This post may contain affiliate links. Read disclosure policy
Looking for a donut recipe without yeast? I’ve got you covered with these BAKED DONUTS! You’ll have donuts in less than 30 minutes and with our special trick, they’ll taste like they were freshly fried with a crisp, sweet exterior and soft, fluffy interior!
It appears that I have a problem.
A donut problem.
I’m not sure how it happened. I’ve never been a donut person. I honestly only buy bakery donuts a few times a year.
Yet, when you do a quick search for the word “donut” on my blog you are met with multiple pages of donut recipes.
I’m also unable to pass up a donut shop without stopping in to test out a few of their specialties. Donuts have definitely become one of my favorite things.
No donut pan? Try our air fryer donuts!
Ingredients for Donuts Without Yeast:
Flour – All purpose or white whole wheat are great here.
Sugar – Both granulated and brown sugar.
Baking Powder
Spices – We’re using a mix of nutmeg and cinnamon to make these all warm and cozy spiced.
Buttermilk – No buttermilk? Just add a scant tablespoon of white vinegar to regular milk and let sit for 5 minutes to sour.
Eggs
Vanilla
Melted Butter – Both in the batter and the coating!
What Readers are Saying!
“For a baked, no yeast donut, this recipe is awesome! I was really craving donuts but I didn’t want to leave the house, nor did I want to worry about yeast or a fryer, and this recipe really did the trick. I put the batter in a muffin tin because I don’t have a donut tin. Still turned out great, just with a muffin shape” – Calista
How to:
Make the batter: Mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, add your buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter then beat to combine. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir well.
Spoon into pan: We’re using a donut pan to make perfectly shaped donuts. No pan? Use a mini muffin tin and call them donut holes! 😉
Grease the pan well and then spoon the batter in evenly.
My Favorite Donut Pan!
I didn’t expect to use a donut pan nearly as often as I do, but the kids love baked donuts and I love how easy and fun they are. This pan is a must!
Bake: The donuts take about 10 minutes in the oven. When they’re fully cooked, the top of the donut will spring back when lightly pressed.
Cool: Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes or you’ll risk them falling apart as you take them out of the pan.
Coat the donuts: Now for my favorite part! Add melted butter to a small bowl. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon to a second small bowl. Dunk each donut first in the butter and then into the cinnamon sugar.
Helpful Tip!
Coating the Donuts
- Work quickly when dunking in the butter so that the donut doesn’t soak up too much butter. We just want enough to coat the outside to give it that freshly fried flavor and help the cinnamon and sugar stick.
- Toss gently in the cinnamon and sugar mixture, pressing lightly to help it adhere to the donut.
- It may seem wild to dunk a donut in butter, but it is what takes it from just a muffin shaped like a donut to an actual donut, in my opinion. Don’t skip this step!
More Donut Recipes:
Baked Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray a donut pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a small bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter until well combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Fill your donut pan 3/4 full and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.
- To make the topping, mix together the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Dunk each donut quickly into the melted butter to completely coat (but do not soak the donut in the butter) and then swirl around in the cinnamon sugar to coat.
Emma Gay says
I just finished making these donuts half an hour ago and they are THE best things EVER. I used whole wheat flower instead of white (it was all we had in the kitchen!), and it still worked fabulously. I also used a baby donut pan instead of regular sized – it was annoying to make multiple batches, but the donut-to-butter-and-sugar ratio was spot on 😉
Sara says
These were delicious! I’ve only tried a couple recipes with my donut pan so far and this is our favorite yet!!! I did use 1/2 whole wheat white flour and 1/2 all-purpose flour and only dipped the tops in the butter/cinnamon/sugar to make them a little “healthier”. I got 11 donuts but I overfilled some of my wells a bit.
Terra says
Wow. These look fab. I live in the UK and have just come across your blog. I am going to try and make some of your recipes, I only hope I can find the correct measurements over here! Will need to do some conversions me thinks!
I really love cinnamon donuts so here’s hoping I can find a donut pan!
Cheers for writing such a great blog!
Hannah says
Mmmm this looks so good. I just bought a doughnut pan today. How many donuts does this make? My doughnut pan can make 6 doughnuts at a time.
Karly says
@Hannah,
This recipe will make 12 donuts in a regular sized donut pan. 🙂
gary says
Hi
Google landed me on your page and wanted to try this. But, I’m going to ask some stupid questions. 🙂
I thought donuts needed some yeast to make them pop. Is it better to use that? Also, I am like everyone else, I don’t have a donut pan. Is this mixture fairly watery? Or is it more dough like? Ie, Can I just form it into a dough shape and bake it?
Thanks!!!
Karly says
@gary,
There are two different types of donuts – yeast or cake. These are cake, so no yeast needed. 🙂
As for the batter, yes, you need a donut pan or you can bake them as muffins. The batter is like a thick cake batter.
You can get donut pans just about anywhere for around $10 or you can just bake muffins instead. 🙂
gary says
@Karly,
Thank you very much! I will try it out! I can see why everyone is confused but I guess “batter” clarifies things now! 😉
Jenn@slim-shoppin says
These look great! I’m going to make them tomorrow. My son loves to cook and got a donut pan and I’ve used it all of once in a whole year! That’s going to change.
Thanks for the recipe
olivia says
Do you need a doughnut pan or can you roll them out?
just wondering bc i don’t have one 🙁
Karly says
@olivia,
They won’t roll out, but you could use a mini muffin pan. Different shape and you’ll want to watch the baking time, but same taste!
Bethany G. says
@Karly, So, would the mini muffin pan make the equivalent of a donut hole? (Newcomer here, and really enjoying my visit!) 🙂
Gaz says
Buttermilk replacement – I find it almost impossible to get in the UK – they look at me like I just asked for the sweat from a male strippers nipples but…….. I hear you can make it by using the amount of milk called for and adding 1 teaspoon lemon juice for each cup of milk. let it sit a few minutes to thicken up and away you go.
donut (doughnut in UK LOL) pan – you can use anything that is roundish, or will make a ball or half ball and will go in an oven. egg poacher, old (metal) ladles. I just got some silicone individual savarin ring moulds so going to try those for the doughnuts, you get four in a pack – but I need to get eggs as don’t have any in the house.
angela says
making these right now. tastes delis and my house smells amazing. mini donut pan slightly annoying, I’m thinking a piping bag would make things easier.
Cinnamon Jess says
Woo Hoo…just bought a brand new, never used donut pan at a garage sale for a dollar…guess what I’m making right now 🙂
Katie says
From being an expert in making pancakes, I recently took on the challenge of making donuts. But I thought it would be better if I pan bake my donuts instead of deep frying them so that they are light and easy on the system. I was initially a little reluctant. I feared that they may not taste as good as the fried ones but I was pleasantly surprised 🙂 The taste was just the same and the donuts were fluffy and light in texture. All I did was pre-heated the oven, and oiled the pan with olive oil. Then I filled the pan with the batter and it took only about 7 minutes for them to cook well. Next time, I will try dipping them into the melted butter and then swirl around in the cinnamon sugar to coat like you’ve suggested above.
wanti says
Hi. Can i replace the buttermilk with a substitute? or replaced with homemade buttermilk (shaking a jar of heavy cream to get the buttermilk). Is it the same?
Karly says
@wanti,
I’ve never tried shaking heavy cream to get buttermilk, but if that’s worked for you in the past it would probably work here. When I’m out of buttermilk I just add the amount of milk called for in the recipe (in this case, 3/4 cup) plus 1 tablespoon of vinegar to my mixing cup and let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken up a bit. It works just as well as buttermilk.
Robyn Boren says
You make me want to try making donuts, Karly. I’m a fairly experienced cook but I’ve never attempted donuts. I have a really good recipe a friend gave me a long time ago but I never tried it. Now, I’ll have to try yours first to give me courage! They look AMAZING! Thanks, Karly.:)
walter blevins says
I’d really like to try making these but it seems to me that there’s a couple of steps missing between step 4–stir the wet ingredients… and step 5 fill your donut pan… Could you elaborate? Thanks.
Karly says
@walter blevins, Nope! There aren’t any steps missing. After the batter is mixed you add to the pan and bake! 🙂
Libby says
I just adapted these for a fried version! They turned out super dense, but so good.