This simple chocolate doughnut recipe is a great way to add a little more fun to your Saturday morning. It comes together in just minutes and is so simple that kids of any age can help out a little!
I love the weekend. There is nothing better than relaxing with my family. It’s so wonderful to spend time doing something fun on the weekend now that I am back to being a working mom again. It is amazing how much you can miss your family when you aren’t around them all the time. Sure, you see them for a while each day. You don’t get the time to spend quality time together through the week though when everyone has school, work, and other obligations.
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In our house, weekends are a time of fun. They are a time for recipes, crafts, and whatever else we have going on. This weekend we decided to have a fun breakfast with homemade chocolate donuts. This chocolate donut recipe is easy enough that kids can help. They are also some of the best donuts we have made yet.
Upping Your Chocolate Game
This chocolate donut recipe has the perfect level of sweetness. We added just a pinch of salt to balance out the sugar. You don’t need much, literally just a pinch. We decided to go with my favorite salt, pink Himalayan salt. Any can be used though.
We also added just a pinch of instant coffee to this recipe. It helps to really bring out the chocolate flavor. You can use any you like but I prefer Starbucks. You can get the single-serve via packs for a small amount. Just about a teaspoon to a tablespoon will do depending on how much of a coffee kick you want your donuts to have.
We used a simple sugar glaze for these donuts. You can make it chocolate by adding about 1/4 C of cocoa powder to the sugar just before adding the milk. For a thicker glaze, you just want to use less milk. For the glaze as shown we used 3 T of milk.
Perfect Chocolate Cake Donut Recipe
For the Donuts
1 C organic flour
1/2 C cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 T butter, unsalted (melted)
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 C milk
Pinch salt
For the Icing
1 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-4 T milk
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl with a whisk.
Combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, egg, and milk in a separate bowl.
Pour butter and sugar mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
To add to your donut molds easier you can put your donut batter into a piping bag. I find this makes it easier to make perfectly round donuts in your molds. If you’re a donut superhero and don’t need the help you can just spoon it in.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Let donuts cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing. Let cool another 5-10 minutes while making the icing.
To make icing combine sugar, vanilla, and milk in a bowl with a whisk. Add your milk 1T at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Spoon icing over donuts and top with sprinkles (unless you are anti-sprinkle. In which case, who hurt you?)
Eat those donuts! ( The best part of the recipe, amirite?)
A Healthy Alternative
You can make this chocolate donut recipe a little healthier by using applesauce in place of the butter. Just add the same amount (2 T ). You can also use chia seeds in place of the egg for a vegan alternative. Just add 1T of chia seeds and 2.5 T of water and voila. Chia egg! (You can do that with flax seeds too if you have those around.)
You can also use honey as a sugar substitute here but I always use turbinado sugar when possible so I don’t worry too much about overly processed sugar products.
Another great thing about these donuts is that they are baked and not fried like traditional donuts. That makes them a little healthier from the get-go.
Saturday Morning Chocolate Donuts
This quick and easy chocolate donut is the perfect addition to any Saturday morning!
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- ½ C cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 T unsalted butter melted
- ½ C granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 med egg
- ½ C milk
- 1 pinch salt
For the Icing
- 1 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-4 tsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Sift the dry ingredients for the donuts in a mixing bowl and stir lightly with a whisk until just combined.
- Combine the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg in a separate bowl until smooth.
- Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Pour donut mixture into a piping bag with a large round tip and fill the doughnut mold ( mentioned above)
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool in the molds for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
- Combine the ingredients for the icing and blend until smooth while the donuts are cooling.
- Use a large spoon to drizzle the icing over the donuts.
