I love chocolate. Maybe you can relate? Sometimes, I find myself in the mood to bake something rich and chocolatey, but I don’t necessarily want an entire cake sitting around at my house (a dangerous situation for someone who is home as much as me, ha).
These chocolate baked donuts are the perfect treat. They are ultra rich but not necessarily overly sweet (check out my baked cinnamon apple donuts if chocolate isn’t your thing).
The baked donuts are a spongey, moist cake and then they get topped with a chocolate glaze (and sprinkles if you’re fun). But, the recipe below only yields six baked donuts—a standard pan size. But, if you want to make a dozen, just double the recipe.
I used “special dark” cocoa for the donuts photographed here, so they look especially dark. But any baking cocoa will do well for these chocolate baked donuts.
Make sure to lightly butter or spray your pan before filling.
You could absolutely top these chocolate baked donuts with a different glaze or even nothing at all, and they are still a fun treat. Happy baking! xo. Emma
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup white sugar (granulated)
- ⅓ cup cocoa
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons oil (olive or canola work well)
- ½ tablespoon vinegar (apple cider or white)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons cream or milk
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup (light)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ounces chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark)
- ¾ cup sugar (powdered)
Equipment
- donut pan
Instructions
- In a medium to large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In a smaller, separate bowl, stir together the wet ingredients: milk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
- Stir the wet ingredients in with the dry until no lumps remain. Lightly butter or spray the donut baking pan before spooning the batter in.
- Bake at 350°F for 14-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack.
- For the glaze, in a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter and stir in the cream or milk, corn syrup, and vanilla. Add the chocolate chips, turning the heat down slightly if needed, and continue to cook and stir until the chips are melted.
- Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar. You may want to shift the sugar first, to remove any lumps, so your glaze will be lump-free.
- Dip the donuts in the still-warm glaze, tapping off any extra. Then, top with sprinkles if using.
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Great recipe thanks!
Good recipe
EMMA
I DIDN’T WANT TO BUY A ONE TIME USE DONUT PAN, I HAD A SIX CUP BAGEL PAN, I USED INSTEAD, IT WORKED PERFECTLY
EMMA
I DIDN’T WANT TO BUY A ONE TIME USE
💚🧡 at the moment
This was very dry.
I tried this recipe this morning. Quite easy to whip together. Maybe my donut form was more shallow but filling near the top edge resulted in more muffin than donuts. I probably would have had enough for 12 if I filled to a shorter height. Quite cakey and delicious. Will try again in the future.
I like this recipe
Wow! I just made these and they were absolutely delicious. I will be making them again. Really, really delicious, so light not heavy at all. 5 stars.
Made these with the bob’s red mill 1:1 gf flour and they came out great! Instead of the glaze here, I made a glaze with real strawberries and topped with star sprinkles 😋
This was my first baked donuts & absolutely loved them! The donut had a nice cakelike texture, but not dense like some. I really like the frosting-great taste, texture, set up nicely-the corn syrup made the difference from usual glazes. Instead of sprinkles on top, I added chopped walnuts to some and coconut to others. A big hit with the family! So good!
Can you use coconut oil
Yes, probably. I’d melt it first so you get the same volume as other liquid oils.
Great recipe! Deliciously moist but not crumbly. Kids loved them. Will definitely make this recipe again and again.
Is this with regular cocoa powder or unsweetened?
Hi! Emma used this kind (https://rstyle.me/+9rOCSBbBBDy_5kbSAYeWgg) but any type of cocoa powder will work.
Chocolate lover here!! These look delicious! I look forward to trying these with my girls some Saturday. Thanks for sharing!
These look stellar! A decadent little treat. I don’t have a donut pan, but I might try these in our mini muffin pan and call them donut holes. 😉 I’ll report back with the baking time.
I made these the day you posted this recipe and they were fantastic! I love that the recipe makes exactly six donuts, which is just enough to indulge in, share a few with neighbors, and not have leftover sweets for days on end. I made a simpler glaze with confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, and almond milk and topped mine with chopped toasted peanuts instead of sprinkles. The cake donut was a perfect texture without being too heavy, nor too crumbly like a typical chocolate cake mix might be. I am already brainstorming how to adapt this recipe to come up with other flavor variations…
Thanks for this fun recipe!
Quick question – My donut batter seems a bit thicker than what is pictured – do you know if that makes a difference and if yes, would you recommend adding oil and/or milk?
Mine was too I added more milk and they were just great my grand kids love them I will make more
I would also like other donut, recipes maybe buttermilk
Any suggestions if you don’t have corn syrup?
You can skip it, the final glaze won’t be quite as thick and won’t have that shiny look to it but it will still be tasty.
I dont have a donut pan, only muffin pan.. can I use it?
You can, but they won’t be donuts anymore and you will likely need to adjust the bake time. I don’t know what to, as I didn’t test this recipe in a muffin pan.