87 1650

Baked Chocolate Cinnamon Doughnuts

January 31, 2012

I'm always hesitant to invest in kitchen gear that I want but don't feel like I really need. So when I saw a doughnut pan at Target recently, my first thought was, "I gotta have that!" Then the sane part of my brain kicked in and said, "Catherine, do we really need yet another baking pan"?

It took me years to invest in a crock pot and rice cooker, both of which I can safely say have changed my life in the kitchen, so I tried rationalizing that this pan would do the same. That felt like a stretch. Finally the fun part of me chimed in and said, "of course we need a doughnut pan! " Oh, how I love my fun part.

Sure, no one in my family needs a fried doughnut, but I thought if I could make a healthier, baked doughnut for say breakfast or a snack treat, the pan would pay for itself in the long run from all the money I'd save not having to buy doughnuts.

I've made pumpkin doughnuts using Ziploc bags to pipe out the doughnuts (watch the video here to see how easy it is). That system works great, but I have to say my new Doughnut Pan is AWESOME and turns out the most perfectly baked doughnut I've ever tasted in terms of size, shape and texture.

When I gave these Baked Cinnamon Chocolate Doughnuts to the kids for breakfast the first morning I made them, they went absolutely nuts. Doughnuts, let alone chocolate ones, just about qualified me for sainthood in their eyes. It was one of those moments that I actually felt like a totally rockin' mom for bringing that kind of joy to them in the morning.

That's as good of an argument as I need to have "yet another baking pan." ;)

Like this post Comment on this post

Baked Chocolate Cinnamon Doughnuts  (Makes 6 doughnuts)

  • Prep Time:5 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes,
  • Total Time: 15 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • icing:
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon milk or cream

Preparation

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
  2. 2. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
  3. 3. In a standing mixer (or bowl using a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar.
  4. 4. Add the egg, buttermilk and vanilla and combine.
  5. 5. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
  6. 6. Spoon into greased and floured donut pan.*
  7. 7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
  8. 8. To make the icing, place all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
  9. 9. Cool.
  10. 10. Drizzle with frosting and serve.
  11. * If you don’t have a doughnut pan, place the dough in a large Ziploc bag, seal the bag airtight and then cut off a 1/2 inch of one corner. Pipe the dough into (circles) doughnuts on a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool.
+ Recipe Box + Print 87

Related Recipes

Comments






1 2 3

  1. Michelle W

    April 9, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    Reply

    Yum! I am gonna sub a GF Flour blend, then, will sub coconut/palm sugar to make them refined sugar free. Will also make them dairy free by using soy-free Earth Balance vegan butter, and will make buttermilk with 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar in the cup of coconut milk. Will use coconut milk for the 1 tsp milk. MAY try making them vegan by using egg replacer, we’ll see. I may also use carob powder vs cocoa powder.

  2. akprincess12

    April 6, 2013 at 1:44 am

    Reply

    can i use hot chocolate mix insted of coco powder?

    • catherine

      April 8, 2013 at 10:53 am

      Reply

      No. Hot chocolate mix has a lot of stuff mixed in. Cocoa powder is straight cocoa!

  3. Darlene

    February 13, 2013 at 4:11 pm

    Reply

    Oh my goodness gracious!!! I. Am. In. LOVE. These were amazing. It’s so rare that I have all the ingredients on hand when I come across a recipe that I’ve found on the internet. Thank you so much. My 3 kids have never been so silent at the breakfast table. My family and sweet tooth thank you.

  4. vensel96

    January 23, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    Reply

    I just made these chocolate doughnuts and they are wonderful. Instead of Buttermilk though, I used Kefir which is a runny yogurt that I use in my recipes. The recipe indicated you could make 6, I doubled the recipe and got 20! The doughnuts were smaller and fluffed up wonderfully! My kids helped make them and they LOVE these. I’m new to your website and I’m so happy I found it! Keep up the good work, you are awesome Catherine ;)

  5. Kim

    January 18, 2013 at 7:56 am

    Reply

    thanks for the recipe. I modified it to be gluten, dairy, and egg free, and it was delicious. the batter was too runny to be piped into circles, so I used a mini woopie pie pan. They are very moist and chewy.

  6. Soshanna

    December 26, 2012 at 11:10 pm

    Reply

    I just made it today and I like its flavor. Delicious !
    only this recipe make me want to buy a donut pan !
    with baking sheet, it turns flat, but still delicious :D
    I made ‘donut hole’ which turns out to be like ‘egg drop’ cake but still delicious !

  7. erinmw

    September 13, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    Reply

    This recipie is AMAZING, I’ve just made a batch for the morning and had to sneak a bite and they were soo light and fluffy! Can not wait to serve them for breakfast tomorrow I know the family will go nuts for hem, thank you!!!

  8. Rachel

    August 27, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    Reply

    Wow! These are perfect! Love them!!! Thank you!

  9. Kristin

    August 6, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    Reply

    I just made these today and they turned out perfectly. My kids and I loved them. I loved the combination of chocolate and cinnamon. They smelled divine.

  10. Pingback: Horns by Joe Hill | taft + gray

  11. Brandi

    July 21, 2012 at 10:29 am

    Reply

    I made these in a mini donut maker and they were delicious!! Thank you.

  12. Tegan

    July 4, 2012 at 6:02 am

    Reply

    Hey guys! just wanted to let you know that I made these today and they were fab! Made the batter into 24 mini donuts at 52 calories a pop, without any icing :)

  13. Laura

    June 4, 2012 at 12:18 am

    Reply

    Just made these and they are delicious!! I added an extra 1/4cup sugar :)

  14. Pingback: Chocolate cinnamon | Akabutch

  15. Leslie

    May 9, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Reply

    This may have been mentioned already, so forgive me if it has.

    Vegans who need buttermilk can use vinegar in soy/almond/oat/rice or other milk alternative as a substitute. Just put about a cap ful of vinegar into a cup of milk and let it sit for about a minute. Voila!

  16. Pingback: Milkshake Kids | Good Finds That Give Back | Kid-Tested, Mom-Approved Recipes « CaymanMoms

  17. Elizabeth

    March 7, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    Reply

    Also, (I forgot to ask) can you use stevia as a substitute for at least part of the sugar?

    • catherine

      March 7, 2012 at 2:57 pm

      Reply

      I’ve tried and tried to love Stevia, but I just can’t! So I would not use that as a replacement in this recipe.

      • Emma

        March 31, 2012 at 8:53 am

        Reply

        Have you tried truvia/purevia ?

        • catherine

          April 2, 2012 at 11:24 am

          I have and I just don’t like the taste!

  18. Elizabeth

    March 7, 2012 at 12:41 pm

    Reply

    Quick question, if you have one of those “cake pop” makers, could you make these as doughnut holes in that?

    • catherine

      March 7, 2012 at 2:51 pm

      Reply

      Yes, that should work fine, and would be so cute! Let me know how they come out!

  19. Kim

    March 5, 2012 at 9:52 am

    Reply

    Ok, so I went out the next mornin and bought more butter. I made these doughnuts exactly to the recipe, but I did not have a doughnut pan. They came out flatter than a doughnut, but with a proper pan, you could clearly see its promise. I did not make the hole large enough, so most of them closed from the expansion while baking. Which was fine, the shape didn’t much matter to me, but you should make your holes at least an inch in diameter. Cake doughnuts are my favorite, so I was excited to find a baked version. However, these were disappointing in the “treat” of a doughnut sense. They just weren’t sweet enough for me. I don’t eat any sugar 6 days of the week, so I’m usually pretty sensitive to sugar when I finest it and I got mostly nothing from these doughnuts. They are definitely a healthier alternative and fun to make, but, Catherine, do you have any recommendations on how to make them sweeter for those of us who miss that element of bought doughnuts? Thanks!!

    • catherine

      March 5, 2012 at 1:18 pm

      Reply

      You could add a little more sugar to the recipe without messing with the consistency. I would try upping it by just a 1/4 Cup to begin with and see how that comes out for you!

  20. Kim

    March 2, 2012 at 11:12 pm

    Reply

    Ugh. I just got home from the store from a 10pm run to get the ingredients to make these in the morning. I was positive I already had butter, but of course I get home and don’t have enough to make these. I do have a tub of Smart Balance buttery spread. Will that work to make up the quantity difference when I run out of the butter (I have about 1 TBS left of butter)?

  21. Manin

    March 1, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    Reply

    I just made this and they are amazing! I have a doughnut pan and did a recipe that came with the package but didn’t like them at all. So Im so happy now I have a really good one to use with my pan.

    You have a great blog! Thanks for all the ideas, it has been so helpful for me, you have no idea. I have 1.5yo girl and 3yo boy …

    Sorry for my English, Im from Mexico!

  22. Esther

    March 1, 2012 at 9:38 pm

    Reply

    deeeelicioussss!! and looked like a cute donut to me!!
    ((Definitely helped me with the chocolate craving I’ve been having lately too!! =P))

    Is there any way to make it more moist? sour cream? zucchini? I’ll have to try them next time – wondering if any one else tried anything that added a bit more moistness to it.

  23. Beckie W

    February 26, 2012 at 10:17 am

    Reply

    I made these this morning and subbed white whole wheat flour and maple syrup. Added 1/4 c more buttermilk because of the whole wheat. My 6 yr old devoured them! DH said ‘sure taste healthy!’ which was code for ick. It’s ok: if he wants to eat he’ll get on board ;)

  24. Megan

    February 19, 2012 at 7:13 pm

    Reply

    I just made these and they turned out perfectly. I bought the doughnut pan from target today! I was curious if I should store them in the fridge or if pantry was okay? thanks for all the wonderful recipes!

    • catherine

      February 20, 2012 at 5:36 pm

      Reply

      Sealed in an airtight container the pantry is just fine! I’m glad you liked them!

  25. Erica

    February 16, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Reply

    I made these this morning, I didn’t have a donut pan and the batter was too thin to try and pipe it out into circles. So I put them in muffin tins and they turned out great. I didn’t have buttermilk so just used our regular 1% milk. I also didn’t have coca-powder… So I used chocolate milk powder. It was good too! Thanks Catherine for wonderful, healthy options for our kids!

1 2 3


Manage your shopping list and search for recipes from across the web at ZipList.com

Sign Up for Free Daily Recipes