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Baked Gingerbread Donuts

gingerbread donuts topped with icing.

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These gingerbread donuts are a fun holiday breakfast! The donuts are tender and fluffy, lightly sweetened, and have a hint of warm spices.ย 

Ingredients

Scale
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 ยฝ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ยพ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ยพ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ยผ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ยผ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ยฝ cup brown sugar
  • ยผ cup molassesย 
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ยฝ cup whole milk
  • For topping: vanilla glaze or cinnamon sugar (see notes)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. Grease two donut pans with non-stick cooking spray and set them aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and molasses. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk to combine.
  4. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk to the wet ingredientsโ€“ first add โ…“ of the flour mixture, then half of the milk, another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and finally the remaining flour. Mix just until combined.
  5. Transfer the batter to a piping bag (or a large ziplock bag with the corner cut off) and pipe the batter evenly into the prepared donut pan, filling each one about 2/3 full.
  6. Bake the donuts for 10 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a donut comes out clean.
  7. Leave the donuts in the pan for five minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. You can serve them plain or add the glaze or cinnamon-sugar topping (see the recipe notes for details)

Notes

These donuts are delicious on their own, or you can coat them with cinnamon sugar or top them with an easy vanilla glaze.

Cinnamon-sugar: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a shallow bowl wide enough to dip a donut in. Mix 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in a separate bowl. Dip the donuts in the melted butter and then into the bowl with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Vanilla glaze: Whisk 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of milk in a bowl. Drizzle the glaze over the donuts, or you can dip the tops of the donuts to coat them in the glaze. If you’re feeling fancy, transfer the glaze to a ziplock bag, seal it, snip off the corner, and pipe the glaze onto the donuts. Allow the glaze to set for 10 minutes before serving.

For more tips, check out the recipe blog post!

The nutrition estimate does not include the glaze or cinnamon-sugar topping.

Nutrition