Amazing Light and Fluffy Baked Donuts Recipe

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Last year I purchased my very own donut baking tray and have made a few dozen donuts, but they never tasted like a donut should.

Either they were too cake-like, or too dense and heavy. I was never truly satisfied with the end result and was determined to put my donut baking tray to good use this year!

I had been searching the internet endlessly for the perfect baked donut recipe but nothing came close to what I desired. I refused to just give up and fry the donuts because I didn’t want the extra calories.

So I read up on how to make cakes light, airy and fluffy. After several attempts with different recipes, I think I managed to get very close to my dream donut!

Originally with this recipe, I thought that I would only be able to make 12 donuts, based on other recipes that also used 2 cups of flour. However, if you put the time and love into preparing your ingredients (yes I treat my children as well as my donuts LOL), your 12 donuts will or should be close to 24!

But only if you follow my key steps! I was surprised and also very happy…I never heard of anyone complaining about having more donuts! If it is too much for you, show some neighborly love and share. LOL

For more dessert recipes, check out these posts:

Chocolate Cannoli Cake,

 

The Best Orange Cake Recipe

 

Keto Baked Chocolate Donuts with Glaze

 

3 Tips to Achieving Light and Fluffy Baked Donuts:

 

1. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature

The milk, eggs and butter needs to be taken out ahead of time. Having these ingredients at room temperature will whip up to a much greater volume and will make the batter rise and achieve a lighter, fluffier texture which is essential for these baked donuts.

 

2. Take the time to properly cream the sugar and butter until it is light and fluffy

The batter should also look pale yellow in color (takes about 2- 5 minutes). Do not rush this step as it is crucial that you get as much air into the batter as possible to create the fluffy airy texture. Once the butter and sugar have reached the light, fluffy and pale yellow color, add eggs one at a time and mix (wait one minute before you add the second egg).

 

3. Use Cake Flour

If you don’t have cake flour do not panic, you can always make your own! It’s super simple, as long as you have cornstarch. The substitute for cake flour is for every 1 cup of all-purpose flour take 2 tbsp out and add 2tbsp of cornstarch in its place. Simple, right? Because of this I never purchase cake flour since I usually have cornstarch in my pantry. Since we are using 2 cups of all-purpose flour, take 4 tbsp out and add 4 tbsp of cornstarch. Now sift the flour mixture 2 times. The reason for sifting the flour is to create a very light, delicate texture to the dough.

 

Hope you enjoy these donuts as much as I do. Have fun with different varieties of donut dips and toppings.

Yield: 20 to 24 Donuts

Baked Donuts Recipe

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Light and airy baked donuts with a chocolate glaze

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Additional Time 5 minutes

Total Time 28 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups of all- purpose flour (minus 4tbsp of flour and add 4 tbsp of cornstarch in its place or just use 2 cups of Cake flour)
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ cup milk at room temperature
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp butter at room temperature

Chocolate Glaze Ingredients

• Chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and lightly spray your
   donut tins with cooking spray.
2. Cream the butter and sugar for 2-5 minutes or until light,
   fluffy and pale yellow in color (scraping the sides with a spatula
   occasionally to incorporate all the ingredients well)
3. Add eggs to the sugar/butter mixture one at a time.
4. Add vanilla and milk to the creamed butter and sugar mixture
   at the end (mix on low to only incorporate the ingredients).
5. In a separate bowl sift the flour, cornstarch (if using
   all-purpose flour), baking powder, and salt 2 times and set aside
6. Add the liquids to the flour bowl and fold (do not over mix)
   the flour over the wet ingredients until well combined.
7. Place the dough mixture into a piping bag or a large freezer
   zip lock bag and cut a hole in one end so you can use it as a piping bag. I find this to be the easiest and cleanest way to fill the doughnut trays.
8. Fill the donut trays ¾ full and bake for 8-10 minutes
9. Cool slightly before removing them from the tray.
10. Once cooled it’s time to dip them into the glaze of your
    choice. I have used a simple chocolate glaze (see below for instructions) but feel free to experiment and have fun with the toppings
    
    

Notes

Making The Chocolate Glaze:

1. Place 2/3 cup chocolate chips in a microwavable
bowl

2. Melt in 30 second increments in the microwave
stirring after each time until completely melted and smooth

3. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before you dip the
doughnuts into the glaze otherwise be prepared to burn your fingertips.

4. Dip the tops of the doughnuts into the glaze

Optional: cover with your choice of sprinkles or nuts…get creative!

 

Print your free coloring page and activity sheets after signing up below. The activities included in the bundle are:

1. Ingredients word search
2. Ingredients word unscramble
3. Word maker using the words DONUTS
4. Kitchen scavenger hunt
5. Color by numbers page
6. Cryptogram joke
7. Scavenger hunt with a different theme