Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts with Vanilla Peanut Butter Glaze – Soft chocolate-peanut butter donuts are the best of all worlds because you get chocolate and peanut butter in one easy dessert. Because they’re baked rather than fried like traditional donuts, they’re healthier so of course you can feel free to have seconds!
You may have seen this recipe coming. I mean, come on.
Chocolate and peanut butter. I had to.
The vanilla glazed donuts, i.e. Krispy Kreme donuts And the cinnamon bun with cream cheese frosting donuts, i.e. Cinnabons in donut form, were lovely but.
The combination of chocolate and peanut butter will always hold a special place in my heart.
And these have been holding a special place in my heart and in my stomach the past few days.
The peanut butter keeps them extra moist. So moist and dense you may think they were fried, but they’re baked.
Does baking them mean they’re somehow better for you than fried and therefore you can go ahead and have seconds? Or thirds? Sure, I’ll go with that logic.
The scent of chocolate and peanut butter wafting through your house while these are baking is intoxicating. You’re forewarned.
But unlike chocolate cake or brownies which take much longer to bake, you’ll only be tempted for about 10 minutes while these babies bake.
And while they’re baking, you can make the vanilla peanut butter glaze.
Try not to lick the glaze-mixing spoon too many times while you wait for them to come out of the oven.
This is what they looked like fresh out of the oven and naked, BG (Before Glazing)
If for some reason you’re crazy you don’t like peanut butter, you could make a Cream Cheese Glaze or a basic Vanilla Glaze
But I happen to love peanut butter so the glaze choice was obvious for me.
If you don’t have a donut pan, you should get one. $8 bucks with a coupon and well worth it but if you don’t have one and you’re desperate to get your chocolate peanut butter fix on pronto, you can make these as muffins as suggested in the recipe.
Donuts seem more fun to eat than muffins though.
And these were very fun to eat.
I especially liked licking the vanilla-infused peanut butter glaze from my fingers. The sweet glaze balanced out the chocolate donuts which were not overly sweet. The donuts have a rich, dark chocolate flavor rather than a ‘sweet’ or milk chocolate flavor. They remind me of Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies but in donut form.
Skylar and I were a sticky, peanut-buttery, chocolatey mess after we got done with these.
Her hair was getting in her eyes and face a bit while she was eating her donut and I had to remind her, “Honey, don’t touch your hair until after we wash our hands.”
Nothing like a little peanut butter in your hair to keep it soft and shiny and a little cocoa powder and chocolate streaked through your hair to accentuate your lowlights. The donuts were so worth a little hair mess. That’s what shampoo is for. No biggie.
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Baked Chocolate-Peanut Butter Donuts with Vanilla-Peanut Butter Glaze
Ingredients
Donuts
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter, melted
- ¾ c all-purpose flour
- ⅓ c granulated sugar
- ¼ c unsweetened natural cocoa powder, I used Trader Joes but you could try Hershey’s Dark or any favorite
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ½ c buttermilk, you could use regular milk/cream/vegan milk + 1/2 tsp vinegar, to mimic buttermilk if you don’t keep buttermilk on hand
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Glaze
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter, melted
- ⅓ c or more powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract, use more if you like a stronger vanilla flavor
- 1 tbsp+ milk or cream, as needed for consistency
Instructions
- Donuts
- Pre-heat oven to 325F degrees and lightly grease or cooking-spray the donut pan (or muffin tin). I use this Wilton doughtnut pan. Pans vary by size but this is not a “huge” recipe. Double or triple the recipe as desired. For the extra bit of batter, rather than waiting for my one donut pan to come out of the oven, I made two small muffins in a muffin pan with it. It took about 15 minutes for the muffins to cook through.
- In a small bowl, soften/melt the butter and peanut butter in the microwave, about 15- 30 seconds. Stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Then add in the melted butter/peanut butter mixture and stir to combine.
- Use a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off) to pipe the batter into a 6-donut pan. Or just be extra neat and do this with a spoon which is what I did.
- Bake 8 to 11 minutes in the preheated oven, until doughnuts spring back when touched or until dough is set. Donuts will should be springy. (I always underbake my baked goods but in my oven these took 10-11 minutes to set up)
- Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan, about 5 minutes. While donuts are baking or cooling, make the glaze.
- Glaze (makes slightly more glaze than you’ll likely need if you’re glazing only the top half of the donuts. Store extra in the refrigerator for a later use or add to a smoothie, coffee, eat with a spoon, glaze the entire donut)
- In a small bowl, soften/melt the butter and peanut butter in the microwave, about 15-20 seconds. Stir to combine.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to the melted butter/peanut butter mixture and stir.
- Slowly add the water or milk, one teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze and add sprinkles or other garnishes as desired.
- To make Gluten Free: use your favorite gluten free flour blend. To make Vegan: My suggestion is be to replace the buttermilk with almond milk or full fat coconut milk (because it’s thicker like buttermilk) and add 1 tsp vinegar as noted in the recipe to mimic buttermilk; increase the amount of baking powder and/or add baking soda. Use melted margarine or Earth Balance, and use a flax/chia egg rather than regular egg.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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You’re like the peanut butter QUEEN! My gosh, I wish I could eat the stuff. It just all looks so great.
These sound amazing and might push me over the edge to but a donut pan this weekend. I think a good flavor combo would be a chocolate peppermint.
PB + chocolate = match made in heaven :P
When it comes to cake + frosting I love chocolate cake with coconut cream cheese frosting. I also love the chocolate and pb combo. LIke you said, it works with pretty much anything. SOO yum.
Hopefully I’ll be able to try this recipe soon!
We’re on twin donut wavelengths today! We even both mentioned the thanksgiving donut dessert option. I’ll ahve to give these a try as soon as I get more pb. I’ve been out for far too long as it is.
you could do them with SFSButter too…or really any nut butter. You could even skip it & just make them chocolate. How good would choc & molasses be?! I think pretty great :)
I’ve been intrigued by the whole baked doughnut deal, and I think you just sealed it. And they’re a little bit crispy on the outside? That’s what I’m hoping for. These look killer. But not for my abs. :)
A little bit crisp….barely…I would say they are like a giant muffin with the outside being like the muffin top part of a muffin and the inside being like the inside of a muffin, with a glaze on top. You can’t go wrong with them :)
You may have just made my new favorite donut. Seriously, those donuts looks mouth watering!! I love pb + chocolate and this one is definitely a winner. I’m asking for a donut baking pan for christmas just so I can make this. :)
they’re so cheap, you could just buy one now…like 8 bucks or so. Or you could make as muffins NOW…if you can’t wait for the donut pan :)
there should be a app for macs/iphones where, with just one click, you can reach in and grab your desserts….just sayin. :) these look DELICIOUS!
thank you :)
oh Averie you have out did yourself now! this sounds amazing and the photos are beyond perfect!!
thank you so much…you two girls are the donut making queens and your photography has been blowing me away lately!
averie, you did it again!! it has been far too long since i’ve broken out my donut pan. and yes i agree with your logic. it’s similar to my logic on mini cupcakes — because they are so small, you can have at least 4 (or 5).
dust it off!
Now your talking! I so love Peanut Butter and Chocolate together! Now these donuts I am for sure going to make. I’m off next week from work,and I know I’ll be doing a lot of morning baking! Thanks Averie! I am looking to making these!
these are so easy…they will be done from start to finish in less than a half hour, including dishes :)
Those look excellent!! So moist and perfect. Yum! I can’t wait to give my donut pan a try. I only have one, I think I should pick up another. Or a baby cakes maker. hehe :D
I know you are a fan of cream cheese… red velvet donuts, anyone? Sounds good to me!!
cream cheese….ahhh, stayed tuned for a savory donut recipe next week :) I may have already been at work with the cream cheese…lol
Love, Love, Love donuts :)
However since being GF vegetarian have had to yield on them. Thank you for posting such yummy looking things.
As well as posting gluten free and vegan donut recipe alternatives.
glad the alternatives are helpful.
Are these dense or light and fluffy? I’m thinking it might be fun to slice them in half and pipe some whipped frosting in the middle. Kind of like a donut whoopie pie?
More dense than light. I actually tried just that with the leftovers that were in muffin form. I just sort dug out a little hole, poured in the glaze, and resealed it. Not very precise but it worked :)
“hey there doughnuts, please feel free to GET IN MY BELLY”
I mean seriously, peanut butter frosted and glazed doughnuts?!!!!! <3
thanks for saying hi sweetie!
Thanks for sending all the info on your camera/pics! I appreciate it.
Ehh, I love peanut butter (SO MUCH), but unfortunately I have a kind of random allergy to it. The allergist reckons that it depends on the amount of mould in the peanut butter. Apparently peanuts grow a certain type of mould that you can’t see in the nut butter and some people (i.e. me) can be very sensitive to it. Swollen glands, runny nose, eyes like I’ve been punched (blue rings around them). Such a shame because I love it. I can buy fresh peanuts, shell them, and make peanut butter that I don’t react to, but ya know.. it’s that time factor thing again…
I think what you’re talking about is aflatoxin. Peanuts are high in it and some ppl are more sensitive to it than others.