Light and cakey, these Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts are so easy to make in about 30 minutes. Rich, chocolate cake is given a generous dunk in a luscious chocolate ganache glaze before being decorated with a rainfall of sprinkles. Fun and simple, kids and adults can’t get enough of them!
Unlike most people, I live on a diet of primarily donuts during the summer months. There’s a place right down the street from our summer shore house that has THE BEST donuts on the planet. I used to visit there just for the apple fritters but the donuts….they began to call to me.
I don’t know if it was the sweet, sugary aroma or the rainbow of sprinkles (aren’t we supposed to eat the rainbow?) but I had to get a bunch to take home- for research purposes, know what I mean?
On the day of my first donut binge, I got a “healthy” mix of donuts…..a vanilla glazed, a jelly filled, a chocolate glazed, a MEGA-cream filled donut and a custard filled donut. They were all pretty amazing….none were healthy….and that chocolate glazed donut rocked my world.
It was a light, cake donut that had the most rich chocolate flavor and was iced with a light layer of chocolate frosting. It was most definitely fried because it had a bit of a crunchy exterior with a soft, tender interior. Absolute heaven on earth. And definitely something that I couldn’t, or shouldn’t, eat 10 of each day.
So, I set out to make an equally amazing substitute that wouldn’t make me have to put on my stretchy pants.
These Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts are just what we need to get our chocolatey donut fix. They’re lighter on calories just by baking alone but there’s no sacrifice in flavor here.
I added a bit of espresso powder to the batter to kick up that chocolate flavor a few notches without having to add extra calories in the form of butter or more chocolate. Then, I made a simple chocolate ganache to give each donut a dunk before giving them a bath in a coating of sprinkles. They are simple, quick and totally addicting! All you need to add is a strong cup of coffee and your day will be made!
Baked Chocolate Glazed Donuts
Ingredients
DONUTS
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ⅔ cup granulated white sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
GLAZE
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
DONUTS
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Coat a donut pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder and salt.
- Add the buttermilk, eggs, butter and vanilla to the flour mixture. Whisk together until just combined.
- Fill each donut well ⅔ full with batter.
- Bake the donuts 8 to 9 minutes or until the top springs back when touched. Allow the donuts to cool for 4 to 5 minutes before removing from the pan. While the donuts cool, make the glaze.
- GLAZE
- In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until simmering. Do not boil. Add the chocolate to the cream and stir until melted and smooth.
- Dip the top of each donut in the glaze to coat and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
Notes
- Donuts are best served the same day.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Here are a few more donut recipes you may enjoy:
- Easy Apple Fritters from The Suburban Soapbox
- Baked Birthday Cake Doughnuts from Recipe Girl
- Oreo Cookies and Cream Donuts from Baker by Nature
I just made these and the batter was so dry it was more like cookie dough. Someone said it has to be so it can be piped in. There is no way this batter was thin enough to pipe. I baked them and they turned out pretty good but not very light. They taste good and I will try them again but with more buttermilk, this dough is just too dry,it doesn’t seem right.
Thank you for letting me know- sorry! I will re-test this and figure it out.
Yeah, I am having the same results as the previous person. Super dry; too dry to bake – I think the amount of buttermilk is off – I agree with the 1.5 cups.
Is this the right amount of liquid? My batter is really dry–I am making them right now. Could it be 1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk?
Hi Dawn! Yes, it’s 1/2 cup buttermilk. The batter is definitely not going to be runny like a cake batter, it needs to be thick so you can pipe it into the baking pan. If you feel it’s too stiff then add a bit more buttermilk one tablespoon at a time to loosen it a bit. 1 1/2 cups would definitely be too much.