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Baked Chocolate Doughnuts – rich and luscious and completely delicious!
We adore these soft little, tender cakey doughnuts with the velvety chocolate icing or simple sweet buttermilk glaze. If by chance you really need a chocolate doughnut, these will absolutely, without a doubt, completely and totally satisfy your craving! They’re like mini-cakes with all the trimmings. A little sweet for breakfast, I’ll stick with oatmeal or a protein packed smoothie and save these for dessert!
I’ve had doughnuts on my bucket list for a long, long time and finally broke down and bought a pan.
They’re inexpensive, generally less than $10. Check the link at the bottom of this post to order one from Amazon. My husband said I could make blueberry donuts next time so I guess I’ve got the go-ahead to make some more. I made chocolate icing for some and the others were dipped in a simple buttermilk glaze. My favorite is the buttermilk glazed doughnuts. As much as I adore chocolate, the chocolate icing is a little too chocolatey for me. There I said it. I finally met my match. I used to think there was no way you could have too much chocolate on anything.
These remind me of the chocolate cake donuts from Dunkin Donuts.
Soft chocolate cake with just a hint of sweet crunch from the glaze on the outside. Yum! The texture is pretty fantastic.
My son, daughter-in-law and their good friend Michael stopped by this afternoon. I made a gift of the doughnuts and Michael asked me if I was making some sort of reference to cops and doughnuts. I forgot he is a police officer so this is perfect! It’s always good to be nice to the boys in blue.
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Here’s another doughnut recipe you might enjoy:
Try these lovely Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Caramel Icing & Toasted Pecan. They have a wonderful texture and terrific flavor. They’re easy to make but hard to stop eating! Click HERE to get the recipe for Pumpkin Doughnuts.
Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 16 doughnuts
Course: Breakfast
Soft chocolate cake with just a hint of sweet crunch from the glaze on the outside.
Ingredients
For the doughnuts:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee granules
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips
For the buttermilk glaze (OPTIONAL):
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons buttermilk milk or cream will work fine too
- drop of vanilla extract
For the chocolate icing (OPTIONAL):
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons light-colored syrup like Karo
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla
- 3-4 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
To make the doughnuts:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat the doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, espresso granules, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients until blended and make a well in the middle. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl lightly beat the egg. Whisk in the milk and then add the melted butter. Quickly add the egg mixture to the flour and cocoa mixture all at once. Stir just until the batter is smooth. Do not over beat. Stir in the mini-chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the doughnut pan filling about two-thirds full. Bake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the doughnuts to cool in the pan for 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before icing. To make powdered sugar donuts, roll the warm donuts in a bowl of powdered sugar until coated. Cool on a wire rack.
- This recipes made about 16 full size doughnuts depending on how you fill the pan.
To make the buttermilk glaze:
- Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Dip a cooled doughnut into the glaze and turn it over to coat the other side. Allow the excess glaze to drop back into the bowl. Place the glazed doughnut on a wire rack to dry.
To make the chocolate icing:
- Combine the chopped chocolate and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until melted, stirring frequently. Stir in the syrup, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and hot water. Blend until smooth. Iced cooled doughnuts as desired. Additional water can be added to thin the icing if needed.
Recipe Notes
- Adapted from a recipe published in the January 2012 Better Homes and Gardens – Chocolate Special Interest Publication
Nutrition
Calories: 177kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 102mg | Potassium: 156mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 47IU | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 2mg
Here’s a link to an inexpensive doughnut pan like the one I used in this recipe. Click on the photo for more information:
SRFD participates in the Amazon Affiliate Program. If you decide to purchase something at Amazon after following my affiliate link, I receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog.
Thanks to everyone who passed along favorite recipes for our upcoming pre-wedding cookout. I love all the ideas and will run them by the bride-to-be. I have my mother-of-the bride dress (on sale! whoohoo!) but still need shoes – don’t guess you can help me with that one?!?!
Have a wonderful week and thanks so much for stopping by! Tricia
sue
perhaps the 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar is what put the chocolate glaze over the top. Maybe just a simple ganache dip would feature the chocolate without it being overbearing. Also, the mind boggles at the customizable range you could experiment with using spices like caradmon, nutmeg, deep smokey chile powder, lavender, mint, etc etc. I need a donut pan as well!
Tricia Buice
Thanks for the suggestions Sue. Sounds great to me!
Shaherose Lalji
Hi Tricia: I love the recipes you share with us. While I know that donuts should be baked in a donut pan, would it be ok if I made these in a muffin pan instead as I do not have a donut pan at this time and would really like to make the donuts?
Daniela Grimburg
OMG, this is pure temptation.<br />The donuts look superb, such a dark and rich color.
Tanna at The Brick Street Bungalow
Oh. My. Goodness!! The Little Men would be beside themselves with these!! I think their Noni needs to be on the hunt for a donut pan! =D<br /><br />Tricia, the clematis in your last post is just amazing! Wow! Such a beautiful color. <br /><br />Hope you'll share photos of your dress. =) And, I wish I knew something really wonderful to share… but, I steal all my recipes from you and
Juliana
Wow, these donuts look great…I love the intense color.<br />Have a wonderful weekend Tricia 🙂