Baked Mini Buttermilk Doughnuts are easy to make, topped with a simple Nutella glaze and can be customized with all your favorite toppings. Best of all, they’re ready in just 20 minutes!
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Top Pot in Seattle. Voodoo in Portland. Gourdoughs in Austin. Doughnut Plant in New York City.
You name the iconic doughnut spot and chances are my taste buds and I have made the trek by plane, train, automobile or foot (See: The Just a Taste Doughnuthon) to sample the chosen city’s Holy Grail of Glaze. Put simply, doughnuts are my favorite food. My edible obsession. My caloric kryptonite.
Lucky for me, and unlucky for my pants, I’m now a DIY doughnut machine thanks to a sleek mini doughnut pan that has me ditching the deep-fried dough in favor of a baked variety. Slather on a silky Nutella glaze and a shower of sprinkles and you’ll be bypassing the store-bought doughnuts in favor of these hot, fresh two-bite beauties.
However, sprinkles are just the beginning: You can top these baked mini doughnuts with whatever you like. Crushed cookies, toasted coconut flakes, chopped or crushed peanuts, cereal, freeze-dried berries or mini chocolate chips are all excellent ideas.
For more delicious doughnuts, check out my Air Fryer Biscuit Doughnuts and Glazed Sour Cream Doughnuts.
For the doughnuts you’ll need:
- Cooking spray: A spritz of this is the best way to coat a mini-doughnut pan. You could also grease it with oil or melted butter (a pastry brush or paper towel makes this easy).
- Cake flour: This has less gluten than all-purpose flour, which results in super-tender mini doughnuts. Tip: If you don’t have cake flour, you can make a substitute by measuring out 1 cup of all-purpose flour, removing 2 tablespoons, and replacing them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- Sugar: Helps to create a tender crumb and promotes browning during baking.
- Baking powder: A heaping teaspoon of baking powder helps these buttermilk doughnuts rise in the oven.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor. Use kosher or sea salt for best results.
- Buttermilk: Lends a pleasant tang, but also helps keep things tender. Tip: No buttermilk? No problem! Check out my guide for all the different ways you can make substitutes for buttermilk.
- Vanilla extract: For the most flavorful results, choose pure or homemade vanilla extract over imitation vanilla.
- Egg: For this recipe, you’ll need just one egg. It’ll act as a binder, giving the doughnuts structure. Whisking it separately first makes it easier to incorporate with the rest of the ingredients.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor. If you only have salted butter, you can reduce the amount of added salt in the recipe slightly.
For the Nutella glaze you’ll need:
- Nutella: Provides the delicious hazelnut-chocolate flavor for the glaze. You can use other nut butter or chocolate spread if you prefer a different flavor. Make sure your Nutella is at room temperature; it blends more easily with the other ingredients this way, ensuring a smooth and creamy glaze.
- Heavy cream: Whisking the chocolate hazelnut spread with heavy cream is the secret to this easy-peasy, creamy glaze. I wouldn’t try substituting anything for the heavy cream. The glaze won’t work as well without it.
Optional toppings:
- Assorted sprinkles, chopped nuts or toasted coconut: These toppings add color, texture, and extra flavor to the doughnuts. Feel free to get creative and use your favorite toppings or whatever you have on hand.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
- Prep the pan. Preheat the oven to 425°F and coat a mini-doughnut pan with cooking spray.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. For uber-light doughnuts, you can sift these together instead of just whisking them.
- Add the wet ingredients. Pour in the buttermilk, vanilla, egg and melted butter and whisk to combine.
- Fill the doughnut pan. Add the doughnuts to the pan, filling each cavity ⅓ full. After the cavities are filled, tap the pan on the countertop to get rid of any air bubbles that would inhibit an even rise.
- Bake. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes or until the tops of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool while you make the glaze.
- Make the Nutella glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk the Nutella and heavy cream to make the glaze, adding more heavy cream a tablespoon at a time if the glaze is too thick.
- Dip and top the doughnuts. Dip each doughnut into the glaze (gently shaking off any excess) and top to your heart’s content.
- Keep an eye on your doughnuts as they bake, as oven temperatures can vary. They’re done when they’re golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed. You can also insert a toothpick into the center of a doughnut – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, they’re ready.
- I like to put each topping into separate bowls. After dipping the baked mini doughnuts in the glaze, I’ll gently press the tops of the doughnuts into the toppings. This allows for maximum, evenly distributed toppings!
- These doughnuts are best enjoyed fresh on the day they’re made. However, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If they become a bit stale, you can refresh them by briefly heating them in the microwave or oven before serving.
Tools for This Recipe
- Mini doughnut pan: This is an essential purchase for making baked mini doughnuts. You could always turn these into baked doughnut holes by using a mini muffin pan.
- Sifter: For uber-fluffy doughnuts, sift the dry ingredients together. A sifter with a rotating handle makes this super easy. You could also use a fine-mesh strainer, tapping the strainer against the palm of your hand to sift.
- Cooling rack: You’ll need one of these to cool the baked doughnuts. I like cooling racks with a cross-hatched pattern (rather than parallel wires), which hold baked goods more securely.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t own a doughnut pan, you could use a mini muffin pan and make mini doughnut hole instead. You could also turn them into full-size muffins, though you’ll need to bake them longer and I’d decrease the oven temperature to 375°F so the tops of the muffins don’t burn before the muffins bake through.
Instead of the Nutella glaze, you could top the doughnuts with a chocolate glaze (like in these homemade doughnut holes) or a sugar glaze (like in these sour cream doughnuts). You could also just simply sprinkle them with powdered sugar.
Instead of cake flour, you could use all-purpose flour (or even your favorite gluten-free blend if you have dietary restrictions). The all-purpose flour will create a slightly denser doughnut, but they’ll still be delicious. You could also make your own cake flour by measuring out 1 cup of all-purpose flour, removing 2 tablespoons, and replacing them with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
- Nutella-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Banana and Nutella Stuffed French Toast
- Nutella Waffle Sandwich Cookies
- Strawberry Nutella Hand Pies
- Banana and Nutella Dessert Bruschetta
Ingredients
For the doughnuts:
- Vegetable cooking spray
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the Nutella glaze:
- 1/2 cup Nutella, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Assorted sprinkles, chopped nuts or toasted coconut (optional)
Equipment:
- mini-doughnut pan
Instructions
Make the doughnuts:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and spray the mini-doughnut pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, eggs and melted butter just until combined.
- Fill each pan cavity approximately ⅓ full (about ½ Tablespoon per cavity). Tap the pan on the counter to release any air bubbles and level out the batter.
- Bake the doughnuts for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the tops of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let the doughnuts cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer them to a cooling wrack to cool completely while you make the Nutella glaze.
Make the Nutella glaze:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the Nutella and heavy cream until combined. If the glaze is too thick, whisk in an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons heavy cream.
- Dip the tops of the doughnuts into the glaze, shake off any excess (or use a spoon to smooth on the glaze) and immediately sprinkle them with chopped nuts, sprinkles or other garnishes.
Kelly’s Notes
- Keep an eye on your doughnuts as they bake, as oven temperatures can vary. They’re done when they’re golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed. You can also insert a toothpick into the center of a doughnut – if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, they’re ready.
- I like to put each topping into separate bowls. After dipping the baked mini doughnuts in the glaze, I’ll gently press the tops of the doughnuts into the toppings. This allows for maximum, evenly distributed toppings!
- These doughnuts are best enjoyed fresh on the day they’re made. However, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If they become a bit stale, you can refresh them by briefly heating them in the microwave or oven before serving.
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
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Doughnut recipe adapted from Wilton.
Is this doughnut recipe will work if I use an electric doughnut maker?
I haven’t tried that so I can’t say with certainty what the results would be. Let me know if you give it a shot, Olga!
Is there an alternative to cake flour? Can I use all purpose flour instead??
Hi Lisa – I’ve never tried this recipe with all-purpose flour so I’m not sure! But you can make your own cake flour by doing the following: 1. Measure 1 cup all-purpose flour then remove 2 Tablespoons. 2. Measure 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and add it to the flour. 3. Sift well together then measure amount needed for the recipe.
Hey! Is there any chance to deep fry this instead of baking, or os it just bake?
Hi Nikki! I have a deep-fried doughnut recipe that you may be interested in. Here’s a link to the recipe: https://www.justataste.com/easy-homemade-glazed-doughnut-holes-recipe/ :)
Can you use whole milk I stead of buttermilk?
Yes, but you’ll need to add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to make sure you have the acidic component! So mix the milk and acidic component together, let it curdle, then proceed.
Hey Kelly
Thanks for this recipe, so easy.
However, I wondered why mine didn’t really puff up like yours? I measured everything exactly as detailed.
Any thoughts?
Hi Mary – It’s hard to say what might cause this. Is your baking powder fresh?
Is it possible to make any type of vanilla frosting for these donuts? If so, how?
Hi Joseph! You could use the frosting recipe from my Frosted Soft Sugar Cookie Bars. Here’s a link to the recipe: https://www.justataste.com/frosted-soft-sugar-cookie-bars-recipe/ I hope this helps!
What do you use? Vanilla extract or vanilla sugar? I have both and I am comfused about what to use!
Extract!
Just made these for breakfast and they were a hit! I love getting my kids involved with cooking, so they glazed and added their own toppings. So much fun!
Love this! So glad you all enjoyed the recipe!
How long can one store the glaze and in what should I store it in
Hi Esther! I’ve never tried making this glaze in advance so I’m not sure how long it’d last. I worry that it might firm up if left uncovered (and not used) for too long of a time frame.
Can you just put them in mini cupcake pan to make donut holes?
Hi Blair – That should work! Just be sure to adjust the baking time accordingly. :)
It’s not that easy to find heavy cream in my country. Do you have any suggestion for the substitute of the heavy cream?
Thank you.
Hi there! You can make your own heavy cream by combining 2/3 cup of whole milk with 1/3 cup melted butter. Hope that helps!
Can you use regular flour instead
I’ve never tried this recipe with regular flour so I’m not sure!
Could you use a regular donut pan instead of a mini, and how long would you bake? Thanks.
Hi Cindy! That should work, but I haven’t tried it so I’m not certain how long you’ll need to bake them. Definitely let me know if you give it a shot!
I had just purchased my first “donut” pan….and am very anxious to try these ….how can you go wrong ?
thank you so much for this recipe….I was wondering too , you could probably add Hershey cocoa to
the batter , somewhere to allow for chocolate donuts ?
You are so welcome, Nancy! And you may also be interested in my recipe for Glazed Chocolate Doughnut Holes: https://www.justataste.com/homemade-glazed-chocolate-doughnut-holes-recipe/
I was wondering about chocolate as well. Could you use that chocolate doughnut hole recipe but bake it instead of frying it?
Hi Andrea! I haven’t tried making that recipe in a pan so I’m not sure.
Hey there ! Can I substitute egg with some extra baking powder or flaxseeds?
Hi Abirami! I’ve never tried that substitution in this recipe so I’m not certain what the results would be.
That sounds real good and a drizzle of maple syrup with sausage would also be good.
That would be delish, Patrice!