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–+ servings
chocolate donuts on parchment paper.
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5 from 10 votes

Baked Chocolate Donuts (4 ways!)

Moist and fluffy chocolate donuts, in four different ways! Baked, not fried, they are glazed with thick chocolate glaze making them perfect for any chocolate craving.

Equipment

Ingredients

Chocolate Crumb

Donut Batter

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 4 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
  • 2 tablespoon sour cream room temperature
  • 2 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Glaze

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze

  • 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 3-4 tablespoon milk
  • 2 tablespoon melted peanut butter
  • 1 peanut butter cup chopped, optional
  • 2 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
  • 2 tablespoon chocolate shavings or sprinkles
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Lightly butter a donut pan and preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.
  • Make the chocolate crumb topping. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, light brown sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl until crumbly. Keep in the freezer until ready to use.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, egg, melted butter, sour cream, oil, and vanilla until combined.
  • Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until just combined.
  • Fill a piping bag with the batter.
  • Fill the greased donut pan about ⅔ full with the batter.
    If you only have one pan, you will need to bake two rounds in the oven. Once the first pan is done cooling, wash the pan, butter it, then fill it with the rest of the batter.
  • Take the crumb and break it up some with your hands. Then evenly sprinkle it across the tops of three donuts. Gently press it into the batter with your hand.
  • Bake the pan for 9 minutes in the preheated oven.
  • Allow the pan to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes, then gently remove them and allow them to continue cooling on the rack before glazing (about 10-15 minutes longer).
    Continue baking the rest of the batter if needed.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. The glaze should be thin. Dunk the tops of the crumb topped donut into the glaze, then set it back on the rack to set.
  • In another bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and milk. The glaze should be thick, and fall off your whisk slowly but smoothly. Dunk the other 9 donuts in the chocolate glaze.
  • For the peanut butter: Pipe or drizzle the melted peanut butter in stripes over the top. Sprinkle with chopped peanut butter cups if desired.
  • For the rainbow sprinkles: Sprinkle the tops with rainbow sprinkles.
  • For the triple chocolate: Sprinkle a line of chocolate shavings across the top.

Notes

Step-by-step process photos are provided above, in the body of this post.
The recipe for a full batch of chocolate crumbs (enough for 12 donuts) Instructions are the same.
  • ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, 42 g
  • 2 tablespoon cocoa powder, 10 g
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar, 50 g
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar, 15 g
  • 3 tablespoon butter, melted, 42 g
    • Use a kitchen scale. Baking with a scale is much more accurate than cup measurements. To convert this recipe, click the "metric" button next to the ingredients title on the recipe card. If you do not have a scale, use a spoon to fluff the flour first, then spoon it into your measuring cup.
    • Use room temperature ingredients: Using room temperature ingredients creates a smooth, fully blended batter that will result in a uniform texture and even baking.
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