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These glazed chocolate donuts are soft and moist and dipped in a sweet glaze!
I’ve been on a quest to create the perfect chocolate cake donut. I mean, first of all, goals like this are fun to achieve. Even the not-so-perfect chocolate donuts are still chocolate donuts.
Second, how fabulous would it be to have a perfect chocolate donut recipe? Pretty darn fabulous, you guys. Being known as the lady with the perfect chocolate donut recipe is kind of a big deal.
So, I set my mind to it and I measured and mixed and baked and tasted and then did it again and again quite a few times. Finally, I came up with this recipe. The perfect chocolate donut. It’s moist. It’s fluffy. It’s like a chocolate cake, but it’s shaped like a donut which means that it’s breakfast. Then I dunked the donuts in my favorite donut glaze. It gets all crisp and crackly and is pretty much just as perfect as the donut shop glaze.
These are definitely my favorite baked donuts! If you prefer fried donuts, be sure to check out my favorite recipe for those here!
If you’re looking for an easy recipe for your donut pan, this is the one. No mixer needed and it takes less than 20 minutes to get your donuts on the table. These make a great after school snack, too.
Glazed Chocolate Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips optional
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 6 tablespoons sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
For the glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
To make the donuts
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl, beat together the vanilla, egg, sour cream, milk, and oil.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
- Spoon in a greased donut pan.
- Bake for 8 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them.
- Let the donuts cool in the pan before glazing.
To make the glaze
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.
- Dunk the donuts in the glaze to fully coat and place on a wire rack to set, about 5 minutes.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
(I’ve changed this glaze recipe up a bit after receiving a few comments that it wasn’t setting properly. It works beautifully now!)
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Christina says
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I used plain almond milk in place of the cows milk and it turned out great.
Karly says
Awesome! 🙂
Tara says
My son and I just made these, they turned out VERY GOOD! My only suggestion would be an addition of 1/4 tsp. Salt to the dry mix. Thanks for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper. 🙂
Melanie says
Do you know if these would freeze well? I want to make them for my nephew’s birthday party which is in 2 days and would need to do them ahead of time. Will they keep for 2 days already glazed? Need to refrigerate?
Melanie says
@Melanie, Nevermind, just saw your reply to Claire! But still curious if you’ve tried freezing at all…
Karly says
Hi @Melanie,
I would freeze the donuts, unglazed, just as you would muffins. Defrost and glaze right before serving. 🙂
Claire says
What’s the shelf life of the donuts? Thanks!!
Karly says
@Claire,
I wouldn’t keep them for more than a few days. Treat them like you would a muffin and they’ll be fine.
veronica says
These didn’t count out good at all. The taste was fine but I had trouble with the glaze setting. I am sure I should have let my donuts sit longer before I dipped them. How long do you let yours sit for before glazing? They have been sitting longer than 5 minutes and it doesn’t look like a glaze on top. The donuts are so sticky. Could it be because I left the glaze on simmer while my second batch was cooking? Also, I piped the batter but I didn’t put enough dough in each because they didn’t really look like donuts lol…..next time I will pipe more in.
Karly says
@veronica,
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the glaze. I wouldn’t think that simmering would cause a problem. The recipe for the glaze comes straight from Alton Brown, so I’m not sure why people are having issues with it. It sets just fine for me. 🙁
Amy says
These are great baked cake donuts! The glaze is right-on. Thanks for sharing!
Aseel says
The donuts looked SO PRETTY but the problem is that they weren’t chocolatey enough. Thanks a lot for the recipe though
Gail says
I made these with vanilla low-fat yogurt instead of the sour cream. They turned out REALLY good!! Frosted them w /vanilla frosting ….perfect!
claudine boucher says
I saw this recipe and made this weekend. Got the pan at Target. I didnt have enough sour cream so I used applesauce for the remaing amount. The donuts came out delish.
Karly says
@claudine boucher,
So glad you liked them!
Diane Bowman says
I made these yesterday and hate to say it but they were not good. Very flat tasting and the glaze never set up, I even put them in the icebox and the glaze soaked into them and they were wet and soggy.
Karly says
@Diane Bowman,
I’m sorry to hear that Diane! It’s frustrating when a recipe doesn’t work out for you. 🙁
Toni says
Did you use a special tool to form, them in the shape of a doughnut or do that by hand as well?
Karly says
@Toni,
They were baked in a donut pan.
Ati says
Thanks a lot Karly for the simple recipe but its so great!very delicious.i think adding chocochip make your recipe unique&special.Most important for me is that all donuts become perfect in shape¬ sticky in my donut maker.
I’m looking for vanilla flavour version of baked donut.maybe you can share too..
Jess(ica) @CookingIsMySport says
I bought a new donut pan and have been looking for a chocolate donut recipe to use, and this one looks PERFECT! Thank you Karly 🙂
Karly says
@Jess(ica) @CookingIsMySport,
Yay! I hope you love it!
cory says
Sourcream??
Karly says
@cory,
Yes, indeed. 🙂
Jillian says
I just made these today and have a quick question. How long does it take for the glaze to fully “set” and get the wonderful crackly appearance? I’m ready to eat one (or six) but they’re still sticky! 🙂
Karly says
@Jillian,
It should just take 5 minutes or so. Not too long at all. 🙂
shayna says
@Karly, I had a sticky issue to maybe I did something wrong.
Jessica says
I had a sticky issue to ….my glaze didn’t set? Any ideas why this happened?
Karly says
@Jessica,
I’m not sure what the issue is. They set up just fine for me. 🙁
Karly says
@Jessica,
Hi again! I just looked over the recipe and changed it to 2 cups of powdered sugar. That should help things set better. Sorry about that!