In today’s post: Learn how to make mini donuts at home in under 15 minutes! Easy cake mix donuts recipe.
Donuts! Last year for Christmas I got a Mini Donut Maker and we’ve been a little donut crazy ever since. It’s so easy to use, and it’s nice to be able to make mini donuts that are baked instead of fried. And since we discovered you can make donuts in any flavor you want in under 15 minutes using a cake mix, we were hooked. My 13 year old regularly mixes up the simple recipe and bakes up a couple dozen mini donuts all by himself so he can share them with his friends. Kids go crazy for these, and since they are so much faster to make than cupcakes, they’re a great choice for birthdays, etc.
Supplies
To make mini donuts, you will need a mini donut maker like the one I have or a mini donut pan.
How to Make Mini Donuts
Next, you’ll need a great mini donut maker recipe. The easy recipe I use starts with a cake mix, which means you can make mini donuts in any flavor you can find a cake mix in: chocolate, strawberry, lemon, white, etc.! We found a spice cake mix last week and the donuts made from it were absolutely delicious, especially when topped with a simple glaze.
Like I mentioned, it only takes about 15 minutes to make a full batch of mini donuts (24-30) using the Mini Donut Maker. You can also use this recipe to make normal size donuts by baking them in a pan – read through the comments people have left for tips!
Now, before I give you the recipe I will say this: cake mix donuts don’t taste exactly like donuts you’d buy at the store. Since they are baked instead of fried the consistency is a little different, although they are quite similar to “cake donuts”. The taste varies depending on the cake mix you choose.
Mini donut recipe
Baked Mini Donuts from a Cake Mix
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 Box Cake Mix abt 15.25 oz
- 1 Egg
- 1/4 cup Oil
- 1 cup Water
Glaze
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1.5 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1-2 tbsp Milk
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Instructions
- Whisk the donut ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined.
- Spray the wells of a donut maker with nonstick spray and let it heat up.
- Fill the wells about halfway full of batter, then close the lid and bake donuts for 3 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool, and repeat with the remaining batter. Reapply nonstick spray if donuts begin to stick.
- To make the glaze, melt butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in powdered sugar and 1-2 tablespoons milk until glaze is smooth and somewhat runny.
- Dip donuts in glaze and place on cooling rack to cool completely.
Tip #1: “Pipe” the Batter
I like to dump the batter into a large resealable plastic bag, then snip off one corner and use that to “pipe” the batter into the mini donut maker, filling the bottom well as shown below. (Spray the unit once with nonstick spray before beginning.)
Tip #2: How to Glaze Mini Donuts
The glaze should be somewhat runny, as you see below. Dip the mini donut halfway into the glaze, then turn the donut sideways to allow extra glaze to run off. Let the glazed mini donut firm up on a cooling rack, adding sprinkles immediately if desired. After a few hours, the glaze gets firm enough so you can stack your cake mix donuts on a plate without smooshing.
Tip #3: Glaze Consistency
You’ll need to experiment a little with how thick or thin you like your glaze – thin glaze dries fairly clear, allowing the color of the donut to show through, while thick glaze stays opaque white. If you want pretty donuts, allow them to cool completely before glazing – the glaze doesn’t look as nice if it melts on a hot donut. But hot donuts taste great, so if you want to glaze and eat them immediately, go for it!
One last note, the donut maker will lightly brown whatever edge it comes into contact with, so if you are making strawberry donuts and want the tops to look pink, not brown, you should slightly under fill the wells so the tops don’t completely touch the unit while cooking.
We went hog wild last week and make 10 dozen mini donuts using 5 different cake mixes – and even when making that many it took us less than 2 hours. Fun!
For more yummy treat recipes, visit these posts:
Jillian says
I don’t have a donut maker but I have a pan. Any idea how long or hot to make these in the oven?
Roberta Isaacs says
Have to try them.
Gail Svoboda says
Hi Autumn I used your cake mix idea for making my mini donuts, and I do have to say they came out perfect. I was so surprised I went out and bought more cake mixes in every flavor you can think of my family loves them there is one thing I would like to ask you though can I use bread mix too? I love banana bread and I would perfer to make mini donuts if I can.
Autumn says
Hi Gail! I’m glad you love the donuts. I haven’t tried using a bread mix so you’ll probably just have to experiment. If you try it, let me know how it goes.