Maybe donut holes are merely the discards of a donut, but I think I might like those little blobs of dough even better than the actual donut itself. Their airy bite and crunchy sugar dusted exterior makes them entirely too poppable but luckily with this recipe you don’t have to head to your local donut shop to get them. And you don’t have to fry anything! This recipe turns out delicious sugary donut holes that are baked right in your oven. So easy and so good!
These have more of a ‘cake donut’ consistency which means that you don’t have to worry about any yeast or rising time. It’s just a quick batter to mix up and then spoon into a baking pan.
Now, if you don’t have a donut hole pan, you can use a mini muffin pan instead, they just won’t be quite as spherical.
Once they’re done baking, you dust them in cinnamon sugar. If it isn’t sticking well, you can spritz the donuts with a bit of water before you toss them in the mixture.
These are simply delicious – a vanilla-scented cake batter and plenty of cinnamon sugar crunch on the outside. And they’re easy enough to whip up on a whim on any weekend morning!
Baked Donut Holes
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- Cinnamon sugar, for dusting
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a doughnut hole or min muffin pan.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs and mix again.
- Stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla. Stir the flour into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling cups full, and place top of pan on if your pan has one.
- Bake until lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a donut hole comes out clean, 15-17 minutes.
- Turn holes onto a wire rack to cool.
- Place cinnamon sugar in a ziptop bag, add donuts a few at a time and gently shake to coat. If they have cooled too much and sugar won't stick, you can spray them very lightly with a bit of water first. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Baking.