Baked Vanilla Donuts with Frosting

I’m like Homer Simpson in our house, always happy when I find doughnuts to eat. However, I know that donuts fried in oil aren’t the best snack choice. I wanted a non-fried version of doughnuts to snack on and these baked vanilla donuts fit the bill.

Baked Vanilla Donuts with Pink Frosting

Traditionally made doughnuts can be important parts of celebrating a certain holiday. For example, on Fat Tuesday, they’re called Paczki, and on Chanukah they are jelly-filled and called Sufganiyot.

The original recipe for these baked vanilla donuts is designed for vegans. So it uses plant butter instead of regular butter and plant milk instead of dairy milk. I wanted to give you the option to make the donuts anyway you wanted. So in the ingredients and recipe instructions, I’ve included the vegan way of making them as well as the non vegan way. The only benefit to following the vegan recipe is if you are making these for a Jewish holiday and don’t want to worry about using ingredients that might not be kosher together.

Want another vegan baked good to add to your recipe box? Try this vegan Danish cake. It has a delightful vanilla flavor.

Ingredients

I’ve broken out the ingredients into two sections. The first is for making the doughnuts. The second is for making the frosting that you’ll ice the donuts with when they’re done baking and have cooled.

Donuts

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oat milk or dairy milk
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter or regular unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegan butter or regular unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon food coloring I used pink

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until well combined.
• Add the milk, melted butter, applesauce and vanilla extract to the bowl. Whisk until smooth.
• Spray donut mold or pan with non-stick spray.
• Divide the batter into the donut mold, filling each about 3/4 full.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• While the donuts are baking, prepare the icing. Start by melting the butter in the microwave. Heat in 30 second intervals.
• In a small to medium-sized bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract and food coloring. Whisk until well combined. You can add a little bit of water or milk, if you feel like your icing is too thick.
• Once the donuts are finished baking, let them cool for about 15 minutes before frosting.
• Place parchment paper under a cooling rack. Then, dip each donut in the icing, place them on the cooling rack and let the excess drip off.
• Once the frosting has settled and is no longer wet, serve and enjoy.

Notes

I made the frosting for these donuts pink after finding pink food coloring on sale at an after Valentine’s Day sale. You don’t have to make yours pink but can use any color that you’d like. You can even change it up for different holidays, birthdays or baby showers.