Homemade chocolate frosted donuts are baked, not fried, and topped with a thick chocolate glaze. This easy recipe for moist and buttery donuts will quickly become a favorite breakfast treat. Cover them completely in sprinkles and you’ll find yourself eating more than just one!
Do you have a donut pan? Add this fun baking tool to your collection because today we’re making chocolate frosted donuts. Then use it to make banana donuts, baked sprinkle donuts, and any of my other baked donut recipes!
Why You’ll Love These Baked Donuts:
- Kid-friendly
- No electric mixer required
- Baked, not fried
- Taste just like donuts from your favorite bakery
- Soft, dense, and cakey
- Sweetened with brown sugar
- Generously frosted with chocolate glaze
- Overloaded with sprinkles
Two Parts to Chocolate Frosted Donuts
- Donuts: We’re using my standard baked donut recipe as the base. It’s what I use for my cinnamon sugar donuts, chai spice donuts, crumb cake donuts (doubled for that recipe), and lemon poppy seed donuts. It’s a very thick batter that produces tight-crumbed, cakey donuts. We use a handful of basic ingredients like flour, egg, leaveners, and milk. I like to add a little Greek yogurt to the donut batter for a moisture punch (sour cream works too) and prefer sweetening them with brown sugar. A little dash of nutmeg gives these donuts that classic donut shop taste we all know and love.
- Chocolate Glaze: We’re using the same chocolate glaze as we do for my banana donuts. It’s like chocolate ganache, but we use butter. Butter helps it solidify and “set” on top of each donut. Water thins the glaze out while corn syrup (optional) keeps it smooth and shiny.
Looking for other flavors? Try my strawberry and vanilla donut frostings also!
Quick Overview: How to Make Chocolate Frosted Donuts
If you can make muffins, you can make donuts. These come together quickly and easily, no mixer required!
- Make the donut batter. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Whisk to combine both. It’s that easy.
- 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 below.) 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 you’d expect, so it pipes pretty neatly.
- Bake. They bake up VERY quickly!
- Make the glaze. I usually do this as the donuts bake. Melt the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup, and water together until completely smooth.
- Dip into glaze. Dip the warm donuts into the chocolate glaze and cover with sprinkles!
More Donut Recipes
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Berry Fritters (fried)
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Baked Maple Donuts
- Glazed Doughnuts (fried)
- Crumb Cake Donuts
Chocolate Frosted Donuts
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 8 donuts
- Category: Donuts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These chocolate frosted donuts are baked, not fried, and are so simple to make! Cover them completely in sprinkles and you’ll find yourself eating more than just one.
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (gives them that “bakery donut” taste)
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup (65g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
- 1/4 cup (60g) Greek yogurt*
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze
- 1/2 cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
- 2 teaspoons water
- rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Make the donuts: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the egg, brown sugar, milk, and yogurt together until smooth. Add the melted butter and vanilla, whisking until fully combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be very thick.
- Spoon the batter into the donut cavities—I highly recommend using a large zipped-top bag for ease, as pictured and explained in detail above. Cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cup, filling 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the pan and bake the remaining donut batter. Allow the donuts to slightly cool before glazing.
- Make the chocolate glaze: Place the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup, and water in a medium bowl. Melt in 20 second increments in the microwave, stirring after each time, until completely melted and smooth. Dip the tops of the donuts into the chocolate glaze and then cover with sprinkles. I simply poured the sprinkles into a deep bowl and dipped the tops of the donuts into it. You’ll likely have leftover glaze. It’s great on ice cream!
- Donuts taste best eaten the same day, though they may be covered tightly and stored at room temperature for 2 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the unfrosted donuts for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, warm up to your liking in the microwave, and top with glaze.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Donut Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Large Ziploc Bag
- As Muffins: You can make this recipe into 8-10 muffins using a muffin pan. Bake at the same temperature for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Milk: Skim milk, 1%, 2%, whole, almond milk, soy milk, or coconut milk is OK.
- Yogurt: Nonfat, low fat, vanilla, plain, Greek or regular yogurt is OK. Sour cream works too!
Keywords: chocolate frosted donuts