Do you like cinnamon buns? Brownie points if you love Cinnabon cinnamon rolls like I do? If you’re a cinnamon roll fan, you’re going to love these donuts.
Really, who doesn’t love a cinnamon roll?
Warm baked dough that’s sweet, dense, cinnamony and sugary, ooey gooey, with frosting everywhere.
Yes, please.
I worked at the mall when I was in high school and between Panda Chinese food, Mrs. Field’s Cookies, and Cinnabons, I ate more sodium, grease, and sugar than should be legal or is good for the complexion. But hey, you’re only 16 and working next to the food court once.
I have such fond memories of Cinnabons. The dense texture of them, the flavors of the cinnamon, sugar, and melted butter, the warm dough, and that cream cheese frosting.
I always ordered extra frosting and it was 50 cents for that extra cup of frosting but when you’re in high school working at a minimum wage job, you notice the price of tea in China the price of extra frosting. But best use ever of 50 cents.
My grandma made the best cinnamon rolls, but since she’s not around and I had a cinnamon roll craving come over me, I knew I needed to figure something out. Working with yeast-based doughs is a kitchen fear I still need to tackle. Truth be told, I’ve never made traditional cinnamon rolls.
However, I thought that cinnamon bun style donuts was something I could handle.
And my hunch proved successful.
These donuts are baked but they are not cake, or dry the way that most baked or cake-style donuts are.
Not in the least.
They are actually pretty heavy, dense, and very moist. The texture reminds me of an underbaked muffin-top in some ways. Gooey and thick, not light, airy or fluffy.
The flavor is what you’d expect from a cinnamon bun. There’s cinnamon, sugar, brown sugar, melted butter.
And frosting. I paired the donuts with a vanilla cream cheese glaze that makes you want to dive in and bathe in it. I actually like a little donut with my frosting. A little coffee with my cream. Can you relate?
No donut pan? I’m sorry. You can buy one for $8 bucks at BB & B with a coupon or $10 without a coupon. You’ll be happy you did.
And if you really don’t want to do that, you can make these donuts as muffins in a muffin pan. I tried that with the leftover batter. The recipe yields what would be 7 donuts in my donut pan but rather than waiting for my one donut pan to come out of the oven, I made the remaining batter into two small muffins in my muffin pan. I baked the muffins for about 15 minutes and they turned out just dandy.
The whole donut recipe from start to finish, including making them, cooling, glazing, and doing the dishes is 30 minutes. That’s success.
But the fact that they remind me of Cinnabons is the best.
The recipe yields 6-7 donuts and we polished off 5 at once, right out of the oven.
Bu there was that one, lone, straggler donut. The next day, that straggler had become the perfect sponge for the cream cheese glaze.
Soaking up all that magical stuff and getting even heavier in weight and more full-bodied with flavor, which is just the way I like my baked goods: heavy, rich, dense, and intense.
Couldn’t think of a better way to Christen my new donut pan than with these.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Baked Cinnamon Bun Donuts with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, add more if you like cinnamon or want a stronger ‘cinnamon bun’ taste
- ½ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 6 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze
- ½ cup+ confectioners’ sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon+ cinnamon
- splash Milk, Half & Half, Cream, Heavy Cream, vegan milk
Instructions
- Donuts – Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease or spray a Nonstick 6-Cavity Donut Pan with cooking spray. Or, use a muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and optional salt.
- Add buttermilk, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk 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 (my preference).
- Bake 8 to 11 minutes, or until doughnuts spring back when touched are are set. Donuts will not be golden brown, but should be springy. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan, about 5 minutes.
- Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze – While donuts are baking or cooling, make the glaze by combining powdered sugar, cream cheese, vanilla extract, cinnamon, with a small splash milk. Whisk to combine, adding the milk as necessary, until desired consistency is achieved.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze. Donuts are best fresh, but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Related Recipes
Baked Vanilla Donuts with Vanilla Glaze
Baked Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts with Vanilla Peanut Butter Glaze
LOVE this!! pretty excited to realize you’re no longer a veg. (Vegans who are hating me right now can keep hating!) you rule!! i love this recipe. i love, love, love. :)
Blast from the past, how are you??!
And no longer vegan…fine for awhile, not for now. Life changes. We all have to do our thing and what’s right in the moment :)
OMG! I don’t know if it’s the pictures or the recipe that makes me drool more! Honestly, I’ve never made them myself, as all doughnuts that I had were yeast-based and entirely different.
I think I might just developed a new addiction.
Enjoy them if you make them. They are really easy and really good!
These look amazing! Like, I want to make them right this very second…that amazing. I truly cannot wait to try them!
Do it. They’re so easy! About 5 mins to whip up the batter and pour into a donut pan (or use a muffin pan if you dont have a donut pan!)
pinned! I can’t wait to make these!
thanks for pinning and I hope you do make them. Enjoy!! :)
Thank you for sharing. I just recently bought the Wilton donuts pan so was pleased to see your recipe. Will be giving this one a try in a few days. I recently made chocolate donuts and if you are interested I posted that recipe on my soup night blog.
I actually made chocolate donuts recently too….I need to post about them…soon :)
Yours look great!
Oh wow. I wanted to comment on these before and got sidetracked. These look like the most delicious donuts. I am so right there with you on the criteria for a worthwhile dessert, Averie: dense, moist, extra frosting, extra sweet. Those donuts look awesome! Gotta get me a pan from BBB! :-)
I just made these and am in donut heaven! I ate two of them as soon as I slathered on enough glaze for my tastes :) They are so so so delectable, and the great thing about making them in donut form is that you get the perfect donut-to-frosting ratio with every bite (I know you can make them in muffin form, but when there’s a yummy frosting or glaze, that’s what I’m all about…and really, cupcakes are just one fluffy vehicle for getting all that frosting to my taste buds).
I doubled the recipe because I know my coworkers will love these on a Monday morning, but I did want to ask if you stored the loner donut in the refrigerator, given the cream cheese and milk/half and half in the glaze, or if you simply stored it in an airtight container on the counter…sometimes the refrigerator plays with the texture of my baked goods, so I’d like to keep these as marvelously dense and moist as they are!
Glad you made them and they’re a hit! I just stored the extra donut in an airtight container on the countertop but do as you see fit with yours. You may want to refrigerate them but yes, refrigerating baked goods like donuts can play with the texture. Hope your coworkers love them…you’re so nice to bring homemade donuts into work!
These look sooooo yummy! Makes me wish I had a donut pan, haha!
you can make them as muffins! I wrote that in the recipe but just make in a muffin pan and glaze them…easy! Til you get a donut pan :)
What I wouldn’t give for one of these RIGHT NOW for breakfast. Holy Hannah. I’m drooling.
thanks :)
Holy cow, those look far too amazing Averie! I need to get a donut pan.
That’s it. A donut pan has been added to my Christmas list!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE cinnamon buns probably more than any other sweet treat. Those and really good cookies are about the only sweet things I actually go gaga over.