Birthday Cake Baked Donuts are a colorful treat for any occasion.
This easy to make recipe will put a smile on anyone's face! Light and fluffy buttermilk donuts are filled with sprinkles. The baked donuts are then dipped in a warm glaze and topped with more sprinkles! Make them for breakfast or dessert!
Why this recipe works so well:
Birthday cake baked donuts were super fun to make.
First of all, who doesn't love a good donut? If you're looking for a baked cake doughnut recipe, you've come to the right place. What I'm sharing here is basically a baked glazed donut recipe. Simple and easy.
These are not to be confused with my birthday cake sugar cookies. Those are also covered in sprinkles and are flavored with a touch of almond extract. But we all know cookies and doughnuts satisfy two different kinds of cravings!
Have you ever woken up your favorite birthday boy or girl with donuts?
Instead of buying maple bars and apple fritters, make up a batch of these fun birthday cake baked donuts and I promise it will be a birthday breakfast long remembered!
Here's how to make them:
- First step is to make the donut batter. You will make this very similar to a pancake or muffin recipe - combine the dry and wet ingredients separately and then mix them together. Take care not to over mix. Then the sprinkles are folded into the batter.
- I like to transfer the batter to a gallon sized resealable storage bag, snip off the corner, and then pipe them into the donut baking pan.
- You will bake them in a preheated oven for about ten minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Final step is to make the glaze. Dip your warm (but not hot) donuts in the glaze, top with additional sprinkles, and let them sit until the glaze is no longer sticky.
Baked vs. fried donuts:
A real donut is made by dropping sweet donut batter into hot oil. Although that is my preferred method of eating donuts, I don't own a deep fryer. For that matter, I don't often deep fry anything.
Making baked donuts, on the other hand, is really not much different than making cupcake or a muffin. You prepare the batter, bake them in a donut pan, then cover with glaze.
Baked donuts are basically muffins but cuter, smaller and easier. The batter is also lighter.
For these donuts, I like to incorporate those long sprinkles right into the batter because they cook up so well.
The trick with baked donuts is to squeeze the batter into the donut pan using a plastic bag. The result is so much prettier than if you try to spoon it in.
Can you make them without a donut pan?
Not really. You could try to pipe them onto a baking sheet, but they won't hold their shape. You could cook them in a muffin tin, but then they would be muffins and not baked donuts.
he donut pans are relatively inexpensive and easy to find on amazon. If you're interested in making these, I highly recommend just buying the pan.
I prefer to make things interesting and use those little teeny tiny ball sprinkles on the top. They just add the perfect little crunch to the warm glaze.
When I made my birthday cake cookies, I snuck a bit of almond extract into the batter and for whatever reason, that stuff makes the end result taste fabulous!
Watch the step-by-step recipe video below:
Birthday Cake Baked Donuts
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
Donut:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
Glaze:
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- extra sprinkles to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
For the donuts:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a larger bowl, whisk the egg and buttermilk together until smooth. Add the melted butter along with the vanilla and almond extracts, whisking until fully combined. Add the flour mixture to this wet mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the sprinkles.
- Transfer the batter to a gallon sized freezer bag. Squeeze out all the air before sealing and snip the bottom corner off so that you can pipe one fat bead of batter into each well of the donut pan.
- Bake for 9–10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack placed over a large baking sheet to later catch all of the icing drips and allow to fully cool to room temperature.
For the glaze:
- Combine the confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla and almond extracts in a small sauce pan. Heat over low heat while stirring constantly just to warm the glaze and allow the sugar to fully dissolve. Remove from heat.
- Dip the top of each donut in the warm glaze and return to rack. Then, once the glaze in the pot has cooled more and begins to thicken, re-dip each donut in the glaze once again and then top with additional sprinkles before the glaze sets.
- Donuts are best enjoyed fresh but can be stored in an air tight container for a couple days if not eaten right away.
Grace
Are these dense? I’m looking for a light and fluffy donut.
Krissy
They are definitely more like a muffin than a traditional donut. Hope that helps!
Katie
Do these baked donuts get the same crisp texture as fried donuts? I’ve inky tried one baked donut recipe and it was a pumpkin one and they were soggy once the glaze was added.
Krissy
They aren't soggy, but they aren't as crisp as if they were fried like a real donut. They are very similar to muffins.
Lucy Weakley Defenbaugh
Can you use the same recipe for a giant donut cake pan, or a round cake pan?
Krissy
Hi Lucy, I think that would work but you would have to increase your cooking time by quite a bit. They are very similar to muffins, so if you compare a muffin to a loaf, it should work!
Laura
Tried these with my kids today after finding a donut pan at aldi. I haven’t tried any other recipes yet so maybe they all taste like this but it did not remind me of a donut at all. More like a cupcake in a different shape. The glaze was not my favorite, but I have not found one yet that tastes like a glaze in a bakery. I might be just leaving donuts up to the professionals 🙂 Cute and the kids enjoyed making them, just didn’t taste like a donut.
Krissy
Hi Laura, Yes - a baked donut is much more similar in taste to a cupcake or a muffin. A real donut is deep fried and there's just no comparison.
Shipra Singh
Its Looks so yummy! I will try this at my kitchen as soon.
Regards
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Jyothi
Looks absolutely gorgeous!
rhonda ahrens
I am making them into mini muffins I think as a bite size treat they will be delicious. Love donuts but I am not into adding another pan to may baking supply and I have the mini muffin pan that I rarely use these days. Kroger eggs are good and I do buy them, but I have a farm down the road with duck eggs so mine are really going to pop I bet with one of those big duck eggs for the mix?. Can't make them today but definitely making them this week to celebrate a couple friends and my July bdays. Thanks for the recipe!
Krissy
Yay for farm fresh eggs!
Heather
Donuts are such an original take on birthday desserts or just for an after-dinner treat. I love the idea of adding almond extract, I'm sure it makes them taste even better! Thanks for sharing.
Ivette
What can I use to substitute buttermilk?
Krissy
You can always make your own substitute by combining about a teaspoon of lemon juice for every cup of regular milk and letting it sit for at least 15 minutes before using.
JULIE HART
I dont have a donut pan
What else could I use to make these?
Thanks for any tips
Krissy
You could try piping them on a sheet but they'll probably go flat. You can use a muffin tin but then they'd be muffins.
Rebecca Blackwell
I've been a bit obsessed with homemade doughnuts lately, so of course these caught my eye. I've made your birthday cake sugar cookies, which were so fun and delicious! I'm sure these will be as well. Thank you so much for sharing!
Peggy
This is a painfully stupid question, but can you just make these in a muffin pan. I don't have a donut pan and really don't need another kitchen item that I don't use often.
Krissy
You sure can. They'll turn out the same but you won't get the same visual satisfaction because they'll look like muffins instead of donuts.
Danell Branscom
Looks good. Does Kroger carry the donut pan
Krissy
Haven't seen it there. I think I got it at Michaels or Bed bath & beyond