Baked Lemon Donuts with Lemon Glaze — These taste like the Starbucks lemon loaf, but in donut (or mini muffin) form!! Easy, no mixer recipe with a tart-yet-sweet lemon glaze that’s PERFECT! Lemon lovers will adore them!!
Easy Baked Donut Recipe
I took one of the most popular recipes on my site — my Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf — and turned it into donuts. They’re full of robust lemon flavor and are soft, fluffy, moist, and baked rather than fried so you can have extra, of course.
They’re ready in 25 minutes so there’s no excuse to not make them. They’re perfect for breakfast, brunch, or snacks.
I only have one full-size donut pan so I made donut holes too in my mini muffin pan. They’re adorable and highly poppable as mini food always is. I haven’t tried the recipe as full size muffins.
Make as written and you’re going to love these lemony gems.
What’s in the Lemon Donuts?
To make these lemon glazed donuts, you’ll need:
- Egg
- Granulated sugar
- Greek yogurt
- Oil
- Lemon zest and juice
- Lemon extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Yellow food coloring (optional)
- Confectioners’ sugar
How to Make Baked Lemon Donuts
Gently whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Combine the two, then divide the batter between a six-count donut pan and a 12-count mini muffin pan.
Bake until the donuts and donut holes are cooked through, set, and springy to the touch. Let the donuts cool slightly while you make the lemon glaze (a simple combination of lemon juice and powdered sugar).
What Can I Substitute for the Lemon Extract?
Nothing, unfortunately. Because it took me years to perfect my Starbucks Copycat recipe, I have very specific instructions about the use of lemon extract and lemon juice.
Do NOT use lemon juice in the donuts in place of lemon extract because lemon juice isn’t flavorful enough and the acidity will negatively alter the overall results. Lemon extract is very inexpensive, far less than vanilla extract, and you do want to use a full tablespoon in this recipe for a big pop of lemon flavor.
Additionally, lemon extract and lemon oil are NOT interchangeable.
Tips for Making Lemon Glazed Donuts
I only have one donut pan at home, so I used a 6-count donut pan and a 12-count mini muffin pan for this recipe. Mix and match pans as needed, and adjust the bake time accordingly.
I dolloped the batter into the donut pan with a spoon, but you can transfer to a large zip-top 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.
You don’t need to let the donuts cool completely before glazing them. The glaze will slide off the warm donuts a little bit, but that’s okay. Warm donuts are the best!
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Baked Lemon Donuts with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 6 ounces Greek yogurt, I used 0% fat Fage, sour cream may be substituted
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon extract, or to taste (not teaspoon; and not lemon oil and not lemon juice; see step 2 below for notes)
- a few drops of yellow food coloring, optional and as needed for desired shade
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, or as necessary for consistency
Instructions
For the Donuts:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 6-count non-stick donut pan and one mini muffin pan with cooking spray, or grease the pans; set aside.
- To a large bowl, add the the egg, sugar, Greek yogurt, oil, lemon zest, lemon extract, optional food coloring, and whisk 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 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 16 minutes, or until donuts and donut holes are cooked through, set, and springy to the touch. The donuts baked for 15 minutes and donut holes for 14 minutes in my oven but all pans, climates, ovens, how full the pans are filled, etc. vary so bake until done.
- Allow donuts and donut holes to cool in the pans while you make the glaze.
Lemon Glaze:
- To a small bowl, add the confectioner’s sugar and slowly drizzle in the lemon juice while whisking until smooth and combined. You may need to play with the sugar and lemon juice amounts slightly as necessary for desired consistency and flavor.
- Dip the top of each donut and donut hole in glaze and allow to cool momentarily before enjoying.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Lemon Dessert Recipes:
The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat) — Took years but I finally recreated it! Easy, no mixer, no cake mix, dangerously good!!
Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze – An easy little cake with big lemon flavor!! Soft, fluffy, and foolproof if you like puckering up!
Glazed Lemon Pie Bars — Buttery soft crust with luscious lemon filling and a lemon glaze boosts the bold lemon flavor even more! If you like lemon pie, you’ll love these easy bars that are so much easier than making pie!
Lemon Lemonies – Like brownies, but made with lemon and white chocolate! Dense, chewy, not cakey and packed with big, bold lemon flavor!
Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting – Soft, fluffy, moist, very lemony cupcakes from scratch! Easy one-bowl, no-mixer recipe for cupcakes that taste like they’re from a bakery!
The Best Lemon Bars – Truly the best lemon bars I’ve ever had!
Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies — Big, bold lemon flavor packed into super soft cookies thanks to the cream cheese!! Tangy-sweet perfection! Lemon lovers are going to adore these easy cookies!!
Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies – Packed with big, bold lemon flavor for all you lemon lovers! They’re soft, chewy and not at all cakey!
Love this recipe
Love this recipe
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love this recipe!
great
quite simply … delicious!!!!!!
many thanks
Is the yogurt measured by volume or weight? I see the recipe calls for 6 oz and the fage single servings are 5.3 oz by weight, is one yogurt container enough?
Container and packaging sizes change over the years (unfortunately) but yes a 5ish ounce container is fine.
quite simply … delicious!!!!!!
many thanks
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad these were delicious!
Made a double batch of these I don’t think they’re going to last long. I can’t believe how light and just the right amount of lemon.
Made a double batch of these I don’t think they’re going to last long. I can’t believe how light and just the right amount of lemon.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad to hear they were a hit!
hi, can i make this into chocolate and take out all the lemon ect….. and add cocoa powder these were incredible, the moisture of the cake.
I really am not sure how that would work. I have a chocolate donut recipe that I know works great https://www.averiecooks.com/baked-chocolate-donuts-with-chocolate-ganache-and-sprinkles/
Absolutely love, love, love these lemon doughnuts. So simply to make and so flavorful. Love anything lemon. Thank you!
Absolutely love, love, love these lemon doughnuts. So simply to make and so flavorful. Love anything lemon. Thank you!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you absolutely love them!
Yours is the first recipe I tried when I received my new Wilton 20-well donut pan. I also love the Starbucks lemon cake so the thought of lemon donuts based on that recipe made my mouth water. My first batch, I had a severe brain fart and forgot to add the oil and greek yogurt to the egg & sugar mixture. I realized this when I mixed the egg and sugar into the dry ingredients and of course it was way too dry. So then I mixed in the yogurt but in another brain fart forgot the oil. So then I had to mix in the oil last. I was afraid I’d ruined the batch, so I set the batter aside and started all over. I had no more yogurt so had to use sour cream for the second batch. The donuts were delicious – my husband and son loved them, too. I hate to see ingredients go to waste, so I baked up the first batch – they were fine, maybe not as tender and fluffy but still delicious. On a final note, I used Frontier brand lemon flavoring (I didn’t have any lemon extract) – it’s made with glycerin and oil rather than with alcohol, but worked fine, with tons of lemon flavor. This is a fantastic recipe, thank you.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you got to break in your new donut pan, a few times!
Thanks for sharing the type of extract you used because often people do ask about brand recommendations and I generally just use whatever store brand is on sale.
Yours is the first recipe I tried when I received my new Wilton 20-well donut pan. I also love the Starbucks lemon cake so the thought of lemon donuts based on that recipe made my mouth water. My first batch, I had a severe brain fart and forgot to add the oil and greek yogurt to the egg & sugar mixture. I realized this when I mixed the egg and sugar into the dry ingredients and of course it was way too dry. So then I mixed in the yogurt but in another brain fart forgot the oil. So then I had to mix in the oil last. I was afraid I’d ruined the batch, so I set the batter aside and started all over. I had no more yogurt so had to use sour cream for the second batch. The donuts were delicious – my husband and son loved them, too. I hate to see ingredients go to waste, so I baked up the first batch – they were fine, maybe not as tender and fluffy but still delicious. On a final note, I used Frontier brand lemon flavoring (I didn’t have any lemon extract) – it’s made with glycerin and oil rather than with alcohol, but worked fine, with tons of lemon flavor. This is a fantastic recipe, thank you.
I tried the recipe 01/01/19 and they were a hit. I love the fluffy and moist lemon donut. I will this recipe again because i like the yogurt rather buttermilk. Thanks so much for a delicious donut.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you will make these again!
I tried the recipe 01/01/19 and they were a hit. I love the fluffy and moist lemon donut. I will this recipe again because i like the yogurt rather buttermilk. Thanks so much for a delicious donut.
Can i sub 1/2 whole wheat flour with the rest being AP flour?
I have only made the recipe as written and really can’t say how it will turn out if you make substitutions.
Have you ever made this with Splenda, or any other sugar substitute?
Would love more recipes with those
I have not, only with regular sugar.