Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Caramel Glaze

Caramel Glazed Banana Donuts — Banana bread in the form of soft, fluffy baked donuts and donut holes!! No-mixer recipe that’s as easy as making muffins! The glaze makes them IRRESISTIBLE!!

I love banana bread anything and could eat it every day and not tire of it. I have 40+ banana bread and banana recipes but no banana donuts. So I dusted off my donut pan and made some.

Baked donuts are just like making muffins but you use a donut pan instead. It’s a fast and easy recipe that uses oil rather than butter so there’s nothing to cream and no mixer to dirty.

The caramel glaze soaks into the donuts and donut holes and makes them even moister, softer, and more irresistible. Between the scent of warm banana bread and browned butter caramel, your house will smell like a bakery.

Ingredients Needed

To make the banana bread donuts, you’ll need: 

• Egg
• Light brown sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Canola oil
• Sour cream
• Vanilla extract
• Mashed bananas
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Unsalted butter
• Half and half 
• Confectioners’ sugar

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to Make Banana Donuts

The baked banana donuts are simple to make, as is the caramel glaze! Here are the basic steps:

1. Donuts: Whisk together the donut batter like you would regular banana bread.
2. Turn the batter into a greased and floured donut pan (I also used a regular muffin pan to make donut holes, more on that in a bit). 
3. Bake the donuts until cooked through, set, and springy to the touch.
4. Glaze: While the donuts cool, make the browned butter caramel glaze. First, brown the butter.
5. Stir in some brown sugar, then half and half, vanilla, and salt. Take caution because the mixture will bubble vigorously.
6. The confectioners’ sugar gets whisked in last.  Once that’s done, you’re ready to glaze the donuts! 

What to Serve with Banana Donuts

Vanilla Fruit Salad

Copycat Pumpkin Spice Latte

Air Fryer Twisted Bacon

Pina Colada Fruit Salad

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4.57 from 23 votes

Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Caramel Glaze

By Averie Sunshine

Banana bread in the form of soft, fluffy baked donuts and donut holes!! No-mixer recipe that's as easy as making muffins! The glaze makes them IRRESISTIBLE!!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 14 minutes minutes

Additional Time: 6 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 donuts and 18 donut holes

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Ingredients  

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Donuts 

• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil, liquid-state coconut oil may be substituted
• ▢ ¼ cup cup sour cream, lite is okay; or Greek yogurt may be substituted
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large bananas
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

Glaze

• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter, browned (half of 1 stick)
• ▢ ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢ 3 tablespoons half-and-half or cream, plus more as necessary for consistency
• ▢ 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted (must be sifted)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

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Instructions 

Make the Donuts:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 6-count non-stick donut pan and two mini muffin pans with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pans; set aside. Alternatively, use the pans you have available including mini donuts, full-size muffins, etc. and adjusting baking times accordingly.
• To a large bowl, add the the egg, sugars, oil, sour cream, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
• Add the bananas and stir to combine.
• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and fold with spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don’t overmix.
• Turn batter out into prepared pans, filling each cavity about 2/3 to 3/4 full. I dollop the batter into the donut pan with a spoon but you can transfer to a large ziptop back, seal, cut one of the corners with a scissors, and pipe into the pans if that’s easier. For the donut holes, I use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop filled with about 1 heaping tablespoon batter.
• Bake for about 13 to 14 minutes, or until donuts and donut holes are cooked through, set, and springy to the touch. Both the donuts and donut holes each baked for about 13 1/2 minutes in my oven but all pans, climates, ovens, etc. vary so bake until done.
• Allow donuts and donut holes to cool in the pans while you make the glaze.

Make the Glaze:

• This is a fast moving recipe. Have everything in place before beginning. Brown the butter (click for a detailed tutorial) by cooking butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan until it’s amber to brown in color, about 5 minutes depending on pan size. I swirl the pan in the last minute or so to make sure I can really see the color changes. Butter will go through stages of hissing, sputtering, and making noise until the water cooks off at which point the browning occurs. Butter will smell nutty and aromatic.
• Turn the heat to medium-low, add the brown sugar, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring nearly continuously.
• Remove the pan from the heat, allow it to cool for about 1 minute, and add 3 tablespoons cream, vanilla, and salt, taking caution because the mixture will bubble vigorously. Whisk aggressively to incorporate the cream and calm the bubbling.
• Add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk to combine. I absolutely recommend using sifted sugar so the glaze whisks up smooth, silky, and free from lumps. As necessary, add additional cream (or confectioners’ sugar) to reach desired glaze consistency.
• Dip the top of each donut and donut hole in glaze and allow to cool momentarily before enjoying. The glaze sets up fairly fast so you’ll want to dip fairly quickly, adding a splash of additional cream if necessary to thin it out.

Notes

• Donuts and donut holes are best warm and fresh but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 4 days.
• Extra glaze will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Reheat gently before using.
• Adapted from Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread and Vanilla Caramel Glaze.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 604kcal, Carbohydrates: 98g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 22g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 352mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 74g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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