Wake up to warm baked cinnamon sugar donuts! Ready in 45 minutes, this simple from-scratch recipe yields perfectly spiced and ultra moist donuts. Always a crowd pleaser, I recommend making a double batch for larger gatherings.
Do you have a donut pan? Add this fun baking tool to your collection because today we’re making baked cinnamon sugar donuts. Most of my donut recipes are baked, not fried, so you have many delicious ways to use that pan!
Why You’ll Love These Baked Donuts:
- No electric mixer required
- Baked, not fried
- Buttery and flavorful
- Soft and cakey
- Spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg
- Sweetened with brown sugar
- Generously coated in cinnamon sugar
- Just like your favorite donuts from a bakery
Two Parts to Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Donuts: We’re using my standard baked donut recipe as the base. It’s what I use for my baked maple donuts, chocolate frosted donuts, lemon poppy seed donuts, and banana donuts. In fact, today’s donuts are just like my chai spice donuts but without the chai spices. It’s a very thick batter that produces tight-crumbed, cakey donuts. You’ll need a small 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. Add cinnamon as well as a little nutmeg—it truly gives these donuts that special bakery taste and aroma.
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping: A mixture of cinnamon and sugar finishes off these donuts. Dip each donut into melted butter, then generously dunk each into the cinnamon sugar. If you love this cinnamon sugar addition, you will flip for these Nutella stuffed cinnamon sugar muffins! Prefer icing on your donuts instead? Try my strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla donut frostings instead.
Quick Overview: How to Make Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
You only need a couple bowls and a silicone spatula—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. So 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 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 you’d expect, so it pipes pretty neatly.
- Bake. They bake up VERY quickly!
- Make the topping. Combine the cinnamon and sugar together in one bowl and melt the butter in another. I usually do this as the donuts bake.
- Dip into topping. Dip the warm donuts into the melted butter, then dunk each into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Make sure to coat every side!
No donut pan? Use a muffin pan instead! For 8-10 donut muffins, bake at 350°F (177°C) for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts Video Tutorial
More Donut Recipes
- Glazed Doughnuts (fried)
- Baked Sprinkle Donuts
- Pumpkin Donuts
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Maple Bacon Doughnuts (fried)
- Powdered Sugar Donut Muffins
Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 donuts
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
There is nothing like waking up to fresh-baked cinnamon sugar donuts, but what makes this recipe a winner is how EASY it is.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (65g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
- 1/4 cup (60g) yogurt*
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat 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, salt, cinnamon, 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 mix 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. 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. Allow to cool for about two minutes and transfer to a wire rack set on a large piece of parchment paper or on a large baking sheet. Bake the remaining donut batter (there is usually enough batter for 1-2 more donuts) and once baked, transfer to the wire rack. Cool donuts for at least 10 minutes before topping.
- Top the donuts: Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Dip the donuts in the melted butter, then dunk into the cinnamon sugar mixture coating all sides.
- 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): Donut Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- 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. I like to use buttermilk. Room temperature is best for this recipe.
- Yogurt: Nonfat, low fat, vanilla, plain, Greek or regular yogurt is OK. I like to use low fat plain Greek yogurt. Room temperature is best for this recipe.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Fantastic! First time for me making donuts. I followed recipe as written. So delicious! I’m impressed with myself. Lol!
Hi! I’m wondering if this recipe would work in a little Dash donut maker?? I recently purchased one and really want to try your recipe with it .
Hi Suzanne, we haven’t tested it but can’t see why not!
Hi Sally!
Could I add fresh blueberries to this recipe?
Hi Devon, We haven’t tested this recipe with blueberries but you certainly can. We recommend making the recipe as written and adding about 1/2-1 cup of blueberries. If you try it out, let us know how it goes!
Adding blueberries~put blueberries in a plastic sealable bag with 2 teaspoons of flour. Shake gently to coat then add blueberries to your batter. Fold into batter gently and pipe into pans as directed. Hope this helps 🙂
Amazing donuts!! We just made them and I couldn’t resist a 2nd!
Has anyone tried this dairy free? I convert all of SBA recipes to gluten free and dairy free and they generally work great but I’m wondering if that amount of dairy free butter (I usually use Earth Balance) works well to keep the cinnamon sugar coating stay on, or if the taste isn’t quite right. Maybe I’ll try some with and some without and report back.
We made the donuts using dairy-free margarine and they turned out totally fine 🙂
I’ve used the Cronometer app to break down the nutritional analysis for this recipe.
*NOTE*: this analysis reflects that for the yogurt I used 0% fat Greek yogurt and I used 2% milk and I used Cake or Pastry flour (Robin Hood). The nutritional analysis below does NOT include brushing or dipping the donut with butter or dipping in sugar afterward (as the amount used is variable/up to you), so you’ll have to calculate and add that to the totals as you see fit.
Baked Cinnamon Donuts
Nutrition Facts
Per 1 donut
Calories 118
Fat 3.5 g
Carbohydrate 18.3 g
Fibre 0.5 g
Sugars 7.8 g
Protein 3 g
Cholesterol 28.3 mg
Sodium 382.4 mg
Potassium 45.7 mg
Calcium 62.7 mg
Iron 0.8 mg
loved this recipe just wondering if you can double it to make more than 8?
Hi Rebecca, yes, feel free to double this batter.
Another fantastic recipe! Every recipe I make from SBA turns out so well! Following recommendations in the comments from the SBA staff I used 1/2 c. of buttermilk because I had a carton to use up and it turned out nicely. I piped them into the pan as recommended and did, indeed, have enough for 3 more donuts (9 total). Thanks so much!
Such a wonderfully delicious recipe. Your measurements are precise (metric makes it so easy and perfect) suggestions for substitute and directions are also excellent. I can’t wait to try your other variations. Thank you
This was the first time I weighed my ingredients and I loved that the recipe was easy to follow! I used a dash of nutmeg and a dash of cloves. Mine only made 6 donuts but I think I over filled it…also it only had 6 cavities so it worked out well. Thanks so much!
Delicious! Donut itself is not too sweet, so when covered in sugar it was the perfect amount of sweetness. This being my first time using the donut pan, I did overfill it and many of the holes closed up, so if you want pretty donuts don’t overfill the pan! A+ recipe, will make again!
Hello Sally,
Thank you for this recipe. I have always wanted to make baked donuts and appreciate finding your/this well reviewed recipe. Are there any other baked donut recipes you can share? Also, will be baking in silicone pan. Is it still necessary and or better to first hit with non stick spray?
Thank you very much!
L
Hi Laura! You can find more of our donut recipes here. We don’t usually use a silicone pan, so can’t say for sure, but a light coating may still be helpful.
Thank you!!
I loved this recipe so much!
If I were to bake this dough in a giant silicone donut cake ring, how long would you suggest I bake it?
Hi Jill, we’re unsure of the exact bake time. It depends on the exact size/capacity of your pan. Keep a close eye on it and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Hi Jill,
Did you ever attempt to make this, if so; how did it come out? I hope to do the same with standard jumbo silicone donut pan.
Thanks much for any insight information you can provide RE cooking times!
L
This recipe is amazing! I thought they wouldn’t taste as good as fried donuts, but I enjoy them just as much, if not better. It is a quick and easy process. A real crowd pleaser!
When making the cinnamon sugar donut can u substitute the yogurt with sour cream and can regular milk work instead of butter milk?
Hi Evelyn, both of these substitution will work. Enjoy!
Could I use applesauce as a sub for yogurt here?
Great recipe ! Could I chill the dough, then cut out and bake the donuts on a lined cookie sheet?
Hi Dave, the donuts need the shape/structure of a donut pan or muffin tin. They would spread too much on a lined baking sheet, even if chilled.
Incredibly delicious and easy! I made them dairy free with butter substitute, soy milk and oat yogurt and they’re some of the best doughnuts I’ve ever had. Thanks for a great recipe!
Can I make the batter ahead of time? Store in the fridge and bake in the morning?
Hi Alison, we don’t recommend making the batter ahead of time – it’s best to bake right away!
what can i use instead of yogurt?
Hi Lexi, You can use sour cream instead. OR replace BOTH the milk and yogurt with a 1/2 cup buttermilk.
can I deep-fry small amounts of batter in hot oil to make donut holes?
Hi Hannah, this batter isn’t ideal for deep frying. You can use this homemade doughnuts batter to make doughnut holes and try sprinkling the glazed doughnuts with the cinnamon sugar topping from this recipe.
I love this recipe. I made them twice last fall and can’t wait to make them again this year. I was wondering – do you think I could sub some or all of the vanilla extract with maple extract instead or would it be overwhelming? I have made your maple glaze before but was looking to impart the maple flavor without the stickiness!
Hi Jaclynn, You can certainly try substituting some of the vanilla extract with maple (not all!). We haven’t tested it but start by substituting between one half and one quarter of a teaspoon of maple extract depending on how strong of a flavor you want. Let us know if you give it a try!
I swapped 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract for maple, and it turned out perfect. Thanks for the tip to not swap all of the vanilla though – it’s plenty potent at 1/2 a teaspoon!
Love these. I made them into smallish muffins, and instead of dipping them into the butter, I brushed it on. Recipe makes too much topping in my opinion, had lots of leftover cinnamon sugar + butter. I also added lots more cinnamon in the topping. Overall loved them.
Hi Sally, could I sub a veg oil for butter? My husband and I are helping with a small bakery start up in a low economic area of Bolivia, South America. Butter is very pricey here, so we are looking for alternatives to the reduce her costs and increase profit, but not sacrifice flavour. I know butter is a much more flavourful than oil!
A few notes from my experience…I brush my donuts with butter using a pastry brush and dip in the cinnamon sugar. It works well and is less messy – in case there are others out there like me who don’t like messy food.
I use mini donut pans, 12 donuts each, bake for 7-8 mins, they are bite size and very cute. My 12 year old daughter loves to make and sell them to our church and in our neigbourhood.
Hi Lisa! You can certainly try experimenting with oil, but the taste and texture will be a bit different. Great tip on brushing the donuts! Let us know if you do give them a try.
Omg I am in heaven! Loved these doughnuts! We used the chocolate glaze from one of your other doughnut recipes, subbing golden syrup for the corn syrup, as we don’t get corn syrup in UK, but it was totally sublime!!! Shall definitely be making again.
This taste so awesome, thank you Sally
Hi Sally, can I use sour cream in place of the yogurt?
Hi Bonnie, absolutely — same amount.
I loved this recipe but my donuts were rough in the middle maybe because I used a muffin pan?
So yummy – we love these amazing donuts!
If i dont have a donut pan. Can i make donuts without the hole in a muffin tin or so? Or wont that cook through before burning?
Hi Irma, See recipe note #3 for baking these in a muffin pan!
Hi!! Am I able to make little donut holes with this batter?? If so, how would the bake time differ? Thank you!!
Hi Rachel, You can use a mini muffin pan and bake for about 9-10 minutes. That’s how long it takes the spiced apple cider donut holes and the recipes are somewhat similar.
Exactly what I was looking for. Texture and taste wonderful. My son likes them
Sally, the taste is awessome. Though the measurements of all ingredients were exactly as mentioned but my batter was not as thick as yours. The doughnts did not rise enough, but i tried to make muffins with the same batter and the muffins turned out great. Can you suggest where did i go wrong ?
Hi Kukum, We are happy that you enjoyed the taste! If you are using the exact same batter, just in different pans, it’s possible that you simply didn’t use quite enough batter in the donut pan. If you try it again add just a little more batter to each donut to get them to rise a little higher.
Perfect donnut recipe
I made 1/2 cinnamon sugar as recommended by previous comments but still had leftovers.
I also 1/2 the butter.
I would prob use less sugar in donut sugar next time and 1/4 the entire batch of cinnamon ratio sugar other than that easy and delicious!! Thank you