Baked Vanilla Glazed Donuts — Slightly dense and cake-like, these vanilla glazed donuts are baked rather than fried. Perfect for weekend brunches and special occasion breakfasts!
Easy Baked Glazed Donut Recipe
When I bought my donut pan, I didn’t know I was going to enjoy making homemade donuts as much as I have been. But boy, I’m glad I finally got around to picking up that donut pan.
These donuts remind me of the Original Krispy Kreme Glazed Donuts. These vanilla donuts are baked, not fried, so they are not exactly the same as KK’s, but they’re remarkably similar.
Let’s face it, baked and fried, apples and oranges, but you’d be surprised how similar these are.
If you’ve never had a KK doughnut, you’re missing out!
No Krispy Kreme? No drive-thru? No problem.
It’s probably better that way, anyway. And you can make these baked vanilla donuts.
They are dense and yes, they are a ‘cake-style’ donut, but they are very moist. They are not cakey or dry like many cake-style donuts tend to be. You know those donuts that taste like you’re eating dry cardboard or ground up chalk?
These are not like that at all. The texture of them is what you’d have if there was a marriage between a donut and a muffin top. Moist and dense.
This recipe is so easy and yielded great tasting donuts. Like, you need these in your life, right now!
I loved that they were not fried because I just don’t make fried food. Not because of health or dietary objections. Oh no, that’s not the reason I don’t do fried food.
It’s because the thought of standing in front of a pot of grease and having it splatter all over me, my stove top, and stink up my house with that grease smell that lingers for days is a triple whammy.
No thanks. I’ll bake, sans grease. In 10 minutes of baking time I can have these bad boys.
What’s in the Baked Vanilla Glazed Donuts?
To make the baked vanilla donuts, you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Buttermilk
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
And to make the vanilla glaze recipe, all you’ll need is:
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Milk or heavy cream
How to Make Baked Vanilla Glazed Donuts
From start to finish — making the batter, baking the donuts, letting them cool for 5 minutes, and then glazing them, and even doing the dishes — this recipe was a 30-minute project.
Simply whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add in the wet ingredients.
Using a piping bag or a Ziplock bag with a tip snipped off, pipe the batter into a 6-count donut pan.
Bake the vanilla donuts until they spring back quickly when gently poked.
Let the donuts cool for about 5 minutes before dipping into the vanilla glaze.
Can I Make This Recipe Without a Donut Pan?
Yes! If you don’t have a donut and really don’t foresee yourself buying one, you can make these donuts as muffins instead. I tried that with the leftover batter because I could have made 7 donuts but instead I made 6 donuts + 2 small muffins.
But maybe looking at these will convince you to just buy the stinkin’ donut pan. I have no idea what took me so long, either.
Can I Bake These in a Mini Donut Pan?
I’m sure you could, but I don’t have the patience for baking mini foods so I can’t advise you on the bake time. I’d fill the mini donut pan about 2/3 full and watch them like a hawk in the oven!
Can I Add Sprinkles?
Of course! Add the sprinkles a minute or two after you’ve glazed the vanilla donuts.
Can Glazed Donuts Be Frozen?
Yes! Let the vanilla glazed donuts cool completely on your counter, then seal inside a freezer bag for up to three months. When ready to eat, thaw on your counter.
Tips for Making Baked Vanilla Donuts
I think making the glaze with some sort of cream, rather than water or milk, is best. That’s what I did because I love a good, rich glaze. I want to try making the glaze with coconut milk next.
Interestingly enough, the baked glazed donuts got better the second day. There were two donuts left over and 24 hours later, the glaze had really soaked into the donuts leaving them heavier, denser, and even more moist and rich.
If you like “light and airy” donuts that are really cakey and dry, don’t make this recipe. And definitely don’t let them sit with a glaze on them for 24 hours. But I actually love that really dense and heavy texture. I’ve always said I love leftovers.
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Baked Vanilla Glazed Donuts
Ingredients
For the Donuts:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt, I omitted
- 6 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
For the Glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, use more if you like a stronger vanilla flavor
- 1-2 teaspoons milk or heavy cream
Instructions
For the Donuts:
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease or cooking-spray a donut pan (or muffin tin).
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon (and salt).
- Add buttermilk, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk or 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 donuts spring back when touched or until dough is set. Donuts will not be golden brown, but 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.
For the Glaze:
- While donuts are baking or cooling, make the glaze by combining powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and liquid of your choice. Add the water or milk, one teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.
- Dip the donuts into the glaze while warm (or cool).
- Add sprinkles or other extras at end, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Baked Donut Recipes:
Baked Chocolate Sprinkle Donuts — Making donuts at home is as easy as making muffins! These chocolate sprinkle donuts are baked rather than fried so you can have seconds, of course!
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!
Banana Donuts with Browned Butter Caramel Glaze — Banana bread in the form of soft, fluffy baked donuts and donut holes!!
Baked Cinnamon Donuts — If you’re a cinnamon roll fan, you’re going to love these donuts.
Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donut Muffins – Part cinnamon-sugar donut hole, part mini-muffin, no matter what you call them, they’re fast and easy to make, and so tasty and pop-able.
Oh my gosh!! Freshman year of college, we would all pile into someone’s SUV and pass the Krispy Kremes on our way to Walmart. One night on our way back to the dorm, the hot donut sign came on just as we were passing. Fastest U-turn of my life, but it was the best donut of my life. Always worth it, and I am so excited to make this tomorrow for breakfast. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
Wow your story reminds me of when I used to live in Myrtle Beach. The only things open after bar closing was Walmart and…KK. 24 hr drive thru. Too convenient! :)
Ok so you have to know that the baked, non-yeast version will NEVER live up to your KK memories from freshman year. But life moves on and we try to bake things not fry them as we get older and our metabolisms arent what they used to be. LMK how they turn out for you!
I was going to just use a mini muffin tin. How much batter should I put in each tin? Half way full, 2/3’s?
Thanks!
I would say about 2/3rd’s but just use common sense…sometimes mini muffin tins are SO small it’s hard to really tell if it’s 1/2, 2/3, or exactly where it is. Have you also seen these? Both amazing.
https://www.averiecooks.com/2013/06/cinnamon-sugar-mini-donut-muffins.html
Wow, those Cinn Sugar mini donuts look amazing! Those are next on my agenda! Thanks for sharing!
I ended up filling the Van Donut/Mini muffin tins about 2/3 way full and it was a little high. The popped up over the top and were a little “poofier” than I would have liked.
Thanks for the great recipes!
Jennifer
Mini donut pans are super temperamental sometimes. Literally 1/2 teaspoon batter can sometimes make the difference which is why I don’t make a whole ton of mini anything…no patience :) If you liked these donuts though, you will LOVE the cinn-sugar mini donuts/muffins. I love that batter/dough even more than the donut dough so you can’t go wrong!
These turned out great! Thanks for the recipe. My kids really wanted a treat and this fit the bill perfectly. (I blogged them here.)
These look amazing! Can’t wait to make them! I had to laugh at your comment about not frying food! I absolutely hate frying food! And all that comes with it…the splattering hot grease, etc! Thanks for sharing! =)
What should I do if I want to replace the milk with buttermilk?
If you want to replace the buttermilk with milk you mean? You can follow my “cheater’s buttermilk suggestions” that I described in this post https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/03/strawberry-and-sprinkles-buttermilk-pancakes.html
The buttermilk or adding some yogurt/sour cream to regular milk, or vinegar, is important so the donuts have some lift!
Just made these today with a little tweak – made them chocolate! I added 3 TB cocoa powder and some dark chocolate chips. Delicious! Thanks for the really easy recipe. There are a lot out there and this one was simple and quick!
Thanks for coming back and LMK you tried them and with great success! I am all about simple & quick, too. I try to keep that in mind when I post my recipes.
I made a chocolate version, too here – with a little PB as well!
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/11/baked-chocolate-peanut-butter-donuts-with-vanilla-peanut-butter-glaze.html
I also do not think these taste like Krispy Kreme….which is fine by me. I’m never was a fan. I made these for my family twice because they loved them so much the first time. I did add a little more vanilla because I really wanted to taste vanilla and some wheat flour. My husband said that the recipe was a “keeper” and my 5 & 3 year old ate them without a fight, which is usually most mornings. I would recommend everyone to try these. They were yummy!
I am glad to hear they were a hit for you, your hubs, and two kids ate them without any fighting…love that!
how many calories does it have?
Thanks for the recipe. These were really easy to make and tasted very good. However, I do need to say that I don’t think they taste like a Krispy Kreme at all. I did use All Natural Vanilla Extract. However, I see in one of the comments above that you stated that you need to use a “high quality real vanilla extract”. It would be nice if you stated in the recipe above that they may not taste quite as good if you don’t use a high quality extract and that you achieved these results with a high quality extract. That way people know up front that if they use a lower quality extract, they may not taste like a Krispy Kreme and may not achieve the same result. Just a thought. However, again, they tasted very good!
I don’t think that using a ‘high quality’ vs. lower quality vanilla is going to make-it-or-break-it in terms of the recipe ‘working’ as long as it’s real vanilla, not imitation.
The donuts are similar to a Krispy Kreme, but you’re right, you cannot compare a donut that’s baked at home with one that’s deep fried in commercial fryers and loaded up with artificial flavors and ingredients. I prefer to avoid fried food when possible and also to make things at home, too. Glad you thought the donuts tasted very good!