Yummy (and easy!) Baked Doughnuts

Lately I've been feeling the need to bake on Sunday mornings. This is a good thing because not only is it super tasty, I have to assume that "baby time" will overtake the available "baking time." Time to get some good, dedicated baking in while I still can! One thing I absolutely had to knock off of my list were homemade doughnuts!


I've been wanting to make doughnuts since I was about 8 years old. And yes, I am just now finally getting around to it. However, since I'm not really into frying things in my own home, I opted for a yeast doughnut that could be baked vs. a doughnut that needed to be fried. I also like to think that this made my doughnuts healthier, but with all of the butter and sugar, I'm probably just fooling myself (which I'm totally fine with...ignorance is bliss)!

These were so much fun to make. And easy. I think any novice baker could easily tackle them. The dough was so soft and gorgeous and just smelled like doughnuts! It was divine. And eating these babies right out of the oven (after dipping them in melted butter and a combination of cinnamon and sugar) was an amazing way to spend a Sunday morning.

Since we ended up with about a million and one doughnuts (ok, more like 18 plus doughnut holes) for just the two of us, we had quite a few leftovers. Not to worry. While they are not nearly a good leftover as they were fresh, these were still tasty a day or two later.

Baked Doughnuts with Cinnamon-Sugar
From the Brown Eyed Baker

Yield: 10 to 14 doughnuts (note: mine yielded quite a few more doughnuts!)

For the doughnuts:
1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk, heated to 115 degrees
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ to 3½ cups unbleached flour, divided, plus more for kneading
1 stick butter (4 ounces), cut into 1″ cubes

For the cinnamon-sugar coating:
1 stick butter (4 ounces), melted
1 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons cinnamon, mixed together

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the egg and sugar on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add in the milk, yeast, salt, and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low, and then add in 2 cups of the flour. Attach the dough hook and then on medium speed, add the butter one piece at a time until smooth. Reduce the speed to low, and then add the rest of the flour until the dough sticks to the hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should be soft and moist, but not sticky.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in a mixing bowl coated with cooking spray and cover with a damp towel. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and roll it out to about ½” thickness. With biscuit cutters, cut out 3″ circles with 1″ holes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the doughnuts 1″ apart. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on top of the preheating oven until almost doubled in size, about 25 minutes.

Bake until light golden in color, 5-8 minutes. Dip the hot doughnuts in the melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately; doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are made.