You know how it goes, you want to make something special for Easter Sunday, but you need a little reassurance that you can pull it off. Fear not, these Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts are totally within the realm of everyone’s culinary skills.

Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts from WeeliciousPin

Easter is upon us and (to me at least) that means a big family brunch with lots of scrumptious treats — especially for the kids! Pound Cake was always a favorite of mine as a child and I’ve been thinking of ways to put a new twist on it for Easter. When I was recently gifted Kitchen Aid Mini Doughnut pans at a kids cooking event, I couldn’t wait to get home and put them to good use for my pound cake experiment.

Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts from WeeliciousPin

Baked (not fried!) these Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts are moist, delicate and lightly sweet. They may be small in size, but each one offers a burst of tart lemon flavor and is topped with a thin coat of icing (the icing part is totally up to you as these doughnuts are fall-off-the-chair good on their own).

It’s really as simple as whipping together all of the ingredients for this lemon pound cake and then filling the tins. The best part about the recipe is that it totally works in both mini and regular sized muffin or donut pan.

Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts from WeeliciousPin

I’ve made two batches of these donuts in the past week. One I froze without the icing (to prevent sticking) so I could have a few on hand for whenever we’re in the mood for a little treat. The other batch I set aside to pack for school lunch or serve as an after dinner dessert. I made the those with two different types of icings. Adding tart lemon juice to sweet powdered sugar makes for a flavorful clear glaze, while adding milk or cream to powdered sugar (hello decadence) makes for a white and creamy topping. Either way, these donuts are beauteous and a really tasty treat for Easter or any time of year!

Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts from WeeliciousPin

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Lemon Pound Cake Mini Doughnuts

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Servings: 1 doughnuts
Author: Catherine McCord
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients  

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Lemon Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice, milk OR cream (to make the icing white)

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  • Using a standing mixer or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, making sure to incorporate each one.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and set aside.
  • Whisk the vanilla, sour cream, lemon juice and lemon zest in a separate bowl.
  • Add the flour and sour cream alternately to the egg mixture 1/2 at a time, until combined.
  • Spoon the batter into greased mini doughnut pans and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Mix together the glaze ingredients until smooth.
  • Allow the doughnuts to cool completely before glazing.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!

About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

Comments

  1. Hi. I’d like to make these for my child’s class snack but would these work in a mini-muffin pan?

  2. Hi. I’d like to make these for my child’s class snack but would these work in a mini-muffin pan?

  3. Help… can’t wait to try these… but there is some kind of funky typo in the ingredients list…
    Lemon Glaze greek yogurt”.
    Would you clarify? The greek yogurt is part of the glaze ingredients, right? And how much greek yogurt do you use?

  4. Help… can’t wait to try these… but there is some kind of funky typo in the ingredients list…
    Lemon Glaze greek yogurt”.
    Would you clarify? The greek yogurt is part of the glaze ingredients, right? And how much greek yogurt do you use?

  5. I haven’t tested this recipe in a loaf pan, but I’m sure it would work great! You will need to increase the baking time to probably 35-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let me know your results if you try it!

  6. Will this work with a sugar substitute such as honey or maple syrup? Also, if excluding the lemon, do I need to add anything else to make up for the lost liquid? thanks for another great recipe idea!

  7. These look delicious, but my kids don’t like lemon flavored goodies. Any ideas what to substitute or could I leave out the lemon juice? Thanks~

  8. Just made these for my daughter’s 8th Birthday and they are a delicious. Followed the recipe exactly. I used the Wilton 6-cavity doughnut pan and the recipe made 18 donuts in that pan. It probably would have been better to use a little less batter in each donut cavity and make 20+ donuts so they have a better shape.

  9. Isn’t one stick of butter 1/4 cup, instead of 1/2 cup? So did you mean four us to add one stick or two? I’d guess the latter but I don’t want to get this wrong.

  10. Making today for Easter tomorrow. How far in advance can you make and they still are fresh and soft? I’m thinking the icing needs to set so they’ll stack and not stick together.

  11. I just made these this morning and they were a HUGE hit! My daughter requested pink doughnuts, so I added some chopped up strawberries to the last round, and mashed up a strawberry to add to the icing. She loved it!

  12. If you only have 3 small eggs when the recipe calls for large, do you add an extra half an egg or use the 3 you have?

  13. So Delicious makes a very rich . thick. and delicious Greek coconut milk yogurt that may substitute well. We are gluten free/dairy free so I will try this as a substitute.,. I have only found it at whole foods. Or you could make your own in a vitamix..

  14. What would you suggest as a non-dairy sub for the sour cream? Would non-dairy (soy, coconut) yogurt work?

  15. I use yellow lemons when I bake! I get the green lemons sometimes, too, but those are special because they’re rare here so those are saved so other purposes! 😉

  16. They look so cute and delicious !!
    The lemon juice is from yellow lemons? or green? 🙂
    My question is because Im from México and we have green lemons here … and I know you use the yellow ones …. so just to know which one do you use … thanks a lot!

    My family and I are big fans of your recipes and both of your books … 🙂

  17. Could these be baked in a standard doughnut pan? I’m just not ready to buy yet another specialized pan!

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