Donut shop mornings can be blissful, but also expensive. Save some coin and bake your own triple chocolate donuts. Super delicious and loaded with chocolate, these baked donuts are a fun treat to make.
You’ve seen it scrolling through your feed. That box of donuts with their colorful sprinkles and sweet glazes just beckoning you.
I mean, really? Who can look at a box of fresh donuts and not feel a flutter of excitement?
It’s just in our DNA.
That said, there are times when loading up at the donut shop is just not possible. And those times are the times when you bake your own.
Baked Donuts for the Win!
Yes, really. Baked donuts, while not the same as fried, are still utterly irresistible. Especially when you load up on the chocolate glaze, sprinkles, and chocolate chips!
You all know that we adore Gramma John’s Buttermilk Donuts, but the effort and oil required to make those relegates them to special occasions.
I took Gramma’s recipe and did some tweaking. The result? Chocolate cake with mini chocolate chips and a chocolate glaze:
Superyum
Why bake donuts?
There are several great reasons for baking donuts instead of frying them, as good as they are.
- Fried foods, while delicious, are often unhealthy for folks with certain medical conditions. Baking, while not making donuts a “health food”, bring it up a notch.
- Frying requires a great quantity of oil, that unless you plan on frying often and reusing your oil, can be costly.
- Frying is cumbersome and time-intensive, whereas with baking, you can bake as many donuts as once as you have donut pans.
Do baked donuts taste the same as fried?
A freshly fried donut is a wonder to behold, but it takes a lot of work to get there if you’re making it at home.
While baked donuts don’t have that distinctive crisp, fatty taste of fried donuts, they are still delicious. The cake flavor in the cake donut is emphasized in a baked donut.
Plus, if you load on the glaze and sprinkles, you’ve got the best part of the donut anyway!
How do you bake donuts from scratch?
Baking donuts is similar to baking muffins.
- Prepare the batter.
- Grease the pans.
- Pipe the batter into the pans. (You can spoon the batter if you prefer, but piping gives you that rounded donut shape.
- Bake the donuts. Cool on a rack.
- Glaze and top your donuts.
Do you need special equipment to make baked donuts?
The thing that differentiates this recipe from a cupcake is the shape of the baked good. A donut isn’t a donut unless it’s round with a hole in the middle.
In order to make these baked donuts, it’s best to have a donut pan, or four. Here’s what you’ll want to have on hand for this recipe:
- donut pans – This recipe makes 24 donuts, so having at least two 6-donut pans is a must. Having four would be nice, but not necessary. You can bake the donuts in two batches if you need to.
- stainless steel mixing bowl
- whisk with a sealed barrel
- wooden spoon
- sifter
- measuring beakers and measuring cups
- cooling rack
- piping bag or ziptop plastic bag
How much does it cost to make your own donuts?
We always assume that making it at home will cost less money than buying it elsewhere. This is often, but not always the case. Let’s see how much that donut really costs, shall we?
These Triple Chocolate Donuts are made from some basic ingredients, ingredients that when bought at regular, non-sale prices break down as follows:
- milk: $0.19 ($3.09/gallon)
- granulated sugar: $0.22 ($1.97/4#)
- eggs: $0.50 ($2.99/12)
- oil: $0.16 ($1.99/48 oz)
- vanilla extract: $0.67 ($7.99/2 oz)
- unbleached, all-purpose flour: $0.45 ($2.69/5#)
- cocoa powder: $0.64 ($1.93/8 oz)
- baking powder: $0.09 ($1.49/8.1 oz)
- baking soda: $0.01 ($0.99/16 oz)
- salt: $0.02 ($2.99/26 oz)
- mini chocolate chips: $0.72 ($3.50/10 oz)
- powdered sugar: $0.37 ($2.99/2#)
The total comes to $4.04 for 2 dozen donuts, making them about 17 cents a piece.
In comparison, check out these donut prices;
- grocery store bakery donuts in waxy chocolate – $4.99/dozen or 42 cents each
- Krispy Kreme glazed chocolate cake donuts – $13.99/dozen or $1.17 each
While these aren’t as melt-in-your mouth amazing as traditionally fried donuts, they’re super tasty and they are a lot cheaper than the donut shop.
Plus, the people you feed will think you’re a rockstar. You made donuts?
Why, yes, yes, I did.
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to share a picture on social media and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
Triple Chocolate Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg
- 1/4 cup neutral oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup powdered sugar for glaze
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for glaze
- 2-3 tbsp hot water for glaze
- toppings for donuts : additional chocolate chips or sprinkles for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°. Grease donut pans with nonstick-cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients just until mixed. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pans or pipe the batter in with a pastry bag.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.
- In a small mixing bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa powder. Stir in enough hot water to make a thin glaze. Dip the donut tops into the glaze and allow to set until firm.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published October 8, 2013 as part of the DIY Convenience series. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Sabine
Hi!
These are great!
I, literally, just finished making these donuts, as a treat for the Memorial Day weekend.
I made mine without the chocolate, per “Grandma John’s…,” but used 1 cup less flour than Grandma John’s, the same amount that this recipe uses (I baked mine, per this recipe, so the ingredients came together like a thickish cake batter, with less flour, unlike Grandma John’s, which uses 1 cup more flour, and requires handling the ingredients with hands, and kneading before frying).
I also used the recipe for “Easy Confection Sugar,” and the glaze came out great, too. I made my own butter milk, with about 3/4 of a cup of milk, with 1 stick of butter, and I used the remaining 1/4 milk, in the glaze.
I just wanted to say, thank you for sharing these. I really enjoyed making these donuts, and they taste great too.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Stay Safe! And, wishing you, and everyone else (the World, the Universe) “Get Well Soon!”
Jessica Fisher
So glad to hear you enjoyed them.
Lynn from NC Outer Banks
Oh these look amazing. May just have to try them.. Thanks for the recipe.
Jessica Fisher
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Kate G
Delicious and chocolatey! Fantastic flavor and very easy recipe. Thanks for making our breakfasts more fun, Jessica!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! Glad to hear it!
Nikki
I found this recipe a couple of weeks ago, and I finally bought the donut pans and made these dough nuts. Yum!! Thank you for developing this recipe and posting it!
Jessica Fisher
So glad you liked it!
Heather M
This post came at the best time! I just bought myself a mini donut pan! And, I haven’t even started looking for recipes yet. I’m definitely starting with this recipe! Love chocolate, can hardly wait!
Deja Armstrong
THIS post prompted me to put donut pans on my Christmas wish list! I just made 2 dozen for my family of 8! I used the recipe on the packaging for a spiced donut (delish!) and will be making a batch of your triple chocolate as soon as I get some mini chips!
Nia
Thanks Jessica for writing this post and sharing this recipe. This is my second or maybe third time reading it and I have to say thanks. My baby asks for donuts about every other day and it makes it difficult to say “no”. We live across the street from a 24 hour donut shop and we smell them cooking about 3 times a day. Now that I think about it, donuts might be his comfort food, he seems to ask for them when he’s upset about not getting something else or things aren’t going his way. Anyhoo, thanks again for the recipe. I too have one of those pans and have yet to break it in!
Jessica Fisher
I cannot imagine living across the street from a donut shop! Yikes!
Amy
Oh please, please, please post more donut recipes!!!! I use my donut pans all the time!
Jessica Fisher
Ha! It’s on my radar. 🙂
Danielle
I make fried donuts once a year for Hannukah and I agree it is really messy, never tried making cake donuts though.
Jen
These look great! I also just joined the doughnut party and have the same pan. I think I will give these a try for Saturday morning. The boys will be thrilled!