Cinnamon Donuts (15 Minutes)

This recipe was originally published in January 2022. It has been updated with new images.

As much as I looove fried doughnuts (like these brioche doughnuts filled with chocolate!), I always turn to baked doughnuts when I need to whip up some doughnuts quickly. I've also got some chocolate cake doughnuts and maple doughnuts, so thought it was time we try out some cinnamon sugar doughnuts.

Baked cinnamon donuts are the best comfort food, I love making them when it starts to get chilly outside! They're perfect with a cup of coffee. If you want a muffin version of these cinnamon donuts, check out my cinnamon swirl muffin recipe!

Tell me about this recipe!

• No Mixer: These donuts are made just in a bowl, so you don't need a stand mixer, electric hand mixer or any fancy equipment for this recipe.
• Baked: The donuts are baked in a metal pan, I use the Wilton 6-doughnut pan for this. And since they're baked and not fried, they're so much easier to make!
• So Much Cinnamon Flavor: both the donut batter and the topping has cinnamon in it, giving you all the warm flavor in every bite.
• Super Soft: Because these are baked, the doughnuts are a little bit cakey but super fluffy and moist.
• Homemade Cinnamon Sugar: The doughnuts are gently brushed with melted butter and then covered in homemade cinnamon sugar.

Ingredients Needed

• Flour: I am using all purpose flour for these cinnamon sugar donuts
• Buttermilk: I always love using buttermilk in my donut recipes, this will make your baked donut super moist! If you don't have buttermilk on hand you can use sour cream instead.
• Ground Cinnamon: because cinnamon will be the main flavor in this recipe, make sure you're using a bottle that you opened relatively recently! Spices can lose their full flavor fairly quickly, especially if they're been lurking in your pantry for a long time.
• Sugar: You'll need light brown sugar for the donuts, and white granulated sugar for the homemade cinnamon sugar topping.
• Unsalted Butter: use melted butter to brush the warm donuts before covering them in cinnamon sugar. You'll also use melted butter for the donut dough!

How to make this recipe

Step 1: In a large bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and generously grease a doughnut pan with either butter or baking spray. I use this baking pan.

Step 2: In a small bowl or jug, whisk together all of your wet ingredients until smooth.

Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until smooth.

Step 4: Pipe into your doughnut pan until each cavity is about three quarters full. I find the easiest way to do this is to use a piping bag, though you could also put the batter into a ziplock bag and snip one of the ends. Bake for 11-13 minutes. This makes 9 doughnuts so once the first batch is out, let them cool for a few minutes before gently taking them out. Re-grease your pan and pipe out the remaining batter.

Step 5: Whisk the cinnamon sugar ingredients together in a small bowl.

Step 6: Gently brush each warm doughnut with melted butter then dip into your bowl of homemade cinnamon sugar until the doughnut is completely covered. Repeat with the remaining doughnuts.

Expert Tips & Tricks

• I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It makes a huge difference to your baking and is the most accurate way to bake!
• I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients an hour or two before you start baking.
• Use a pastry brush to properly grease every donut cavity – this way no donut bits get stuck to them when baking! I use softened butter but you could also use a baking spray.
• I use a piping bag or ziplock bag with one corner cut off to pipe the donuts into the pan. You could also use a spoon to spoon out the batter but that might be a bit messier.
• I don't recommend dipping the warm doughnuts in the melted butter, the doughnuts will get too wet and may break apart! Just gently brush them with the melted butter and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.