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These chocolate mini donuts are baked, not fried, and dipped in a delicious chocolate glaze. All you need is one bowl and a few simple ingredients. They're so easy to make and come together in under 20 minutes - they can be made as regular sized donuts too!
I used to be intimidated by making donuts, until I realized that baked dairy free donuts were so incredibly easy to make! And honestly, isn't there just something so fun about mini desserts?
These chocolate cake donuts are such a fun treat and are perfect for birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, weddings, or just for every day snacking 🙂
Why These Chocolate Mini Donuts Work
- They are quick, easy, and come together in under 20 minutes!
- They are baked, not fried, which makes them much easier to whip up (plus, no special equipment needed)
- They are perfectly portioned bite-sized treats (although it's very hard to stop at just one 😉 )
- You can use this recipe to make regular sized donuts instead of mini donuts!
- Most chocolate donut recipes use butter (which can lead to donuts that dry up quickly), but these donuts are made using oil, which helps them stay moist and fluffy for up to 2 days.
Ingredient Notes
- Flour: all-purpose flour works best for this recipe.
- Oil: You can use sunflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or any other neutral oil. You can also use melted butter (although these donuts stay much more moist and fluffy when using oil versus butter).
- Milk: You can use regular milk or dairy free milk of your choice.
- Sugar: This recipe uses a mix of white sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar really helps the donuts to stay soft longer so I don't recommend swapping it out.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend using unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder, but you can also use natural if that's all you have.
- Butter: To make the chocolate icing, you can use regular butter or dairy free butter.
Step By Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
STEP ONE: Lightly grease the donut pan with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine oil, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
STEP TWO: Mix in the egg and vanilla extract, then add in the milk.
STEP THREE: Add cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into the bowl then mix until fully combined, being careful not to over-mix.
STEP FOUR: Fill the donut pans halfway full with batter. The easiest way to do this is to fill a ziploc bag with batter, seal it, then cut the corner off of it and use it as a piping bag. Bake for 7-10 minutes.
STEP FIVE: While the donuts cool, melt butter, chocolate chips, and milk over a small pan on the stove. Remove from heat then whisk in the powdered sugar.
STEP SIX: Transfer the icing to a small bowl. Dip the donuts upside down into the glaze, covering the top of each donut. Place the donuts onto a wire rack to let the glaze set.
FAQs and Expert Tips
Absolutely! The regular sized donuts take roughly the same amount of time to bake.
You can bake these donuts in mini muffin tins or regular sized muffin tins (although then are they technically still donuts?). They will still taste delicious! They will need to be baked a little longer (around 15 minutes).
But for next time, I highly recommend getting one! I like this one for mini donuts and this one for regular donuts.
Sure! As always, any changes to the original recipe will affect the texture. Whole wheat flour will make the donuts a bit more dense.
It is super important to properly grease your pans - it's super tricky to remove the donuts from the pan if you haven't. I then like to use a butter knife and gently run it around each donut a few times, slightly lifting it each time.
They should come out easily if the pans were properly greased!
Expert Tips
- Measure your flour using a kitchen scale (they cost $11 and make such a huge difference!) or using the proper fluff, scoop and level method.
- Don't over fill the donut cavities! Filling them only halfway may not seem like enough, but trust me, it is!
- Make sure to grease the whole donut cavity, or it will be really hard to remove the donuts from the pan! But you don't want to over grease the pan either - if there are any large puddles of oil, lightly blog them with a paper toil (but don't wipe the oil off completely)
- I recommend putting parchment paper or a baking sheet under the rack to catch the icing drips after you glaze the donuts.
Storage Instructions
If you've ever bought a box of donuts and tried to eat them the next day, you'll know they, by nature, don't last very long. So these donuts are best enjoyed the day they're baked, but they will last up to 2 days in an air tight container if needed. Note that the glaze may start to melt depending on the climate where you live.
You can freeze the unglazed donuts in an airtight freezer bag for up to 1-2 months.
Pin it for later!
MORE CHOCOLATE RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE
- The Best Fudgy Brownies
- Edible Brownie Batter
- Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes
- Wacky Chocolate Cake with Fudgy Buttercream
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Chocolate Mini Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Mini Donuts
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 4 tablespoon sunflower oil (or other neutral oil) (can sub melted butter) SEE NOTES
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup milk (regular or dairy free)
Chocolate Donut Glaze
- 6 tablespoon chocolate chips (regular or dairy free)
- 1½ tablespoon butter, melted (regular or dairy free)
- 3 tablespoon milk (regular or dairy free)
- ¾ cup icing sugar
Instructions
Chocolate Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease donut pans with cooking spray. This recipe makes roughly 16 mini donuts.
- Add oil, white sugar, and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together until combined. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract, then whisk in the milk.
- Add flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl and mix until combined. Do not over mix.
- Fill the donut cavities ½ way full with batter. I recommend squeezing the batter out of a ziploc bag to make it easier. To do this, add the batter into the ziploc bag, then cut the corner off of the bag and pipe the batter into it.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the donuts spring back when you gently press your finger into them. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Place a large baking sheet under the wire rack (or a piece of parchment paper), to avoid making a mess once the donuts are glazed.
Chocolate Glaze
- Add butter, chocolate chips, and milk to a small pan over low-medium heat, stirring until melted and combined. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar.
- Transfer the icing to a medium bowl, then dip the donuts upside down in the icing, covering the top. Transfer the donuts back to the wire rack to let the glaze set.
Notes
Nutrition
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
David
easy and delicious!
Gabby
Hi David! I'm so glad you loved the donuts! Thanks for stopping by!
Madison
Easy to make and tasted great but the powdered sugar didn’t melt into my glaze and it left me with chunky icing, how can I fix this next time??
Gabby
Hi Madison! I'm happy to hear that you loved the donuts and found them easy to make! If the glaze wasn't smooth, I would recommend next time sifting your powdered sugar first, then adding it into the melted butter and chocolate chips, whisking vigorously. As a last resort, you can also add another 1-2 teaspoons of milk to the glaze to smooth it out. 🙂