags. DO NOT pre-slice bread but you can cut a loaf in half and bag each half separately.
DO NOT expect baked goods to freeze well in freezers that are in the same compartment as the fridge–you need a deep freezer or separate freezer on top of the fridge to keep them cold enough.
DO NOT THAW BAKED GOODS OVERNIGHT IN THE FRIDGE. That dries them out. You should thaw frozen raw dough overnight in the fridge.
Goods frozen after baking take about 20 minutes to thaw on the counter. Or warm them directly from frozen in a 300F oven. Keep the foil wrap loose if you want the crust to get crunchy again.
January 23rd, 2012 at 1:45 pm
do these have the same slightly chewy texture as donuts or are they simple torus shaped cakes? Not much worth in getting a special pan if they end up like something from my muffin tin.
Andrea, because they have more surface area than muffins, they do tend to be a bit chewier. They don’t have that crisp exterior that marks deep-fried doughnuts; but I’d say they’re chewier than muffins (which aren’t in my experience, usually thought of as chewy…) PJH
January 23rd, 2012 at 8:28 pm
I’d like to make cider donuts, any suggestions on substitutions?
Renate, how about substituting cider for the milk? And adding a boiled cider/confectioners’ sugar glaze? Cider doughnuts are one of my favorites… PJH
January 24th, 2012 at 10:18 am
We have the larger donut pans and use our infamous KAF “Pancake Pen” to fill them (my 9 year old helps and this makes it much easier!). LOVE making donuts rather than buying them.
February 7th, 2012 at 6:40 pm
I just recieved my donut baking pan in the mail…most recipies are calling for enough batter to make two batches…should have bought two!! LOL Can’t wait to make them.!! LOVE LOVE the blogs!! I may spend more time on the KA web site with recipes and blogs than I do on FB!! Whoo hoo!