Baked Vanilla Doughnuts

Deliciously light and fluffy doughnuts packed with vanilla flavour. These Baked Vanilla Doughnuts are simple to make and perfect for any occasion.

what are baked doughnuts

Baked doughnuts are really quite different from fried doughnuts. They have a lighter batter similar to cake batter. This differs from fried doughnuts that are more of a bread dough which uses yeast.

I absolutely love fried donuts, but I have never been brave enough to try them at home because I am not keen on deep frying.

Baked doughnuts are far more simple to make at home because there is no hot fat involved! I like to think this also makes them slightly healthier.

baked doughnuts are so simple to make

I think baked doughnuts are even easier to make than cakes. There is no creaming of butter and sugar involved – a bowl and a spoon is all you need!

Because these doughnuts use oil, the mix is very easily combined by hand. You don’t need a mixer or electric hand whisk to make these. In fact it is more hassle to use them I think!

The ingredients come together so easily and quickly with just a wooden spoon which makes these super simple to make.

Do you need special doughnut tins?

You do need to buy specific doughnut tins to make these Vanilla Baked Doughnuts. Doughnut tins are quite readily available these days and aren’t too expensive.

Try and buy a doughnut tin that is quite deep. There are some you can buy that are quite shallow so you will get a thinner doughnut.

Make sure you grease the tins well and the doughnuts should pop out very easily. I like to use spray oil for this.

If you really didn’t want to buy the doughnut tins, you could use a muffin tin. Obviously they wouldn’t be doughnut shaped but they would still be tasty. 

Again you would need to make sure you thoroughly grease the tin before adding the doughnut batter. 

Don’t over fill the tins!

These Vanilla Baked Doughnuts are simple to make, but there is one very important step. The only critical step in this recipe is to make sure you don’t put too much batter into each doughnut hole.

Now you may think this sounds simple enough, but take it from someone who knows; you need less batter than you may think!

For example when making cupcakes, you are usually recommended to fill the cases three quarters of the way. With these baked doughnuts, just under half full is plenty. If in doubt, fill them less than you think.

Don’t get me wrong, if you over fill them it is by no means the end of the world. The only difference will be that instead of having the hole in the middle that a doughnut should have, this will fill in and they will come out of the oven looking more like a muffin.

How to make the vanilla glaze

Making the glaze for these Vanilla Baked Doughnuts does involve a little bit of trial and error.

I always find making glazes with icing sugar a little temperamental. One day you will need a certain amount of liquid and the next you will need more or less.

Also it does differ depending on which milk you use. I used whole milk for extra creaminess which is slightly thicker than semi skimmed milk which is thicker than skimmed milk.

Depending on which milk you are using, you may need to use less. This is why I always advise adding a little bit of milk, mixing and then adding a little more.

If you do add too much, it isn’t the end of the world, just add a little more icing sugar.

Also how much milk you add will decide how thick your glaze is. If you prefer a thicker glaze for your doughnuts, add less milk. If you prefer a thinner glaze, add more milk. Make the glaze how you like it.

decorating your doughnuts

It is up to you how you would like to decorate your doughnuts. Keep them simple or go as crazy as you like!

I like to use gel food colouring to colour the icing. You can buy this in most large supermarkets and online. It is stronger than liquid food colouring so you only need a very small amount.

If you aren’t going to colour your icing, you may either want to leave the vanilla extract out, or use clear vanilla instead of pure vanilla so it doesn’t turn the glaze slightly brown.

You can then add whichever sprinkles you like – get creative!

How many donuts does this recipe make?

Donut tins can vary in depth slightly. Some tins are shallower meaning your finished doughnuts will be thinner than if you have a deeper tin.

I think my donut tin is relatively deep and this recipe makes 12 doughnuts.

The main point to remember is you don’t want to overfill the tin so if in doubt, make more doughnuts than try to use all the batter to make 12.

If you have a shallower tin you might be able to make between 14 and 16 doughnuts.

how long will these doughnuts keep for?

As with most doughnuts these are best eaten the day you bake them or the next day. They will still be ok for a couple of days longer but not as fluffy.

If you would like the doughnuts to keep for longer I would recommend freezing them.

how to freeze the doughnuts

To freeze the doughnuts, let them cool completely to room temperature. Once they are cooled you can then transfer them to a container or bag and freeze un-iced.

When you want to eat them, leave them at room temperature for a couple of hours to defrost. Once they are fully thawed, you can glaze and decorate them as normal.

Other recipes you might like

• Baked Nutella Doughnuts
• Mini Egg Chocolate Glazed Baked Doughnuts
• Hot Cross Bun Baked Doughnuts
• Small Batch Vanilla Cupcakes
• Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberries & Whipped Cream

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