The Best Baked Donut Recipe (+ Video)

This recipe for glazed sour cream donuts is a sweet treat. They are easy to whip up and bake in the oven.

It is the best-baked donut recipe and takes less than an hour to make, bake, and glaze. And, I have a special donut baking pan just for the occasion.

Just Like Old Fashioned Donuts

Old fashioned donuts are some of my favorite desserts. And we all love donuts, but we don’t always like them fried.

Can Donuts Be Baked Instead Of Fried?

Absolutely! And, they taste wonderful baked. I am going to show you how to make them in this recipe.

This recipe is a great way to make sour cream cake donuts without all the fried fuss and grease.

And, if this is your first time making donuts, you will be pleasantly surprised because the recipe is super easy.

DISCLAIMER: This post is sponsored by Zulay Kitchen. As always, the opinions are honest and are all my own. 

We love donuts

We really love donuts around here and there’s no hiding it, but I’ve never been one to make them at home, and it’s mainly because it seems like a lot of work.

But, I found out about a donut pan set from Zulay Kitchen that I thought would be fun to try out and it made the process so easy, and there’s no frying involved.

It’s a non-stick donut pan that’s a great addition to the kitchen.

I ended up making several dozen donuts with the pans and have been very happy with how the donuts baked and turned out.

The recipe is super easy and always comes out delicious. You can vary it a little bit, and choose different glazes or top with chocolate or another type of frosting.

Y’all will love this dessert.

Kitchen Tools

I first heard about Zulay Kitchen after my husband made a delivery to them last year. I love that they are a local company here in the Tampa Bay area.

Be sure to check out their extensive list of kitchen items including a Bento Lunch Box, lemon-lime squeezer, cookie press, cheesecake pan, and one of our favorites…the milk frother.

My husband can’t drink his coffee without using the milk frother first. Seriously, he LOVES that thing. And coffee always tastes great with a baked glazed donut.

What Ingredients Do I Need For The Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts?

Dry Ingredients

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Light brown sugar, packed

Wet Ingredients

• Sour cream
• Butter, melted
• Vegetable oil
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs

Glaze

• Powdered sugar
• Milk

By the way, donut or doughnut?

Doughnut is the grammatically correct way to spell the delicious treat, but we’ve Americanized it over here and most people spell it donut.

So, either spelling will work and I will come running for a donut or doughnut every time. As long as you have one, I don’t care how you spell it.

If you love donuts, you’ll love this tasty lemon pound cake recipe and this scrumptious pound cake recipe.

Donuts Might Just Help with Math

I like to take treats to the kid’s schools, friends, and their tutoring center. This time, I brought the donuts to the tutoring center, and let me tell you, they loved the donuts.

The room was full of kids and we even had a smart little negotiator saying he’d do more math problems if he could have a donut!

The baked donut recipe will even get kids to do more math – you heard it here first. 😉

Full printable recipe with measurements and instructions listed at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

The Best Baked Donut Recipe

Gather your ingredients.

You don’t need the donut cutter for this recipe, you can use the handy donut pan.

When you order the Zulay Donut Pan you will get two pans in the package, so you can easily make a dozen baked donuts.

Start by adding the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a medium-sized bowl. Mix the ingredients together on medium speed and set the bowl aside.

Next, add the sour cream, light brown sugar, melted butter, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Mix everything together.

I used my large countertop mixer, but you can use a hand mixer, as well for this recipe.

Add the eggs to the batter, one-at-time and mix them in.

Next, combine flour mixture with the batter and mix until well blended. It will be a thick batter.

Pour the batter into a large Ziplock bag and cut the tip off of the piping bag, so you can add the donut batter to the pan.

For best results, don’t cut a large hole, keep it fairly small, about the size of the tip of your index finger.

TIP: I learned the hard way that if you cut a large opening at the end of the bag, you will be squeezing too much batter into the pan and you will end up with more of a muffin instead of a baked donut.

I had to transfer my batter into another bag because I cut the original hole too large and it was adding too much to the pan.

The picture below is the perfect amount for the donut pan. And, if you go a little over or under, it’s ok, they will still taste great.

The donuts will rise quite a bit when you bake them, like in the photo below.

Other Donut Toppings

• Cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top of the glaze.
• Chocolate glaze made with cocoa, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
• Sprinkle a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon on top of the glaze.
• Top with some holiday sprinkles for festive glazed donuts.

Bake the donuts for 10 minutes.

Donut Baking Pan

I was excited to get the donut pan from Zulay Kitchen because we’d tried some of their other kitchen items and loved them so much.

Since I made this recipe, I have used the pan several more times and it cleans up very easily. It’s also dishwasher safe to make life easier.

The pan is a non-stick pan, but I decided to test that out.

I used non-stick spray on one pan and nothing on the other, and in the long run, I didn’t need the non-stick spray because the donuts slid right out of the pan. Easy peasy.

After the donuts bake, they will be a little darker on the bottom, and that’s normal. They will be golden brown on the top.

Baked Glazed Donut Recipe

Finally, mix the powdered sugar and milk for the glaze (recipe below) in a small bowl.

Dip the donuts into the glaze and place it on a cooling rack and allow the glaze to harden.

The donuts are great breakfast treats, especially when they are freshly glazed.

And, this is such a simple glaze recipe and it takes about one minute to mix it up and dip a donut.

This has become one of our favorite recipes around here, and it’s fun to try different toppings on the fresh donuts.

This baked version is so much better than fried, and it doesn’t take a large amount of time to make them, and that is part of why we love them!

Be sure to get the recipe, bake them up, and grab a cup of coffee to enjoy with your donut.

How Do I Store The Donuts?

You can store the donuts in an airtight container and leave it on the counter or in the refrigerator.

Tips for making the old fashioned baked donut recipe

• Once you add the donut batter to a large baggie, cut a small hole in the bottom corner, otherwise, you will be adding too much batter to the donut pan and the donuts will rise and look more like a muffin.
• When you remove the donuts from the oven, dip them into the glaze as soon as possible to seal in some of the moisture.
• Bake the sour cream donut recipe for 10 minutes, because anything over will cause the cake donuts to be a little dry. It’s ok if the inside of the donut is still a tad moist.

Donut Trivia

• What is the most popular type of donut? Glazed, of course!
• Who invented donuts? An American named Hanson Gregory invented the ring shape of the donut. In 1847 he was aboard a lime-trading ship and came up with the idea–at the ripe age of 16-years-old!
• What is a cake donut? It’s a donut that is leavened with baking powder and without yeast.

Can Baked Donuts Be Frozen?

Yes, baked donuts can be frozen. However, I would freeze them before adding glaze. Once you thaw them out to room temperature, you can add the glaze to the baked donuts.

Are Baked Donuts Healthier Than Fried?

Yes, baked donuts on average are healthier than fried because you are baking them and not frying them in grease, which typically has more calories.

More Delicious Desserts

• Old fashioned fudge recipe with peanut butter is a great addition to any party.
• Hello Dolly bars are an easy treat to make with only a few ingredients.
• Pecan pie cobbler is a hit with any crowd.

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts

Print out the best-baked donut recipe card below, grab those ingredients, and start baking! This is one amazing dessert and I know you will love it.

Then, share your comments below and share a picture of your homemade donuts on the Pinterest Pin!  If you made any changes or added something different, be sure to share it with us so we can try it, too!