Description
These Baked Vanilla Cake Doughnuts are irresistibly delicious and so much easier to make than fried ones. These doughnuts are perfectly tender with a vanilla glaze, and they take minutes to make!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
DOUGHNUTS
- 1 1/4 cups full-fat buttermilk, room temp
- 1 large egg, room temp
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spoon & leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup granulated sugar
VANILLA GLAZE
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
- sprinkles, optional
Instructions
DOUGHNUTS
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 2 doughnut pans with cooking spray and set them aside.
- In a 2 cup measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, vanilla, butter, and oil. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt & nutmeg. Mix in the sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Do not overmix. The batter should be slightly thick but pourable.
- Attach a round decorating tip to a piping bag and fill it 2/3 full with the batter. Alternately, you can cut the corner off a large zip-top bag. Squeeze the batter into the donut cavities, filling 3/4 full, no more! The third option…you can spoon the batter into the donut cavities. Shake the donut pans back and forth to level out the batter, and bake the donuts for about 17 to 20 minutes until they spring back when touched or test clean with a toothpick.
- Tap the pans on a counter a couple of times to ensure donuts are loose and invert them onto a wire cooling rack to completely cool. Clean one of the pans and fill with the remaining batter and bake as before, unless you have 3 donut pans and can bake them all at once.
VANILLA GLAZE
- Add the powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the milk to a medium bowl. Whisk together until the glaze is smooth and slightly thick. You might have to add a third tablespoon of milk. You want it to be a perfect dipping consistency. Not so thin that it will run off the donuts, but not so thick that you can’t dip them.
- Dip the top half of each donut in the glaze. Transfer the donuts to a wire rack placed over a piece of parchment or wax paper. Decorate with your favorite sprinkles before the glaze totally sets up.
- Once the glaze is set, serve the donuts or place them in an airtight container. Homemade donuts are best when eaten the day they are made. You can keep them in an airtight container on a counter for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Sprinkles: I don’t recommend using sugar sprinkles on the donuts. They tend to melt into the glaze. I used nonpareils. You can also use multi-colored jimmies or sprinkles.
- Freezing donuts: Donuts can be frozen for up to 2 months, glazed or unglazed. When freezing, I suggest placing a layer of wax paper between layers. Thaw in the refrigerator. Warm in the microwave for no more than 10 seconds.
- No Donut Pan: No problem! You can spray a muffin pan and spoon the dough into the muffin tins, filling them 3/4 full, and make donut muffins. Bake them until they are golden brown on top and spring back when touched.
- No Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use regular milk, or you can make a buttermilk substitution by adding 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of milk and allowing it to sit for 5 minutes.
- Nutmeg: If you don’t have nutmeg, don’t worry. You can leave it out and the donuts will still taste great. They have plenty of vanilla for flavor. The nutmeg lends a flavor to the donuts like the ones you buy at a bakery.