Celebrate in style with these Baked Chocolate Donuts that are incredibly simple to make yet moist, fluffy and filled with chocolate. Topped with a prosecco glaze, these donuts are the perfect treat for New Year’s Eve, birthdays, christenings ... let’s face it - any celebration!
With this year's restrictions on staying at home and not mixing with other households, these donuts were a last-minute addition to our celebrations. I needed a recipe with all the ingredients at home; it was easy to make in only a few steps and would suit kids and adults alike.
These Chocolate Baked Donuts were perfect! I turned to my blogging friend Laura of Tutti Dolci for a Chocolate Donut recipe as I didn’t have the time to develop my own but needed one that was reliable and delicious. Laura’s recipe ticked those two boxes in spades!
Baked Chocolate Celebration Donuts
I love donuts. Like truly adore proper fried, enriched dough donuts. But let's be honest, they aren’t the healthiest thing to make. Plus, with the two lots of resting/rising and then frying, making proper donuts is one time-consuming exercise. (Don’t get me wrong, though, I do actually love making any enriched dough ...but you have to plan ahead!)
Short on time and wanting to please kids (my three girls) and adults (Anthony and I) alike but make something fun to see in the New Year, I knew Baked Chocolate Donuts would be my jam.
Essentially baked donuts are sponge cakes that are piped or spooned into a donut pan and baked in the oven. They are light in texture, moist from the buttermilk and super chocolatey. Plus, they bake up in 8 to 9 minutes which is so quick! Win-win!
These donuts are extra delicious as they have buttermilk which makes the sponge super moist and tender. With a double dose of chocolate, they are also packed full of chocolatey flavour. I found that many of the finely chopped chocolate didn’t melt with the boiling water when mixing the batter. The result is that once baked, you get these little morsels of melted chocolate throughout, which is a delight!
Note, I found the batter quite runny and initially wondered if this was correct before baking, but I needn’t have worried as Laura is an incredible baker and the donuts came out perfectly!
How to make Baked Chocolate Donuts
In just a few simple steps, you too can have a tray of baked chocolate donuts in under 25 minutes.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: cake flour (tips below on making this), cocoa powder, sugar (white and light brown), baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine together wet ingredients: buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
- Add the wet ingredients into the bowl of the dry ingredients and stir together. Add boiling water and chopped chocolate into the batter and fold until combined.
- Pipe into the donut pan until each mould is ¾ full and bakes for 8-10 minutes. Allow cooling fully before glazing
Prosecco Glaze
This is a fun addition to the baked chocolate donuts and perfects to add a celebratory touch to your donuts. Without the Prosecco Glaze, I don’t think I could have called these Baked Chocolate Celebration Donuts, so the Prosecco is crucial! Made with just two ingredients, Prosecco and powdered icing sugar, Prosecco glaze could not be any easier.
To make, sift the powdered icing sugar into a bowl and add the Prosecco. Whisk together until the lumps have disappeared, dip the cooled chocolate donuts into the glaze or spoon the glaze over the top. Add your sprinkles straight away and allow to set for 20-30 minutes before serving!
It goes without saying that you’ll have plenty of Prosecco left over, but these are donuts to celebrate with, so that leaves you plenty of Prosecco to drink whilst enjoying the donuts!
Aren’t these sprinkles the cutest, by the way? I’ve had them for a while (found in my local Sainsbury’s supermarket) and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them. I think these Baked Chocolate Celebration Donuts were ideal!
Alternatives to Prosecco Glaze
I get that Prosecco isn’t for everyone. This glaze is so easy to make that you can simply substitute the prosecco for another wet ingredient such as greek yogurt, milk or even jam. Keep an eye on the consistency of the glaze. If you want a thicker glaze, then add more powdered sugar, 25g at a time. If the glaze is too thick, add more liquid such as milk or even water, 15ml at a time.
What if I don’t have cake flour or buttermilk?
Don’t worry. These two ingredients are easy to make yourself.
Here in the UK, we don’t use cake flour, but in the US, it’s a super popular ingredient that is found in many recipes. But thanks to Laura’s useful blog post, I was able to make my own.
Cake Flour: To make the required amount of cake flour for this recipe (230g), combine 190g of all-purpose flour and 40g of corn flour and whisk together. I have converted Laura’s cup measurements into grams as that’s the only way I bake, but I refuse to Laura’s website for all the measurements in cups.
As for buttermilk, I rarely have buttermilk in my fridge, but I never worry if I need this ingredient for baking. Using milk and an acid like white vinegar or even lemon juice, you can make your own buttermilk right at home.
Buttermilk: To make 180ml buttermilk, combine 180ml milk with 30ml lemon juice (or white vinegar) and set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature until the milk starts to curdle.
How to Store your Baked Chocolate Donuts
Baked donuts are best eaten on the day that they are made.
They can be kept in an air-tight container and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.
TIP: If you find they are dry day 3, then I suggest microwaving them for 10 to 20 seconds.
For more Chocolate Recipes, check out the following:
📖 Recipe
Baked Chocolate Donuts Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate donuts
- 230 g cake flour , see notes below
- 35 g cocoa powder
- 150 g granulated white sugar
- 55 g light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 180 ml buttermilk , room temperature, see notes below
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 45 ml vegetable oil (or canola oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60 ml boiling water
- 200 g dark chocolate 70%, finely chopped
Prosecco glaze
- 60 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 30 ml Prosecco
To decorate
- 30 g sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220°C (420°F). Lightly grease a donut pan with non-stick spray or butter.
- In a medium bowl, sift in the dry ingredients, cake flour, cocoa powder, white and light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir together.
- In a separate bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined. Add in the boiling water and chopped chocolate and fold through until just combined.
- Spoon the batter into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe the batter into each donut mould until ¾ full. Tap the pan to release any air bubbles. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the sponge springs back when pressed. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for five minutes in the donut pan. Invert the pan onto a wire rack to release the chocolate donuts. TIP: If the donuts are sticking, gently run a butter knife around the doughnut's edge to release it. Allow the donuts to cool completely before glazing.
- To make the prosecco glaze, sift the powdered icing sugar into a bowl and add in the prosecco. Whisk until combined and smooth. If you want a thicker glaze, then add more powdered icing sugar 30g (¼ cup) at a time. If the glaze is too thick, then add more Prosecco, 15ml (1 tablespoon) at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
- Dip the chocolate donuts into the Prosecco glaze or spoon the glaze over the top of each donut. Set onto a wire rack to allow any excess to drip off and sprinkle your choice of sprinkles over the top. Baked Chocolate Donuts are best eaten on the day that they are made.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
- Baked Chocolate Buttermilk Donut Recipe by Laura at Tutti Dolci
- Measurements: This recipe has been developed using grams, but US cup measurements have been included for your convenience. I strongly advise you to measure by grams for a more accurate result in your baking. My set of scales was my best investment.
- To make home-made cake flour: Combine 190g (1½ cups) plain flour (all-purpose flour) with 30g (¼ cup) cornflour (cornstarch) and whisk together. This will leave you with the required quantity of cake flour for this recipe.
- To make home-made buttermilk: Add 30ml lemon juice (or white vinegar) to 180ml milk and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. Once the milk has started to curdle, you are ready to use your home-made buttermilk.
- To Store: Donuts can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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