Soft and buttery baked donuts that taste just like a giant cinnamon bun! Topped with an easy cinnamon glaze – these donuts are any cinnamon lovers dream.
One of my goals for January 2015: Make more donuts. And I say that (er, type that) with true sincerity. Donuts are just one of my favorite things ever! For dessert… and breakfast… and everywhere in between. I prefer to bake them because, um, eassssy! Also, I fear flying grease. That said, these Bakery Style Peanut Butter and Jelly Doughnuts are worth every-single-grease-flying moment.
Question: What’s your favorite kind of donut? Do you prefer them baked… or fried?
Todays recipe for super simple cinnamon bun donuts is baked, meaning you’ll need a donut pan to make them. If you don’t already own a donut pan, I cannot recommend buying one enough! If you buy a donut pan, your whole donut making life will change! You’ll be able to make glazed coconut donuts, pina colada donuts, chocolate sour cream donuts, and of course – these super simple CINNAMON BUN DONUTS. That last part in caps cause they be so yummy!!!
I’ve inserted a little link at the bottom of this post with the pan I use, abuse, and love dearly. It’s the best 11 bucks I ever spent! Dooo it 😉
So, as the title states, this recipe is SUPER SIMPLE. Wanna know what super simple means?
1) Less than 5 minutes of prep.
2) Less than 12 minutes in the oven.
3) A glaze that takes like 30 seconds to assemble.
4) That’s it! So simple I only have 3 points. Yessa!
These donuts get a double dose of cinnamon —> it’s in the batter and the glaze. This is where the cinnamon bun flavor comes from, so be sure not to skimp. In fact, if you really love cinnamon, feel free to bump up the amount a 1/2 teaspoon or so. I wouldn’t go much more than that though… or it might be cinnamon overkill.
Typically I have a decent amount of self-control around baked goods (I kinda have to given my job…), but with these donuts, I LOST MY FRIGGIN’ MIND!!! You see how every pic only has a few donuts in it? That’s all me. All me! I ate three donuts pre-photo shoot. I think it’s the cinnamon glaze… plus everything else. Basically… we both need to get in the kitchen and bake a batch of these NOW.
Warning: You too may loose all self-control around these sweet, buttery, taste-just-like-a-cinnamon-bun-donuts.
Make a double batch…. seriously 😉 You’ve been warned. xoxo.
More Baked Donuts:
- Brown Butter Cinnamon Sugar DonutsÂ
- Coffee Cake Donuts with Vanilla Glaze
- Chocolate Glazed Peanut Butter Donuts
- Red Velvet Donuts
- Banana Bread Donuts with Cream Cheese Frosting
Super Simple Cinnamon Bun Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose baking flour
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk (I used vanilla almond milk)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
For the glaze:
- 2 tablespoons milk (again, here I used vanilla almond milk)
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
- Lightly grease a doughnut pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, melted butter, and egg. Gently fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture - don't over mix!
- Spoon mixture into prepared doughnut pan, and bake for 10-11 minutes, or until the donuts spring back when lightly pressed. Allow doughnuts to cool a few minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire wrack to cool for a few more minutes.
For the glaze:
- Combine milk, confectioners' sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl wide enough for dipping the donuts. Mix until the mixture has been fully combined. Add a touch more milk if the glaze seems too thick; add a touch more sugar if the glaze seems too thin.
- Dip the top of each donut in the glaze; repeat with all donuts. Allow glaze to set (about 15 minutes) then dig in!
Notes
Kathy says
Hi Ashley, Thanks for the great recipe! I made these tonight, so easy– and my most ‘successful’ donuts to date. I had a ‘small’ donut pan, so for me this recipe made made an additional 16 donut holes. irresistible!! I may go lighter on the cinnamon in the glaze next time, and add some vanilla instead…. Definitely a keeper! Thanks again!
samantha p says
Never seen all purpose baking flour can we use all purpose flour and how much do you fill them up?
bakerbynature says
Hi Samantha. All purpose flour in the same amount will work perfectly.
samantha p says
thank you for getting back to me, i cant wait to make them. do i fill the donut pan half full they look like they rise a bit.
bakerbynature says
Yes you fill the donut pan 3/4 of the way full; you should have just enough batter for to fill 6 donut molds (one pan). They do rise, but won’t overflow.
Shirley says
Since I don’t have a donut pan, and I REALLY want to make these, I think I’m going to try my muffin pan. I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂
Char says
Could you re-post the link for the donut pan? For some reason, I couldn’t locate it on the page.
Thanks!
bakerbynature says
Hi Char! Absolutely. On it now… should be up in a few minutes. xo
bakerbynature says
Up now 😉
Evelyn says
Cab someone please tell me where the link is? Thanks!
Aerin says
I made these this morning to break in my donut pan – thank you for putting up a recipe that not only encouraged me to use the pan, but was simple enough I didn’t have to grocery shop for anything!
If I could offer a couple suggestions:
– the ingredients list should be stacked dry ingredients first, wet ingredients second (so it’s easy to go down the list when combining those two pieces)
– the butter is listed as room temperature in the list and melted in the instructions
– it’d be helpful to post a picture or description the finished batter (I was nervous during the process because I was expecting it to be thinner than it was)
That being said, these are crazy simple and delicious – thank you for posting!!
Toni says
Investing in a donut pan this weekend to make these. They sound amazing!
Lila says
I made these for our breakfast yesterday morning and just finished making up a second batch my family were all fighting over the extras. Thank you for sharing
bakerbynature says
Hi Lila! I’m so happy your family enjoyed these 🙂 I’m making a batch for brunch this morning!
Codi says
These sound delicious!
(By the way, your instructions say to dip the donuts in toasted coconut, but I don’t see toasted coconut on the ingredients list.)
bakerbynature says
Hi Codi! Oops! That’s what I get for writing 3 recipes in one morning before my coffee 😉 All fixed now. Thank you for taking the time to point that out.
Caroline says
Yessss these doughnuts are everything!
bakerbynature says
Agreed!!! xo
Kayle (The Cooking Actress) says
You should open a doughnut shoppe. It’d be crazy successful and probably featured on Unique Sweets on The Cooking Channel.
These look so beautiful and delicious and I’m in awe of you!