These Vanilla Baked Donuts offer a perfect blend of sweetness and simplicity. With a soft, moist interior and a crisp exterior, they are a healthier alternative to their fried counterparts. Plus, the vanilla glaze and colorful sprinkles add a festive touch that makes them irresistible!

Want to add some new recipes to your baking collection? Give our tasty Chocolate Chip Cookies or our irresistible Keto Blueberry Lemon Muffins a try. And if you're craving more sweet treats, our Mini Apple Pie Pops is always a hit with a crowd.

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Variations
Substitutions
Storage
Ingredients
Instructions
⭐ Top Tips
Frequently Asked Questions
Vanilla Baked Donut Recipe

Variations

Want to switch up the flavors of your baked vanilla donuts? Here are some tasty ideas:

Chocolate Glaze - Replace the vanilla glaze with a rich chocolate glaze for a decadent twist.
Cinnamon Sugar - After baking, dip the donuts in a mix of cinnamon sugar to add a classic and comforting taste.
Nutty Delight - Incorporate finely chopped nuts into your batter for a crunchy texture and nutty flavor.

Vanilla glazed donuts with pretty sprinkles

Substitutions

Need to make some ingredient swaps? Here are some options:

Milk - Swap out dairy milk with almond milk or oat milk for a dairy-free alternative.
Butter - Use melted coconut oil instead of unsalted butter for a non-friendly option.
Flour - If you're avoiding gluten, try using gluten-free flour in place of regular all-purpose flour.

Storage

Storing your baked vanilla donuts properly ensures they stay fresh and tasty:

Once cooled, place the donuts on a wire rack to cool completely before glazing or frosting.
Store the glazed or frosted donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for a longer shelf life.

Ingredients

Listed below are all the ingredients you will need:

all purpose flour
baking powder
salt
sugar
egg
milk
vanilla extract
butter
milk
powdered sugar

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Gather the ingredients for this Vanilla Baked Donut. Once the ingredients are all ready, preheat oven to 325 degrees F and spray donut baking pan with a nonstick spray.

Let's begin!

In a medium-sized bowl add flour, salt, baking powder, and mix using a whisk:

mixing the dry ingredients for vanilla donut recipe

In a large bowl add sugar, egg, milk, vanilla extract, butter, and beat until well combined:

eggs, vanilla, milk and butter in a bowl for vanilla donuts recipe

Add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix, but don't over mix:

mixing in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients of vanilla donuts recipe

This is how the donut batter should look like:

In a ziplock bag add the batter and snip off one of the corners of the edges and pipe it into the donut pan:

putting the donut batter in a ziplock back with an opening

Bake for 12-15 minutes:

In another bowl, add ¼ cup milk and slowly add powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time while mixing:

vanilla glaze and colorful sprinkles for vanilla donuts

After giving the donuts enough time to cool in a cooling rackDip donuts in the glaze and add sprinkles:

putting sweet sprinkles on vanilla glaze

Aren't the donuts pretty as well as delicious?!? And it is equally delicious, too! These vanilla baked donut are even perfect for Valentine's day!

⭐ Top Tips

Enhance the flavor of your cake donuts with pure vanilla extract. To ensure moist and rich donuts, incorporate sour cream into your batter.
For a more festive look, sprinkle with colorful candy sprinkles. The more color you sprinkle, the merrier!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you soften hard donuts?

To soften hard donuts, you can microwave them for a few seconds or wrap them in a damp paper towel and heat in the oven.

Are baked donuts healthier than fried?

Generally, baked donuts are considered healthier than fried ones because they have less fat and fewer calories.

Are store bought donuts baked or fried?

Most store-bought donuts are fried, but there are also baked options available depending on the brand and type you choose.

Growing up I was not allowed to eat sweets, however when I was in third or maybe fourth grade I was introduced to donuts. My teachers would allow parents to bring breakfast for the class and most parents would bring donuts because it was easy and kids love them. My love for donuts began and it only grew worse as I got older.

Now that I'm a little older, I try to eat a little bit better. So instead of deep frying the donuts, I baked them instead. It's not as fluffy, but it's still delicious! What kind of donuts do you like eating? My favorite one is the plain donut with no glaze or sprinkles.