Making homemade donuts has never been easier or tastier! Forget rolling, cutting, and frying dough, these old-fashioned Chocolate Glazed Donuts are the way to go. They're made extra simple thanks to a quick-fix batter, a donut pan, and the oven. Dip them in a smooth, rich chocolate glaze for a bakery-quality breakfast treat ready to serve from your very own kitchen!
These baked donuts are make-ahead and freezer-friendly, making them just as perfect for a kid-friendly, school morning breakfast, as they are for a little weekend indulgence!
Looking for more Breakfast Treats to try? Add Cinnamon Donut Muffins or Texas Kolaches to your recipe lineup!
WHAT IS A CHOCOLATE GLAZED DONUT?
Chocolate Glazed Donuts can come in two different forms:
- A donut completely covered with an almost translucent sugar glaze.
- A donut topped off with a draping, thicker glaze (think thin frosting).
When you think about a chocolate glazed donut, your mind might conjure up one of those two images. If you're thinking of the first example, the donut in your mind is likely made up of a chocolate batter and the donut itself is entirely covered in a sheet of ultra-thin vanilla glaze. On the other hand, you might be envisioning a vanilla donut with chocolate, icing-like glaze.
Neither one of these images are wrong, but for today's recipe purposes, we'll be making old-fashioned vanilla donuts topped off with a gorgeously draped, rich chocolate glaze!
OLD-FASHIONED BAKED DONUTS
As mentioned above, we'll be making old-fashioned donuts today. These are also known as cake donuts. They're called cake donuts because they have a dense, cake-like texture, unlike standard donuts which are made with yeast and boast a texture more similar to a soft and fluffy dinner roll.
Part of what gives old-fashioned donuts their cake-like texture is the use of chemical leaveners. In fact, the batter comes together in a very similar fashion to muffins (which is basically cake), making them extremely easy to replicate in the oven.
Now, you can avoid the grease and the messy stovetop, and get those donuts in your mouth even quicker thanks to the donut pan!
Check out our full post on Baked Donuts for more information.
ABOUT DONUT PANS
For this recipe, you'll want to use a standard-sized, 6-cavity donut pan, and if you have more than one, it will certainly come in handy since you'll have enough batter for 18 donuts total. Harder to find, but most definitely in existence, are 12-cavity donut pans. That would work great for this recipe as well.
If you don't have a donut pan but are dying to try these Chocolate Glazed Donuts, you can fashion your own using aluminum foil and a muffin pan!
TIPS FOR ADDING DONUT BATTER TO THE PAN
Patience is key when it comes to adding donut batter to a donut pan. If you add too much batter your donuts will end up baking into one solid, giant puff, with no hole or identifiable donut shape. Take care to add no more than 2 tablespoons (or 2 spoonfuls) of batter to each cavity. This is typically no more than two-thirds of the way full.
If you'd prefer, you could also use a piping bag to add the batter, and this method might actually prove to be a little easier than adding the batter with a spoon.
One last note, take care to avoid getting batter on the center rising point of each cavity. You want the donut batter to stay in the well.
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE GLAZED DONUTS
- Make the donut batter.
- Bake the donuts.
- Make the glaze.
- Dip baked donuts in the warm glaze.
HOW TO MAKE BAKED DONUTS
- Mix Dry Ingredients – To kick off these Chocolate Glazed Donuts, you’ll start by mixing the dry ingredients. Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Set the mix aside.
- Mix Butter, Oil, and Sugar – Add the butter, oil, and sugar to a large mixing bowl and mix on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes. This mixing process is called creaming. You can use a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for this task.
- Add the Wet Ingredients – Once the butter and sugar are creamed together, you can add the remaining wet ingredients to your Cake Donut batter! Add the eggs one at a time, and then, add the vanilla. Mix once more.
- Alternate Dry Ingredients and Buttermilk – You’ll alternate adding both the dry ingredients and the buttermilk milk to the donut batter. Once everybody is in the bowl and incorporated, scrape down the sides once again, and give it one last mix.
- Bake – Add the donut batter to the donut pan, filling each one no more than two-thirds of the way full. Bake at 425°F for about 8 to 10 minutes.
HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE GLAZE FOR DONUTS
Making a chocolate glaze for donuts is beyond easy! For a smooth, foolproof glaze with ingredients perfectly, seamlessly incorporated with one another, you'll want to assemble it over heat in a saucepan on the stovetop.
- Add milk, butter, and corn syrup to a small saucepan over medium heat.
- As soon as the butter has melted, add in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Then, stir until completely smooth and liquified.
- Add the vanilla, stir, and remove from the heat.
HOW TO GLAZE BAKED DONUTS
To add the chocolate glaze to your donuts, dip them in the warm glaze as soon as your donuts are cool enough to handle. Once the donuts have been topped off, set them aside on a cooling rack or a sheet of wax paper until the glaze is set.
NOTEWORTHY INGREDIENTS
- All-Purpose Flour | You will need all-purpose flour for these Chocolate Glazed Donuts. Different types of flours have various levels of protein within them, which means they interact with other ingredients differently. For best results, it’s all-purpose flour all the way!
- Leaveners | Note, both baking powder and baking soda are called for in this recipe. These chemical leaveners are not interchangeable and you’ll want to take care not to mix up their measurements!
- Butter and Oil | You'll need a mix of both butter and oil for these Chocolate Glazed Donuts. This combo produces a donut batter that is both flavorful (thanks to butter) and stays moist (thanks to oil).
- Buttermilk | Acidic ingredients like buttermilk serve double-duty when it comes to baked goods. It adds a good deal of delicious flavor to the batter and also helps the baked donuts to stay moist and tender after baking. However, if you don't have any on hand, you can sub in whole milk.
HOW TO STORE CHOCOLATE GLAZED DONUTS
You can leave your Chocolate Glazed Donuts out at room temperature in an airtight container but you should plan to eat them within 2-3 days for peak freshness. If you’d like to preserve them beyond this time period, freeze them!
HOW TO FREEZE BAKED DONUTS
To freeze your donuts, allow them to cool to room temperature and for the glaze to completely set. You can freeze them without messing up the glaze too much by placing the donuts in an airtight container in single layers, with a sheet of wax paper separating each layer.
If you don't want the chocolate glaze to appear nicked or smudged, freeze them before you ice them. You can freeze Chocolate Glazed Donuts for up to three months.
HOW TO THAW FROZEN DONUTS
To reheat frozen donuts, either let them thaw, covered, on the counter for a few hours (or up to overnight), or place them on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for about 30 seconds. These are a perfect plan ahead for the kiddos, fore more Kid-Friendly Recipes, bookmark these in your browser for next time!
5 MORE BREAKFAST TREATS YOU’LL LOVE
- Banana Brownies
- Chocolate Waffles
- Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Chocolate Glazed Donuts
Ingredients
FOR THE DONUTS
- 2 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup buttermilk
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE
- ¼ cup milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sprinkles for decorating (optional)
Instructions
MAKE AND BAKE THE DONUTS
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and have ready a greased, 6-cavity donut pan.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside
- Add the butter, oil, and sugar to a large mixing bowl and cream together on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients in three additions and the wet ingredients in two.
- Once the batter has come together, add about 2 tablespoons of dough to each donut cavity, taking care not to overfill them. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until puffed up and golden.
MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE
- Add the milk, butter, and corn syrup to a small saucepan over medium heat.
- As soon as the butter has melted, add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and stir until liquified and smooth. Then, add the vanilla and stir once more. Remove from the heat.
GLAZE THE DONUTS
- Once the donuts are cool enough to handle, dip them in the warm glaze and aside on a sheet of wax paper to set -- 10 - 15 minutes. If using sprinkles, be sure to add while the glaze is fresh! Then, serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
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