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Soft and fluffy Brown Butter Cinnamon Sugar Donuts bake up in just 10 minutes! Perfect for a special morning at home and so good with a cup of coffee! These baked donuts are delicious for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Happy Saturday! Tell me, how’s your weekend so far?
After an amazing 6 days in California, soaking up some sun, eating and drinking my heart out, and reconnecting with two of my very best friends, I’m finally home sweet home. Feeling rested, rejuvenated, and ready to work. In fact, I have a pie in the oven and cookie dough chilling in the fridge as I type. My house smells like caramelized peaches (the pie) and toasted marshmallows (the cookies) and I’m so excited to see how each recipe turns out! Finger crossed. Also, can I just say how grateful I am to have a job I actually missed on vacation?!? Like, missed SO much. What a feeling! Thank you for that. You totally make this crazy dream job of mine possible. Lots of thank you cookies and cakes and pies coming SOON.
But first: Donuts!!! I made these Brown Butter Cinnamon Sugar Donuts a few weeks ago and have been dyyyyying to share them with you. Why? Well, let’s see…
These donuts are MEGA simple, made with brown butter, coated in cinnamon sugar, super fluffy, and ready in 20 minutes! What’s not to love?
Tips and Tricks for Recipe Success
- A donut pan is required for this recipe. If you don’t own one, you can click here to check out the amazing and affordable one I’ve been using for the past 5 years!
- Be sure to generously grease your donut pan with non-stick spray. I suggest using one that is made specifically for baking, since they typically have flour in them, which helps the donuts come out of the mold effortlessly. If you can’t find non-stick spray, you can butter and flour the mold the old-fashioned way, just be sure to get every little nook and cranny.
- Don’t over bake you donuts! I see this happen all the time and it makes me so sad because over baked donuts come out of the oven tough and dense… not moist and fluffy as they should be. Just be sure to set a timer for 10 minutes and keep an eye on them. Once they’ve risen and slightly spring back when touched, they’re done!
- If you’re unfamiliar with brown butter, don’t fret! Brown butter is simply butter that’s been cooked just long enough to toast the milk solids. It’s an easy step that really AMPS up the flavor of the butter and can be used in many sweet or savory dishes.
- If you’d like your donuts to be on the lighter side (like mine in the photos), use a smaller amount of cinnamon. The more cinnamon you use, the darker the donuts coating will be.
- These donuts are best eaten the day they are made. While they will keep for 2 days, covered tightly in saran wrap, I find the texture and taste decrease significantly after 24 hours.
I should also note the batter is quite thick, so it can be spooned into the pan, or you can pour it into a ziplock baggie, snip of the end, and pipe it into the molds. Up to you! I find piping it a lot easier and do it that way 99.9% of the time.
If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day ♥
Brown Butter Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Ingredients
For the Brown Butter Donuts:
- 2 and 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned
- 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk (I used whole milk but reduced-fat varieties should work fine)
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
For the Brown Butter Donuts:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Generously spray a 6 mold donut pan with non-stick spray; set aside.
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium-heat. Cook butter, stirring frequently, until it's turned golden brown and smells slightly nutty. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg; set aside. In a separate medium-sized bowl combine the browned butter and sugar; beat well. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. Stir in the milk.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, being sure not to over mix.
- Spoon or pipe the donut batter into the prepared pan and bake for 10 to 11 minutes, or until the doughnuts spring back when lightly pressed. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before gently unmolding them and transferring them to a cooling rack.
- In the meantime, make the cinnamon sugar coating.
For the Cinnamon Sugar Coating:
- Melt the butter in a small pan over medium-heat. You can also melt it in the microwave, if desired.
- Once melted, transfer the butter into a wide, shallow bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl combine the sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
Assembly:
- When the donuts are cool enough to handle, dip them in the melted butter, being sure to coat both sides and the edges, then roll the donut in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
I’m so happy you’re happy! And, as always, you’re queen of donuts! Brown butter must reeeeally elevate the classic cinn-sugar donut!
Thank you, Kayle! The brown butter definitely puts these donuts OVER the top in flavor 😉 xo
I love this recipe as it really brings out the brown butter. I added more vanilla extract and could taste the brown butter even more. Made these for my church morning gathering and they were snapped up in 2 minutes. Next time I will have to quadruple the recipe as 6 donuts is not enough! 🙂 Thanks again for sharing!
So happy these were a hit, Lynda! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Maybe I’m missing something but where does the milk get added?? It it listed as an ingredient but no mention of it in your recipe instructions. Help! I’m making these as I type. Thx
Step 4 says to stir in the milk.
My kids loved it. Will definitely make them again.
Instead of whole milk, can you use almond milk? Unfortunately that’s the only milk I have in my fridge right now!
Yes!
Please what’s the conversion in grams?
My family is happy happy happy right now! Yet another successful recipe by you!! These doughnuts turned out PERFECT! They are so light, fluffy and so very yummy. Thank you so much for sharing ☺
I just made these… and OH MY GOODNESS! They are pure perfection, so fluffy and light! First time doing baked donuts and don’t think I will ever go back to fried donuts. They were super easy to make taking me max 20 minutes including oven time.
Thank you for such a great recipe, I will be trying your other donut recipes very soon! 🙂
is there any way to incorporate flax seed powder in your recipes without changing the texture too much or taste?
Hey
These look amazing !! Is there anything else I could use instead of the egg ?
We just made these donuts for breakfast. They are moist, fluffy and delicious. The only thing I encountered is that the baking time took longer about 15 minutes. I guess it depends on your own oven!
These are amazing! I’ve made them twice now, once with skim milk (because my son frank all the whole milk) and the second time with while milk and they were perfect both times.
Delicious and easy to make! I doubled the recipe and they were devoured in no time. 🙂
These are so yummy and easy to make. Do you think the dough can be made the day before and the donuts baked the next morning ?
Love your recipes and wish you were on a You Tube channel.
Delicious. I saw these and couldn’t wait to make them. So we had donuts for dinner! I substituted 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour. I did not wait for the egg to be room temperature. (My brown sugar was clumpy, perhaps that is why?) Not a deal breaker, though. I would have used all almond milk, but ran out, so used 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup 2%. I did not have spray oil for baking so I rubbed butter into the donut pan. They popped out easily. I printed this to keep on rotation, it’s a keeper.
Hi there! Altitude & almond milk. Any changes in time or recipe needed for altitude? I live at 4900′.
Can you substitute almind milk for regular dairy milk? Im thrilled to make these tomorrow!
Thank you