A few Christmases ago, my mom got me a non-stick doughnut baking pan. So of course, that gave me a good excuse to start finding homemade donut recipes. Or doughnut recipes.
Personally, I prefer to spell it the long way — doughnut — but the Internet seems to collectively spell it the short way. So, short way it is for the (majority of this) post.
Honestly, however you spell that word, those round, hole-in-the-middle treats are delicious.
And you can make them at home. You don’t have to go to the donut shop every time you want a sweet treat.
To make your life easier, and to celebrate today, I put together a list of the best homemade donut recipes for National Doughnut Day.
The list is split into two sections: donut recipes and donut decoration ideas. There are gluten-free doughnuts in the list, but I didn’t break those out separately.
At the end of the list, you’ll find a list of donut pans — plus tips for using donut baking pans — and another list of donut topping recipes.
70+ Homemade Donut Recipes
Donut Recipes
1. Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Holes
5. 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Doughnut
6. Baked Glazed Lemon Doughnuts
7. Pampushky – Mini Ukrainian doughnuts
8. Baked Lemon Spinach Doughnuts with Lemon Glaze
9. Coconut Flour Low Carb Donuts with Chocolate Icing
11. Classic Apple Cider Donuts
12. Vegan Gluten Free Baked Chocolate Doughnuts
13. Baked Cardamom Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
14. Baked Nutella Doughnuts with Nutella Glaze
15. Lilac Donuts
16. Blueberry Glazed Doughnuts
17. Baked Maple Donuts Recipe with Maple Glaze
18. Cherry Limeade Baked Donuts
19. Healthier Grapefruit Breakfast Doughnuts
20. Cinnamon Sour Cream Donuts
21. Chocolate Truffle filled Doughnut Holes (Bolinho de Chuva com Chocolate)
22. Baked Buttermilk Apple Pie Donuts
24. Gluten Free Chocolate Donuts
25. Blueberry Whole Wheat Donuts with Chocolate Chips
26. Baked Chocolate Frosted Donuts
27. Almond Butter Donuts with Mocha Almond Streusel
28. Baked Chocolate Chocolate Chip Donuts
29. Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Donuts
30. Baked Mini Donuts with Chocolate Glaze and Toasted Coconut Flakes
32. Double Chocolate Banana Donuts
34. Pumpkin Spice Air Fryer Doughnuts
36. Baked Vegan Chocolate Doughnuts
37. French Cruller Donuts with Honey Lemon Glaze
39. Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
40. Cranberry Orange Donuts with Orange Ginger Glaze
41. Strawberry Shortcake Donuts
42. Jelly Filled Giant Donut Cake
44. Pumpkin Donuts with Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
45. Eggless Doughnut
46. Chocolate S’mores Baked Doughnuts
47. Eggless East-African Mandazi/Mahamri (Kenyan doughnuts)
48. Golden Donuts with Caramel Glaze
49. Sugar-Free Gluten Free Donuts
51. Mini Cinnamon Pumpkin Doughnuts
52. Donut Holes
53. Baked Lemon Donuts with Blackberry Glaze
56. Vegan Mini golden doughnuts
57. Cake Donuts with Chocolate Glaze
58. Donut Ice Cream Sandwiches
59. Kosher Krispy Kreme Copycat Donuts
61. Waffle Doughnuts
62. Baked Chocolate Covered Strawberry Doughnuts
Donut Decorating Ideas
63. Care Bears Grumpy Bear Doughnuts
64. Colorful Unicorn Cake Donuts
65. Vampire Donuts
68. Heart-Shaped Air Fryer Donuts
Donut Pans For Homemade Donuts
Personally, I have the top two donut pan options: the non-stick 6-cavity donut baking pan and the mini doughnut pan. That’s why they’re listed first.
They’re followed by other non-stick donut baking pans to make traditionally shaped donuts (round with holes in the center), then a variety of silicone donut baking pans to make traditionally shaped donuts.
The last two are non-traditional shapes: donut holes and a donut cake.
Just a few quick tips on using these to help you decide.
Tips For Using Donut Baking Pans
– Clean the donut pan with soap and water before each use, then let it dry completely (or dry it with a towel) before using it. If it doesn’t dry, you could end up with water droplets causing divots in your finished donut.
– Use a non-stick spray, even with your non-stick pans. Non-stick spray will help to get the donuts get out of the pan. If you don’t use a non-stick spray, and they get stuck, it’s really hard to maneuver a knife around the donut cavities to jiggle the homemade donuts loose.
– Use a donut batter (like one from the recipes above) to make your donuts. A donut batter is thicker than a cake or cupcake batter and will hold its shape better. Plus, because cake recipes are made to be baked in a specific pan, as are donut recipes, bake time and temperature may vary. Unfortunately, you cannot just stick your favorite cake batter into a donut pan, bake for the same amount of time, and get proper results.
– Use a piping bag to fill the donuts. That’s a lot easier than trying to use a spoon to evenly scoop the batter or trying to pour the batter into the cavities. Don’t have a piping bag? Make one with this homemade piping bag hack. Take a ziptop bag, fill it with batter, and zip the top closed. Then, cut a small hole in one of the bottom corners of the bag. Use that corner to pipe your batter.
– Fill your donut pans 2/3 to 3/4 of the way filled. Don’t fill them all the way to the top because the batter will leak all over and misshape your donuts. But, on the other end, don’t under-fill them either. If you fill your pans only halfway, the batter won’t rise enough to give your donuts the right shape.
– Decorate the side of the donut that touched the pan. That side will get darker than the side that’s not touching the pan. So, to cover it, just use that as the side you dip in glaze and decorate with sprinkles.
Non-Stick 6-Cavity Donut Baking Pan
Non-Stick 12-Cavity Mini Donut Pan
12-Cavity Non-Stick Pattern Donut Pan
36-Piece Silicone Pattern Donut Pans
Donut Toppings Ideas
Quick tip about decorating donuts. If you’re using a glaze, wait for the donuts to cool completely before adding any glaze. If you glaze too early, the heat from the donuts will cause the glaze to melt and become really runny.
When using a sugar-based topping, like in our cinnamon sugar doughnuts (the first recipe in the list above), you want to dip the donuts in the topping when they’re warm. That way, your topping will stick.
Which of these homemade donut recipes will you make first?
Sarah
Saturday 6th of June 2020
Great list! I love making donuts and I'm always looking for new recipes.
Julia
Friday 5th of June 2020
What a fabulous collection of donut recipes! I can't wait to try them all:)