These Mini Chocolate Donuts are like little bites of heaven! The baked donuts are incredibly easy to make and are fun to decorate for any party or special occasion. Just add sprinkles!
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If you could only pick one, would you choose vanilla or chocolate donuts?? For me, the choice is too difficult and depends entirely too much on my mood. Today vanilla donuts sound great, but tomorrow? Chocolate will probably sound better.
I recently shared my recipe for mini donuts with you... They're vanilla flavored with vanilla icing and so, so good! And because they're mini, you can happily eat more than one.
Which means you also probably need this recipe for mini chocolate donuts with chocolate icing. Because the mini donuts are SO easy to make, you can easily make both flavors in one day and please both the vanilla and chocolate lovers in your family with no problem at all!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
I think mini donuts are the best party dessert because guests can grab one or two and easily eat them while socializing with friends.
Bring these mini chocolate donuts to a party where there are a lot of chocolate lovers or also make the vanilla ones, so you have something for everyone (especially guests like me who can't decide what they want!).
The baked donuts are incredibly easy to make; so much easier than fried donuts! And it's also fun to decorate them however you want to suit whatever occasion you're making them for. Some fun sprinkles can make all the difference, whether they're for birthday parties, holiday parties, or just a fun get-together!!
🥣 Equipment
If you've never made mini donuts before, you will need to invest in a mini donut pan. But it's a pretty low-cost investment for something you will likely be getting lots and lots of use from!
I also recommend getting some fun sprinkles to top the donuts with. I especially love the sprinkles from Sweetapolita, but also love these and these. For a similar "galactic" look like I have on the chocolate minis here, try these.
🗒 Ingredients
The ingredients are pretty simple for this recipe and you may even already have all of them in your pantry and fridge! Here's everything you need to make baked chocolate mini donuts:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Large egg
- Whole milk
- Melted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate Icing (recipe included)
- Sprinkles, if desired
And here's everything you need for the chocolate icing:
- Confectioners' sugar
- Cocoa powder
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
🍩 How to make mini chocolate donuts
First you'll want to preheat your oven and prepare your mini donut pan. Preheat to 400 degrees and lightly spray or brush the donut pan with cooking oil.
Then, in a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
Add wet ingredients: lightly beaten egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla to flour mixture and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix.
And just like that, your mini chocolate donut batter is complete!
Now it's time to fill and bake!
Fill each cavity in the mini doughnut pan about ¾ of the way with batter.
I like to put batter in a plastic ziploc bag, cut off the corner, and squeeze the batter into the doughnut pan (you can also use a piping bag). It's really hard to fill a mini donut pan without using this method, but I even make me regular-sized baked donuts this way.
Bake chocolate mini donuts for 6-8 minutes, until they're light and springy to the touch.
And let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them to cool completely on wire rack. You may need to lightly run a knife around the donuts to loosen them a bit for removal.
Repeat with remaining batter. If your donut pan makes 12 minis like mine does, you'll need to do the process twice.
You can obviously leave the donuts as is if you want, but I highly recommend topping them with icing and sprinkles!
🍫 How to make chocolate icing
I decided to top my mini chocolate donuts with a delicious chocolate glaze because the more chocolate the better! But you can use any kind of icing you want and I have some more fun ideas in the flavor variation section below.
This chocolate icing is super easy to make.
Just add all ingredients (confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla) to a medium bowl and stir to combine.
If the icing is too thick, you can add additional milk a little at a time. You want it to be dippable, but thick enough so it doesn't just drip off.
Once the donuts are completely cooled, you can dip them upside down in the chocolate icing.
Set on wire rack with waxed or parchment paper set underneath and add sprinkles to the top of each donut.
And you're ready to dig in!
Hello, chocolate heaven. These donuts are almost like little brownie bites, packed with a rich chocolate flavor and perfect for when a chocolate craving hits.
My husband isn't generally the biggest chocolate lover (I know, blasphemy!), but he kept coming back for more of them.
The chocolate icing really takes these to a whole other level of amazingness.
⏲ How to store
The most important thing is to make sure these mini chocolate donuts are fully cooled and the icing is fully set (not runny anymore) before you store them. This will keep them freshest and they'll have less of a chance of "sweating."
When you're ready to store them, I recommend putting them in an airtight container (in a single layer) and keeping them at room temperature.
When stored properly, the mini doughnuts should keep for about 3 days. But if you're bringing them to a party, I really do recommend making them the day of for the ultimate freshness.
If the donuts get too warm, the icing will start to sweat off, so be sure to keep them out of heat and/or humidity. Keeping donuts in the fridge can also make the icing melt, which is why it's best to keep them at room temperature.
💡 Flavor variations
I love these double chocolate donuts just the way they are, but there's so much you can do with these to make them perfect for you. Here are some ideas:
- Swap the icing flavor: If you don't like chocolate icing on chocolate donuts, try vanilla instead. Or salted caramel. Or strawberry. Or even eggnog. The options are really endless for flavor combos!
- Add a little espresso powder into the batter for a delicious depth of flavor.
- Add mini chocolate chips into the batter for more chocolate-y goodness.
- Add spices like cinnamon, ginger, or pumpkin spice to the batter.
- Instead of milk, use eggnog during the holiday season.
Basically, with just one recipe, you can make ALL kinds of mini donuts! If you're heading to a party, I recommend making a couple flavors so guests can sample and find their favorites.
👩🍳 More donut recipes
Donuts are one of the desserts (or breakfast foods!) I like making (and eating) the most and I have so many fun recipes for both baked and fried on my website. Here are some of my favorites:
- Vanilla Mini Donuts
- Baked Buttermilk Donuts
- Strawberry Frosted Donuts
- Pancake Mix Donuts
- Grapefruit Donuts
- Glazed Coffee Chocolate Frosted Donuts
- Fruity Pebbles Donuts
- Milky Way Donuts
- Choco-Butternut Donuts (from Foxy Folksy)
Something tells me that once you make these mini chocolate donuts once, you're going to start making them for every party and event you attend.
And maybe occasionally just so you can have a little treat with your morning coffee.
Because, really, there's nothing better than starting the day with a little bite of chocolate!
📖 Recipe
Mini Chocolate Donuts
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Chocolate Icing (recipe below)
- Sprinkles, if desired
Chocolate Icing
- ½ cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray or brush a mini doughnut pan with cooking oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Add lightly beaten egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla to flour mixture and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix.
- Fill each cavity in the mini doughnut pan about ¾ of the way with batter. I like to put batter in a plastic bag, cut off the corner, and squeeze the batter into the doughnut pan (you can also use a pastry bag).
- Bake donuts for 6-8 minutes, until they're light and springy to the touch. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove to cool completely on wire rack (you may need to run a knife around donut pan to loosen donuts). Repeat with remaining batter.
- Once cooled, dip donuts upside down in chocolate icing. Set on wire rack with waxed or parchment paper set underneath and top with sprinkles if using.
Chocolate Icing
- Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and stir to combine. If icing is too thick, add additional milk a little at a time.
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