Cinnamon Donuts With Vanilla Bean Glaze

You’re going to love these baked Cinnamon Donuts. Not only are they soft, fluffy, and bursting with warm flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg, but they are topped with browned butter vanilla bean glaze!

If you enjoy homemade donuts as much as we do, try my Apple Cider Donuts, Maple and Cinnamon Donuts, Cinnamon and Sugar Donut Muffins and Glazed Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins.

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Why We Love Baked Cinnamon Donuts

Some people only crave cinnamon-spiced desserts during the Fall and Winter… I am not one of those people! These homemade cinnamon donuts with vanilla bean glaze are gobbled up in my house during all seasons. I don’t even know what part of the donut my family loves more – the rich, flavorful spiced donut itself, or the perfectly sweet vanilla glaze!

Forget the doughnut shop –if you have a donut pan, you can have homemade donuts at home any day! Don’t have a donut pan yet? A muffin pan will work, they just won’t be donut-shaped. 

No mixer is needed and it takes less than 20 minutes to get your donuts on the table. Not only are they perfect for breakfast, but they make a great after-school snack, too. 😉
These glazed cinnamon donuts are baked, not fried. Score one for the waistline!! But don’t let that fool you, they are every bit as moist and tender, you’d never guess they were baked. Then dunked in a delicious donut glaze that gets all crisp and crackly making these donuts just as perfect as the donut shop glaze….even better in my book!

Glazed Cinnamon Donut Ingredients

• all-purpose flour – spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup to measure it correctly. Don’t use the measuring cup to scoop the flour, you’ll use more flour than you should.
• granulated sugar – also known as white sugar
• baking powder – Baking powder loses its potency rather quickly, and your donuts won’t rise properly if it’s too old. You can test your baking powder for freshness. Simply, pour a little baking powder into hot water — if it fizzes, it’s still good to use!
• ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg
• salt
• buttermilk – If you don’t have any buttermilk you can add white vinegar or lemon juice to milk. To make 1 cup of buttermilk substitute measure one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup. Add milk until it reaches the 1 cup line. Stir and let stand 5-10 minutes. For this easy cinnamon donut recipe replace the 6 tablespoons of buttermilk with 5 tablespoons of milk + 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let stand 5-10 minutes. 
• egg – room temperature is best.  If you forgot to take your egg out of the fridge to warm up, just place the egg in a glass or bowl of warm tap water for 5-10 minutes. Room temperature eggs blend better with other ingredients and will help achieve a lighter, fluffier texture to your recipe.
• vanilla bean paste – Vanilla bean paste is best when you really want vanilla to be the star of the recipe. You can use vanilla extract if you don’t have the paste.
• butter, melted – unsalted is best, but salted is fine if that’s all you have

FOR VANILLA BEAN GLAZE

• unsalted butter
• powdered sugar
• milk or heavy cream
• vanilla bean paste

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How To Make Cinnamon Donuts With Vanilla Bean Glaze

(full printable recipe at the end of this post)

While some donut recipes can be a bit intimidating, this one really couldn’t be any easier! I like my desserts to be delicious and easy to whip up, which is exactly what these donuts are. Once you see how simple this recipe really is, you’ll be finding reasons to make these cinnamon donuts all the time!

STEP ONE: Preheat your oven to 350F. While you’re waiting for that to heat up, spray a donut pan with non-stick spray and set it aside. 
STEP TWO: In a large mixing bowl mix the wet and dry ingredients all together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Do not overmix! Expect the batter to be thick. 
STEP THREE:  Spoon the batter into the donut pan. PRO TIP:  place the donut batter in a large ziplock bag, cut off one corner of the bag, then pipe the batter into each donut cup, filling them about ¾ of the way full. 
Bake the donuts for 9-10 minutes,  then transfer the donuts to a cooling rack.

While the donuts are cooling, you can make the glaze!

Start by using a small saucepan over low heat to make browned butter. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Carefully pour the butter into a small bowl, leaving sediment behind. 
Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla bean paste to the butter. Whisk all of the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth. 
Dip the donut tops, which can be fully cooled or still slightly warm, into the glaze. Donuts are best served immediately, of course! Enjoy!

How To Glaze Donuts

Once the cinnamon donuts are cooled, you can glaze them!

Take one donut at-a-time and dip it upside down into the glaze, so it’s evenly coated on half of the donut. You can leave them plain or sprinkle cinnamon or sprinkles over the top.

Leave the glazed donuts at room temperature to set and then store them in an airtight container for up to three days.

Homemade Cinnamon Donut Tips

Do NOT overmix the batter. Using a wooden spoon, mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened, about 15 to 20 light strokes. There should be some small lumps remaining in the batter. Overmixing can cause donuts to be tough, bake unevenly, and create holes or tunnels in the baked donuts.

If you want the donuts to be picture-perfect, use the piping bag method to place the thick batter into the donut cups. It’s an easy way to make sure all of the donuts look the same! If you’re not careful, the spoon method of placing the batter can look a bit sloppy.

You can make this donut recipe using muffin pans:

• yield approximately 8-10 muffins using a regular size muffin pan. Bake 350 for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned
• yield approximately 20-24 donut holes using a mini muffin pan.  Bake at 350 for  10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Variations

Don’t be afraid to have some fun with this recipe! For example, you could sprinkle Cinnamon Toast cereal on top of the glaze before it dries. It’s a way to add both flavor and texture to these already delicious donuts!

If cinnamon is the flavor you want more of, you can either add it to the glaze mixture or sprinkle it on top of the glazed donut as it’s drying. Either way, that extra little kick of cinnamon is so tasty!

Skip the glaze and make a cinnamon and sugar topping. Place 8 tablespoons of melted butter in a small bowl. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip each doughnut first in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar, either on one side or both sides.

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