These easy-to-make Mini Donuts are baked and can be decorated to suit any occasion. They're perfect for parties or any time you want an easily "poppable" delicious dessert that will impress!
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There's something so fun about mini desserts, but I especially love mini donuts. Not only are they absolutely adorable, but they're also so easily poppable... meaning you can just pop them in your mouth!
One after the other... However many you want. That's how mini dessert rules work.
Mini donuts are perfect for bringing to a party as full-sized donuts can be a bit too much to serve as a dessert. With these, guests can easily sample a donut or two... But something tells me most will be going back for thirds and fourths!
They also make a cute accompaniment to other desserts and are especially fun to serve on straws with milkshakes or other drinks. You can't do that with a full-sized donut!
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
If you've ever made homemade baked donuts, these mini donuts are pretty much the same, except they're baked in a mini donut pan.
They're so easy to make and will dirty minimal dishes in the process... You don't even need a mixer to make the batter!
If you bring these to a party, I guarantee that everyone will be so impressed by them and you don't have to tell anyone how easy they are! Decorate them however you want to suit the occasion or event.
This recipe is for vanilla mini donuts, but I also share some flavor variations below and have a recipe for mini chocolate donuts with chocolate icing.
🥣 Equipment
You will want to make sure you have one very important piece of equipment before starting the baking process... A mini donut pan!
This is the one I have... I've used it countless times and highly recommend it!
Other than that, you really just need a bowl and a whisk and wooden spoon. I like to pipe my donut batter out of a Ziplock bag, but you could also use a pastry bag if you prefer.
🗒 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make these vanilla mini donuts (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and instructions):
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Large egg, lightly beaten
- Whole milk
- Melted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Vanilla Icing (recipe included)
- Sprinkles (I love sprinkles from Sweetapolita)
And if you want to top them with a delicious vanilla icing (and why wouldn't you??), here's what you need:
- Confectioners' sugar
- Whole milk
- Vanilla extract
🍩 How to make mini donuts
Like I said, making these little bitty donuts couldn't be easier!
Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and lightly spraying or brushing your mini donut pan with cooking oil.
Then, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
And add lightly beaten egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix.
Remember, over-mixing baked donut batter results in cake-y chewy donuts.
Now you'll need to fill your mini donut pan with batter. I highly recommend putting the batter into a plastic bag, cutting the corner off, and piping it in.
Since the cavities are super small, spooning the batter in is a bit hard, but I even use this method for full-sized baked donuts.
You'll want to fill each cavity about ¾ of the way full.
And bake for 6-8 minutes, until the donuts are light and springy to the touch.
Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove to cool completely on wire rack. You may need to loosen each donut a bit with a knife.
Repeat with remaining batter. This recipe makes 24 mini donuts, so I did two batches.
🧁 How to make vanilla icing
While the donuts are cooling, you can make the icing. It's super easy!
Just add confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract (AKA all the ingredients) to a medium bowl and stir to combine.
If the icing is too thick, you can add a little more milk.
And when the mini donuts are cooled, dip them upside down in the icing.
Set on wire rack with waxed or parchment paper set underneath (to catch any icing drizzles) and top with sprinkles if using.
I highly recommend using sprinkles because they can take the donuts from yum to super impressive! Plus, sprinkles can make the donuts fit for any occasion... You can use Halloween sprinkles, Christmas, Easter, etc.
I used a fun birthday mix, making these suitable for any happy occasion!
⏲ How to store
First of all, make sure donuts are completely cooled and icing has fully set before storing.
I recommend storing the mini donuts in an airtight container (in a single layer) at room temperature. When stored properly, they 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
If you love the idea of mini donuts, but are not a fan of vanilla flavored, there are lots of ways to change up the flavor on these. Here are some ideas:
- Use my recipe for chocolate mini donuts
- Add a flavor extract other than vanilla, like strawberry, lemon, or almond.
- Add spices, like cinnamon, ginger, or pumpkin spice.
- Add some espresso powder.
- Use extracts, flavored milks, or spices in the icing.
👩🍳 More donut recipes
Whether you spell them donuts or doughnuts, I have all kinds of recipes for both fried and baked varieties. Here are some of my favorites:
- Glazed Coffee Chocolate Frosted Donuts
- Pancake Mix Donuts
- Grapefruit Donuts
- Lucky Charms Donuts
- Pumpkin Donuts with Maple Bacon Frosting
- Baked Buttermilk Donuts
- Fruity Pebbles Donuts
- Strawberry Frosted Donuts
- Milky Way Donuts
- Coconut Donuts with Salted Carmel Icing
- Carrot Zucchini Donuts
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Donuts (from Amanda's Cookin')
Basically, I could make and eat a different flavor of donut every day for a year and still not run out of ideas!
But mini donuts are my new favorites because they're so cute and I can just keep popping them in my mouth throughout the day... Obviously donuts make the perfect breakfast food when paired with coffee and they can be enjoyed all the way to evening dessert.
I hope you start incorporating these mini donuts into all your future celebrations!
📖 Recipe
Mini Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 Tbsp melted butter
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- Vanilla Icing (recipe below)
- Sprinkles, if desired
Vanilla Icing
- ½ cup + 1 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tbsp whole milk
- ½ Tbsp 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, 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. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Once cooled, dip donuts upside down in icing. Set on wire rack with waxed or parchment paper set underneath and top with sprinkles if using. Let icing fully set before storing.
Vanilla 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.
Notes
- When icing is fully set, store mini donuts in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature. When stored properly, they should keep for about 3 days, but are always best the day of.
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