Baked Doughnuts with Cinnamon-Sugar
Today’s post comes from Tracy at Sugarcrafter. Tracy lives in upstate NY with her husband, kitty, and brand new puppy. Her blog, Sugarcrafter, is a baking and cooking blog that features from-scratch recipes using wholesome ingredients with step-by-step directions to give you the confidence you need to conquer any recipe. She also enjoys canning, hiking, camping, and quilting. You can follow Tracy on Twitter @sugarcrafter and become a fan on Facebook.
Recipe, text and photos from Tracy.
As a kid, I loved when my mom and I would stop by our local bakery on special occasions to pick up a box of fresh doughnuts. Upon walking into the bakery, I always delighted in the smell of fresh bread and pastries baking in the oven and the sweet smell of powdered sugar in the air. We usually picked out an assortment of doughnuts – everything from glazed to chocolate to my personal favorite, custard-filled. And of course, nothing could beat the ones that came fresh out of the fryer. Or so I thought.
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It wasn’t until I came upon this recipe from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni that I converted to an oven-baked doughnut lover. I’ve made cake doughnuts in the oven before, and while delicious in their own right, I decided that they still had nothing on fried doughnuts. These doughnuts, however, are not cake-based but are yeasted doughnuts…and though they take a bit longer due the rising time needed, they make for what I feel are the lightest, fluffiest doughnuts you’ll ever taste. Coated with a glaze, a drizzle of chocolate, or a simple cinnamon-sugar mixture like I used, your guests will be scrambling to get their hands on these before they’re all gone!
Hi, they look sooo good :) But I’m i lil confused about step 3 & 4. Especially the part about letting them sit on top of the preheating oven?? Could someone pls explain. Thanks!
Hi Nikita, Basically if you have a freestanding range with oven, an easy way to allow dough to rise is by placing the bowl or baking sheet on top of the warm surface. If you don’t have a freestanding oven, just place the dough in a draft-free area to rise.
I made these donuts and my dough did not rise. I used active dry yeast. My donuts were not light and airy like they should be however I love the dough and the taste of these donuts was wonderful. I do want to make them again but guess I need to know what I did wrong. Also, they did not brown in 5-8 minutes I baked them longer and they still didn’t seem done inside.
tried these yummilicious donuts yesterday
so easy, so light and soooo delicious
made them at tea-party, everyone loved them
thanku sooo much for the wonderful recipe
does it matter if the flour is unbleached?
i used just regular flour instead of unbleached one and they were still very good….btw i dont even know what difference does unbleached one makes???????
Yum! Looking forward to trying these!
I just had to let you know that I made your DOUGHNUT recipe and LOVED IT!!! They are addicting. :)
I have made the cake ones before (but they are a little heavier) and I tend to stay away from the fryer….. but THESE- MAN, they were so GOOD!
Actually, I yielded 18 doughnuts. I baked 9 right away. And I put the rest in the fridge for the next morning. I gave those more time to rise when I took them out– but both batches were just as yummy.
THANKS for sharing all your great recipes!
Did they rise okay for you? I just made them and the dough won’t rise for me. I used cold butter, so maybe I should have used room temp? They look delicious, so I’ll try again!
Do you think that I could make this the night before and then bake in the morning? What step would I “stop” at night and “pick up” in the morning? And would this freeze at all? Thanks!
After the first rise, place yeasted dough in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
Mmmm I love cinnamon-sugar donuts!
Does anyone know if you could mix the dough up and store in refrigerator overnight?
Yours look wonderful! I think oven baked yeasted doughnuts are the best!
Tracy these look beautiful and incredibly delicious. I am so excited that you do not need a donut pan to make them. Cannot wait to taste them for myself:)
Tracy,
These look amazing! Gotta try these!
So fun to see you over here Tracy! These look delicious!!
These look wonderful- I’m totally into the healthy-donut thing!
Sam – I used all-purpose flour. As for the yeast, I don’t think you can substitute instant yeast for active dry directly, but I’m really not sure since I haven’t tried it…if you do, let us know!
Thanks Tracy : ) I’m one step closer to making them now! I had a look and the active dry yeast is not expensive so I’ll probably just go buy some new especially for these little beauties!!
Thank you for this! I’ve been looking for a non-fried doughnut recipe for EVER and this is IT!!! I can’t wait to try these this weekend. :)
Fantastic post, Tracy! These doughnuts look absolutely irresistible.
I love that these are baked. What deliciousness!
Really beautiful!! I need these!
loving this baked version on doughnuts. yummm. can’t wait to try it out!:)
Oh my goodness, these look so temptingly tender and delicious! I can only imagine what your kitchen must have smelled like during the process. I need this to be a Saturday morning project with my girls. Thanks!
That sounds amazing! I always shy away from doughnuts because of the fact that they are fried, they just are too greasy most of the time. I love this oven baked alternative!
Ooh. Yeasty donuts. What a fantastic idea. The only baked donuts I’ve ever eaten were basically cake mix in a donut shape mold– yuck. These, however, look wonderful and far superior.
These donuts look amazing!! I definitely have to try this recipe. I love that it doesn’t use a donut pan either, since I don’t have one!
I need to try this, I have yet to make a donut and this looks so good
I was JUST looking for a baked doughnut recipe! Thanks!
These look so light and fluffy, I want a bite!
Oh. My. God. Doughnuts that I can make!! Thanks so much for this recipe!
They look like heaven on a plate. Really looking forward to trying these after the necessary US-UK conversion! Two question though, is that all-purpose/plain flour or bread flour? And can instant dry yeast be substituted instead of active dry yeast? Any help would be appreciated as I really wanna find a good oven-baked doughnut!!
Lovely pictures..the doughnuts look yum… have to make these soon…