Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts

For almost a year now I had been tinkering with a recipe for baked donuts. Most of them weren’t worth making a second time in spite of some of them looking beautiful. They didn’t taste like donuts at all. Sure, they were round with a hole in the center, but that’s where the donut similarities ended.

Taking a bite of something that looks like a donut and tastes nothing like one is a disappointing experience. I had given up on this baking experiment. I set the stack of baked donut recipes aside and they became buried by dozens of other recipes.

Then along came a Saturday morning a few weeks ago.  It was brisk outside as I headed out to do my morning farm chores. By the time I came in from my rounds with the goats, chickens, and ducks, I was dreaming of a hot cup of coffee and something delicious to eat for breakfast. And then the donut craving hit me. I desperately wanted a chocolate donut to go with my coffee.

With food allergies to consider and the stay at home order in our state due to Covid-19, going out to buy a chocolate donut wasn’t an option. So, I took a deep breath and turned to the back of my bulging binder of recipes that need more work. I found a stack of baked donut recipes covered in my handwritten notes about disappointing flavor, chewy texture, and glazes that didn’t set up properly. I grabbed that cup of coffee, my trusty pencil, a pile of failed recipes, and went to work.

I wanted my baked donut to be delicious and similar to a traditional cake donut.  I wanted it to be firm enough to hold its shape when I picked it up to take a bite while still being soft and tender. I wanted the chocolate flavor to really come through, not leave me wishing that my chocolate donut actually tasted like chocolate. It was a lot to ask from a donut that was baked instead of fried, but I was willing to try it one last time.

I decided that using cake flour might help to create the texture I was looking for. Cake flour produces a more delicate, tender texture in baking recipes because it has a much lower protein content. While our food allergies prevent me from buying cake flour at the store, I learned how to make my own homemade version a few years ago.  You can use cake flour from your baking pantry in this recipe or follow my simple instructions to Make Your Own Cake Flour Substitute using All-purpose flour and cornstarch.

To amplify the chocolate flavor, I decided to add a bit of acidity to the batter. I considered buttermilk but decided to go with sour cream. Sour cream donuts are an old fashioned recipe that I often come across when looking through old cookbooks. Sour cream adds the acidity that encourages baked goods to rise and also adds a bit of fat to the batter which creates a moist donut with just a hint of the tangy flavor it is known for.  That all sounded good to me.

With those decisions made, I set about working on the proportions and timing for the recipe. I wanted this recipe to be simple. I wanted it to be so easy to bring together that you could have the batter ready to transfer to the donut pan by the time the oven had preheated. In my mind, a recipe that easy meant one delicious thing: baking donuts could be so simple that we could make them every weekend if we wanted to.

This recipe is exactly that sort of simple, easy, no fuss recipe. You combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the liquid in another, mix them up, and transfer them to a donut pan. After baking for a mere 8 minutes, you’ll have a dozen donuts that taste every bit as delicious as a fried donut still warm from the donut shop. You’ll be amazed that you can make a donut this delicious without the work, mess, and added fat of frying them.

Of course, I’m not against frying donuts. If you’d like to fry up a more traditional donut, our favorite Simple Farmhouse Style Doughnuts are tough to beat. Fill them with fresh preserves from your pantry, roll them in a bit of sugar, and you’ll wonder where they’ve been all of your life.

Now that I’ve finally conquered a baked chocolate donut recipe, I also have a recipe for Baked Blueberry Glazed Donuts.  It’s almost finished and I can’t wait to share it with you. They’re equally delicious and just as easy to make.

This recipe doesn’t incorporate any specialty ingredients, but it does require a donut pan. There are many different sizes, shapes, and types available. If you have one already, you can adapt the recipe and baking time to work with what you have. If not, this is the same donut pan that I use. Each pan makes six donuts so I use two pans to bake the entire recipe’s dozen donuts at once.

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Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts

Jennifer from 1840 Farm

Due to food allergies, it is difficult to find cake flour at the grocery store that is safe for our family. A few years ago, I discovered that I could easily make my own cake flour substitute using All-purpose flour and cornstarch to deliver the benefits of cake flour without adding allergens. This recipe incorporates that substitution. If you would prefer to use premixed cake flour, simply use 1 ½ cups of cake flour instead of the All-purpose flour and cornstarch called for in the recipe.

Servings: 12 donuts

Author: Jennifer from 1840 Farm

Ingredients

For the Donut Batter:

• 1 cup All-purpose flour
• ½ cup cornstarch
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 Tablespoon butter , melted
• 1 Tablespoon oil

For the Donut Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 5 to 6 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

  Most donut pans have a nonstick surface that does not require any preparation. However, I find that a very light coating of pan spray or my homemade magic pan release spread helps to ensure that the donuts come out of the pan cleanly. So, I brush a very light coating of my homemade magic pan release spread in each cavity of my donut pan before mixing up my batter.
• In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. I like to use a dry whisk to combine the dry ingredients, aerate them, and break up any small lumps. If you prefer, you can sift them together and achieve the same result.
• In a small bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, milk, melted butter, and oil. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well combined. Add them in a single addition to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula or spoon until smooth.
• Transfer the batter to the donut pan. This can be a tricky process until you get the hang of it. Many bakers use a pastry bag with a large open tip. I like to use a large spoon. Fill each cavity of the donut pan between ⅔ and ¾ full. Just like a cupcake, baked donuts will rise as they bake, so take care not to overfill the pan. Overfilling will lead to misshapen donuts that may lose their recognizable donut shape. They’ll be delicious, but look more like muffin tops than donuts.
• Bake the donuts in the preheated oven for 8 minutes. When fully baked, the donuts will have risen above the surface of the pan, have a springy texture when touched, and be slightly dry on the top. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean or with small crumbs attached.
• Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Using a small spatula or butter knife, gently loosen each donut from the pan. Move the donuts to a wire rack to cool slightly. They should still be warm when they are glazed, but can be allowed to cool a bit until they are easier to handle.
• While the donuts cool, mix up the glaze. Add the milk or cream to the powdered sugar and salt in a shallow bowl. Mix until a smooth and lump free glaze forms. It will take a bit of stirring for the ingredients to come together into a smooth, glossy mixture. If needed, you can add more cream or milk until the consistency is thick enough to coat the donut but thin enough to run off a spoon.
• Add a warm donut to the glaze mixture and turn to coat. I often use a spoon to baste the donut with glaze as I am turning it. When the donut has been covered completely, hold the donut over the bowl for a few seconds to allow excess glaze to drip off the donut and back into the bowl. Transfer the glazed donut to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to allow the glaze to set up. Excess glaze will continue to drip from the glazed donuts, so I like to place my wire rack over a piece of freezer paper or parchment to catch the glaze and make cleanup easier.
• Continue glazing the warm donuts until they have all been coated. I like a thin coating of glaze on my donuts, but you can add a thicker layer (or even a double layer) if you prefer. Simply mix up a double batch of glaze and you’ll have plenty.

Notes

Donuts are always at their best the day they are made. The glaze will help to prevent the donut from drying out, but can become a bit messy especially on a humid and hot summer day.

Donuts can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or can be frozen for long term storage. I leave donuts that will be consumed within 24 hours out at room temperature and freeze the rest. A frozen donut can be allowed to thaw at room temperature or microwaved for 20 – 25 seconds. When warmed, they taste just as delicious as the day they were made.

Tried this recipe?Mention @1840Farm or tag #1840FarmFood! We can’t wait to see what you make!