Homemade baked chai spice donuts are perfect for cool mornings. Each bite is flavored with cozy fall spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and allspice. Ready in 35 minutes, use this recipe to make donuts or donut holes! Another favorite fall donut recipe is my apple cider donutsโtry those next.
Do you have a donut pan? Add this fun baking tool to your collection because today we’re making baked chai spice donuts!
Why You’ll Love These Baked Donuts:
- Baked, not fried
- A quick & easy breakfast treat
- Double dose of chai spiceโin the batter and the coating
- Just like baked cinnamon sugar donuts with a fall twist
- Soft, dense, and cakey (more like a muffin than a fried donut)
- Make donuts or donut holes with the same recipe
Two Parts to Baked Chai Spice Donuts
- Donuts: Weโre using my standard baked donut recipe as the base. Itโs what I use for my chocolate frosted donuts, banana donuts, baked sprinkle donuts, baked maple donuts, cinnamon sugar donuts, and crumb cake donuts (doubled for that recipe). Itโs a very thick batter that produces tight-crumbed, cakey donuts. Thereโs a small handful of basic ingredients required like flour, egg, leaveners, sugar, and milk. I like to add a little sour cream to the donut batter for a moisture punch (Greek yogurt works too). Add cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and allspice for ultimate chai flavor.
- Chai Spice Coating: While I dabbled with the thought of glazing these donuts, I kept going back to my cinnamon sugar standard. Only with the addition of our chai spice mix. Each baked donut is dipped in butter and generously coated in a sugar/chai spice mixture. Just wait until you smell these easy chai donutsโyouโll wish this scent was available in candle form.
Quick Overview: How to Make Baked Chai Spice Donuts
These baked donuts are such an easy breakfast treatโessential as the days get shorter and our schedules get busier. No electric mixer required!
- Make the sugar & spice mixture. Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and allspice. (We use the same spices to coat white chocolate chai snickerdoodles.) Part of this sugar/spice mixture will be for the actual donut batter while the other part will be for the donut coating.
- Make the donut batter. Whisk the dry ingredients together, whisk the wet ingredients together (including 1/3 cup of the sugar/spice mixture), then combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Fill the donut cavities. Transferring donut batter into the donut pan can be tricky, so I always suggest using a zipped-top bag to pipe the batter. (You can see me doing this in my pumpkin donuts post.) Just spoon the batter into a large zipped-top bag, trim off a bottom corner, and squeeze the batter into the pan. The donut batter is thicker than youโd expect, so it pipes pretty neatly.
- Bake. They bake up VERY quickly!
- Top the donuts. If the remaining melted butter has solidified, re-melt it. Dip each warm donut into the melted butter, then dunk into the remaining sugar/spice mixture. Make sure to coat all sides! This coating would be equally delicious on pumpkin donuts.
Use This Batter for Donuts or Donut Holes
Make donuts or donut holes with today’s easy chai spice donut batterโyou’ll get about 8 regular size donuts or 20 donut holes. While I love the look of classic donuts, itty butty donut holes are adorableโand perfect if you a) don’t have a donut pan or b) need to feed a crowd. Simply bake the donut holes in a mini muffin pan for 9-10 minutes. Super simple! I use a muffin pan to make these chocolate donut holes, too.
More Donut Recipes
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Maple Bacon Doughnuts (fried)
- Crumb Cake Donuts
- Glazed Doughnuts (fried)
- Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts
- Chocolate Frosted Donuts
- Powdered Sugar Donut Muffins
Easy Chai Spice Donuts
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 donuts or 20 donut holes
- Category: Donuts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Baked and completely easy chai spice donuts are extra delicious and ready in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1ย cup (125g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (divided)
- 1 large egg*
- 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream*
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Spray donut pan or 24-count mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Makeย the donuts: Whisk theย granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and allspice together. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and saltย together in a medium bowl. Set aside. Whiskย 3 Tablespoons ofย melted butter, egg, 1/3 cup of the sugar/spice mix (the rest is for the coating), sour cream, milk, and vanilla together until completely combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the donut cavitiesโI highly recommend using a large zipped-top bag for ease. Cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cup, filling 2/3 โ 3/4 of the way full. (You can see me doing this in my pumpkin donuts post.) Or, if making donut holes, spoon theย batter into the mini muffin pan, filling each 3/4 of the way full. You’ll only need a couple teaspoons of batter for each.
- Bake the donuts or donut holes for 9โ10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and when poked lightly with a finger, they spring back.ย Once done, transfer to a wire rack set on a large piece of parchment paper or on a large baking sheet. Bake the remaining donut batterย (there is usually enough batter for 1-2 more donuts) and once baked, transfer to the wire rack. Allow donuts to cool down until you can handle them.
- Top the donuts:ย Re-melt the remaining butter if it has solidified by now. Dip the donuts in the melted butter, then dunk into the remaining sugar/spiceย mixture, making sure to coat all sides.ย Donuts are best served immediately. Leftovers keep well covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the donuts for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up to your liking in the microwave. I usually just zap ’em for a couple seconds.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):ย Donut Pan or 24-count Mini Muffin Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Large Zipped-Top Bag | Cooling Rack
- Room Temperature Ingredients: I find it is best to have these 3 ingredients at room temperature. The batter comes together very easily. Any milk works, whether that’s whole milk, skim milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or almond milk.
- Adapted from baked cinnamon sugar donuts.
Reader Comments and Reviews
That is a must try recipe you have shared here. Really, after reading this, it is mandatory to make these donuts. Keep up the good work.
Such an easy and tasty recipe! Is it possible to steep a Chai tea bag into the milk to increase the spice flavor?
Yes, absolutely! Make sure to allow the milk to come to room temperature before using.
Great recipe! Delicious flavor and so moist. I made the donut holes. My only complaint is that it calls for way too much sugar to roll the donuts in. I cut the total sugar amount to 1 1/4 cup and it was still too much. Next time I will cut it to 1 cup sugar.
These were way too easy to taste this good. That said: now that I have had one and based on the amount of leftover sugar, I will use 1 cup of sugar and the same amount of spice next time. They would be a little spicier.
Oh my goodness these are so so so so good. My husband said โ you can make these again and again
Finally! A great baked donut recipe! I did have a lot of excess sugar from the coating though. Iโll be checking out Sallyโs other baked donut recipes. She is my go -to blog for baking !
Hi Sally
Can you tell me what I can use in the dough instead of the sour cream – I just CAN’T stand it, even in baking! Would yogurt work ok as a substitute?
Hi Hazel, plain yogurt or even unsweetened applesauce would work.
Oh my yum! Finally made these and am trying to keep from inhaling them all at once!
Way too much sugar in the coating. Like eating sand. Spice flavor is good. Donuts are very tender and soft.
Hi Sally! Can you suggest an egg sub for this recipe?
Hi Svasti, we have very little experience with egg free baking recipes and the best egg replacements to use. However, we do have a section on our website with naturallyย egg free baking recipes โ ones where eggs arenโt really needed. I hope you find some to enjoy! If you do try any egg substitutes for this particular recipe, we’d love to know how it turns out for you.
Svasti – I have used applesauce in place of egg in Sally’s other recipes and had success.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I was wondering if I can double the recipe, or would you recommend making it in two seperate batches? Thanks!
Hi Madison, I recommend making 2 individual batches! Doubling the recipe could lead to over or under mixing the batter. Hope you love them!
My husband and I love these and have made several times. Quick and easy to put together. Have almost eliminated our trips to the donut shop in town on the weekends. We always want these! Sally’s recipes are always fantastic, she’s my go-to!
Hi! So excited to try these- your recipes are my favorite! I have chai powder. Could you give me an idea of how much to use in place of the spices? Thanks!
I hope you love these! I would recommend keeping the total amount of spices the same!
Hi Sally,
Is it possible to substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour?
Thank you!
Hi Minola! You can use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour in these chai spice donuts, but they will taste a little heavier. Keep that in mind.
Hi Sally, would this recipe work using a jumbo muffin pan?ย
Definitely! I’m unsure how many this batter will yield. Not too many since jumbo muffins require a ton of batter each.
I asked for a donut pan for my birthday back in October (which I got by the way) because of this recipe. ย I finally got around to making them today. ย They are delicious-wish I hadn’t waited so long! ย
Could these be made with gluten free flour?
I’m sure they could. I have never tried it though!
Hi Sally!
My son would love to have these donuts in his next college care package. Do you think they would survive being mailed? ย It would take about 2 days to reach him. Thanks!ย
Sandy
Absolutely. They’d be perfect for mailing. I’d stick them in a tupperware.
I made these yesterday and they are my new favorite baked donut! I halved the sugar because I’m trying to cut down and I didn’t miss it at all. I cut the recipe in half and made 4 donuts, 2 for me and 2 for my husband. It was just the right amount! ๐ Thanks again for a great recipe!