Joy the Baker

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

by 106 Comments

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

Cupcakes in disguise… also known as Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts.

Perfectly cakey and soft with extra drippy chocolate glaze.  Basically, I’ll never make a cupcake again, especially since this is the very best way to eat chocolate cake for breakfast.

Sprinkles, too!  This is a total no-brainer.

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

Other Baked Doughnut experiments include Brown Butter Baked Doughnuts and Apple Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts.  I’m nowhere near done baking up these little darlings. So much more satisfying than cupcakes… but mostly kinda the exact same thing. Shoulder shrug.

You should get a baked doughnut pan.  No pressure.

Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts

Pulling together the ingredients for baked doughnuts feels like taking it easy.

Just melted butter and buttermilk with a bit of flour and cocoa powder.

Chocolate Baked Doughnuts

We use brown sugar as the sweetener for these doughnuts.  I like the extra depth that the molasses adds to the chocolate.

Should you be fresh out of brown sugar, I’ve totally got you covered:  How To Make Brown Sugar.

Melted and browned butter is whisked together with an egg, vanilla extract, and brown sugar.  Simple!

Chocolate Baked Doughnuts

In with the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  No pomp or circumstance…. just in with it!

Buttermilk, too!

Chocolate Baked Doughnuts

Cake batter!  Just like that!

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

The doughnut molds are filled two-thirds with batter and baked up until soft and tender.  While the doughnuts cool, I made the glaze.

Powdered sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract.  What could go wrong?  Like… zero things.

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

The chocolate glaze is glossy and juuuust pourable.

Consider it chocolate glue for the sprinkles.  That’s about right.

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

I like to dip the bottom side of the doughnut.  It makes for a more picture-perfect situation.  Really though… any which way works.

Double Chocolate Cake Doughnuts

Double dark chocolate! The cake doughnuts aren’t overly sweet, and the glaze adds that shot of doughnut sweetness.  As with most things, I really love these doughnuts served with milky coffee.  Two doughnuts.  Two cups of coffee.  Go on with your bad self.

You might consider sharing these doughnuts!  They’ll make you (even more) popular.  Chocolate and sprinkles… I promise.

Chocolate Baked Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

makes about 10 doughnuts

recipe adapted from Shutterbean

Print this Recipe!

For the Doughnuts:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted until just browned

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Glaze:

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

big pinch salt

3 to 4 tablespoons whole milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

color jimmies

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325  degrees F.  Spray a doughnut baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together until all of the ingredients are well combined.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure that you’re not leaving any flour behind.  Use a small spoon to portion batter into the prepared doughnut baking pan.  Each doughnut mold should be about two-thirds full.  Bake doughnuts for 11 to 13 minutes or until a skewer inserted into one of the doughnuts comes out clean.  Remove from the oven.  Allow to rest for five minutes before inverting doughnuts onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Allow doughnuts to cool completely before glazing.

Repeat the baking process until all of the batter is turned into doughnuts.

To make the glaze, in a medium bowl whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.  Add 2 tablespoons of milk and all of the vanilla extract.  Whisk to combine.  Mixture may be thick.  Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, until the glaze is thick but still pourable.

Dip each doughnut (I dipped the bottom side) into the chocolate glaze.  Shake off some of the excess glaze.  Return to the wire rack and sprinkle with color jimmies.   Allow to rest a few moments for the frosting to harden slightly.  These doughnuts are best served within two days of baking.  

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Megan

    A tip for filling the donut pans: I take a large pastry bag and clip the end so the batter won’t drip out, and fill it up with batter. Then when I’m ready to dispense, I remove the clip and fill the trays easily, using my fingertip to stop the batter flow between donuts. So much easier than a spoon!!! So quick too!

    Reply

  2. Marie

    I don’t have a doughnut pan but I do have a bundt pan and I’m going to make a cake instead and use the icing to glaze the top of the cake

    Reply

  4. Shayla Gunter-Goldstein

    I just made these with two 7 year olds and they are so easy, and what a hit! We made minis, and it yields 18. Brake for 9-10 min. Great recipe! Thank you!!

    Reply

  5. Emily

    Making this as a doughnut cake for my daughter’s first birthday. I’ve had to do a few test runs since I’ll need to make a few cakes… such a sacrifice. ;)

    Reply

  7. Marina

    made these today they were perfect! I even added some mini chocolate chips to the batter, and then used a chocolate ganache instead of the glaze (because I didn’t have powdered sugar ) but the cakes themselves so fluffy and perfect :)

    Reply

  9. Natalie

    Excellent recipe. Thanks. I’ve tried others which went straight from the oven to the trash. This one’s a keeper.

    Reply

  10. Naoko

    I just made these with an electric donut maker and they turned out really well. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!

    Reply

  12. Lori

    I made these with my 10-year old daughter yesterday. They are fantastic!! I thought they were sophisticated, not super sweet. The glaze set up perfectly. Made us both feel like real pastry chefs. Thank you.

    Reply

  13. Mommy of four

    Just made these for my daughters birthday. She requested doughnuts instead of a cake. Everyone loved them. Thank you! Very easy to make too!

    Reply

  14. Marishka

    In the post, you add the brown sugar to the liquids and in the recipe at the bottom, you add the brown sugar to the dry ingredients. We added the brown sugar to the dry ingredients and got a much dryer and stickier batter that was hard to put in the doughnut pan. Can you clarify which method will give a better consistency?

    Reply

  15. D

    Just made my first ever donuts w/ the kids! AWESOME!! Better than a Donut shop and you know what you ingredients are going in! NO SOY! Thank you! Is there a vanilla donut? I saw you did brown butter ones, is that close enough to a vanilla donut?

    Reply

  18. mira

    I love chocolate cake donuts, but never made them myself! I’ll definitely try these, they are beautiful! I love the eye catching sprinkles! Pinned!

    Reply

  20. Kimberly Walker

    I’ve made these twice, and they are great! The second time I heated the glaze, and dipped them twice to get more on and it worked perfectly! :)

    Reply

  21. Megan

    These were so easy to whip together and the kids LOVED them. Thanks for making me look like the cool mama during our playdate.

    Reply

  23. Myrna C. Evangelista

    thank you very much for this recipe, i have been looking for this kind for a very long time now, i like baked donuts, i would surely try this one time…:)

    Reply

  26. Angie

    Holy guacamole!! Darling and delicious!!
    I had left over icing and stirred it into warm milk for my boys,
    it made for a sweet hot chocolate treat :)
    Thanks for the double dessert!

    Reply

  32. Michele Guerrieri

    Hi Joy the Baker!

    I was hoping for a clarification on this recipe. In the narrative above, it states to whisk the brown sugar in with the wet ingredients, and in the recipe it says to whisk it with the dry ingredients. Which way is better? Does it make a big difference in the end product?

    Thanks!!

    Reply

  33. Jennifer Stewart

    I am a sucker for cake doughnuts. My usual favorite is sour cream with a glaze but these might take the top spot. Thanks so much! I am definitely buying a pan this week! My kids can’t wait to make homemade doughnuts.

    Reply

  42. Lena

    I don’t know why I even check your website anymore. I always end up making whatever you post….you are one of the only blogs I trust (and I am an avid baker) but you are KILLING my diet. My husband tells people he is in remarkably great shape considering how much I bake. Darn, now I HAVE to make these today. I love you Joy!

    Reply

  53. avhh

    Joy these look amazing! I’m wondering – could I use a mini-bundt pan here instead of a doughnut pan? I don’t have one of those yet and I’m looking to bake these STAT!

    Reply

  54. Elaine

    Hi Joy, do u have any problems with the doughnuts sticking in the pan? I bought a bundt tin a while back and no matter how well i grease it my cake always sticks.

    Reply

  56. Lauren

    Nice! Last Valentine’s I bought a doughnut pan and boy was I glad I did! Looks like it’s time for some more doughnut love!

    Reply

  58. Caroline

    And now I say hello to my Valentine’s Day surprise doughnut breakfast! I am pretty sure I’m going to be winning Best Girlfriend Ever awards.

    Reply

  59. Cate @ ChezCateyLou

    I still dream about your browned butter doughnuts, and now you’ve made a double chocolate one?! Oh my – I must make these ASAP!!! Every time I make doughnuts, I also think that they are just cupcakes in disguise!

    Reply

  64. Möna

    I want to live with you… and with my family… so we can all go live with you and you can cook all this deliciousness for us so you don’t have to eat it all by yourself. Deal?

    Reply

  67. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    Joy your donuts are gorgeous!! Last weekend I made chocolate donuts with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and haven’t posted them yet. Of course!

    I love the sprinkles and they just pop against those chocolate donuts! Pinned!

    Reply

  74. kaloskraft

    Yum! You inspired me to buy donut pans a couple of weeks ago–and I made these exact same donuts with my nephews yesterday! Needless to say, they are not going to last long.

    Reply

    • joythebaker

      the temperature would be the same, but the baking time would be shortened. i don’t have a mini doughnut pan so i’m not entirely sure how much the time would be shortened.

      Reply

  80. Monica

    Hi Joy, your original donut post inspired me to get a donut pan and my son & I have been having a lot of fun with it! It’s become something of a snow day project (so there have been plenty of opportunities)! We made the first brown butter one then we recently made chocolate chip ones. We were planning to make a pure chocolate one, just like this, next! We now have the perfect recipe. Thank you!

    Reply

      • Amy

        I finally tried them this morning with my mini doughnut pan & they turned out amazing!! It’s not very fun to fill a mini pan, though, so time to buy a regular sized doughnut pan! :)

        Reply

  88. Jenn

    Thank you for sharing Joy! I love the fact that I have all these ingredients in my pantry all the time. Even the sprinkles. Looking forward to making these soon.

    Reply

  95. Andj

    Your previous baked doughnut recipes inspired (forced!) me to order my own pan which just arrived last week! Would you recommend any real changes when adapting a cake/cupcake recipe to a cake doughnut recipe or are they pretty interchangeable?

    Reply

    • Amanda B.

      I am wondering this as well… I love cake doughnuts, but until I talk myself into buying a donut pan, I will resort to making cupcakes with glaze instead of frosting!

      Reply

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