For our Christmas Eve breakfast this year, I made these incredibly delicious baked gingerbread doughnuts. With molasses and a blend of warm spices, they have all the flavors of gingerbread cookies in a soft, fluffy baked doughnut. While the doughnuts were warm from the oven, I brushed them lightly with butter, and then coated them in sparkling cinnamon sugar for a crunchy finish. You’ll love this easy baked gingerbread doughnuts recipe for a special holiday breakfast! And since they’re so quick to make, you’ll be spending less time in the kitchen, and more time with your loved ones.
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Ingredients and Tools
- Doughnut Pan/s. Standard doughnut pans have six molds or cavities for spooning in the batter. My recipe today makes 12 doughnuts. So if you only have one pan, you can either halve the recipe for a small batch of six doughnuts, or just bake half the batter at a time.
- Sour Cream. The sour cream makes up the majority of the “liquid” in the doughnut batter, and provides moisture, fat and richness. The acidity in the sour cream creates a fluffy, tender texture to the baked doughnuts.
- Eggs. Add structure and richness.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Dark Brown Sugar. Sweetens and moistens the doughnuts.
- Molasses. The molasses, as well as the spices, gives these doughnuts a classic gingerbread flavor. Be sure to use “original” molasses, and not Blackstrap, as Blackstrap molasses are too dark and bitter.
- All-Purpose Flour. Provides structure, and binds the batter together.
- Baking Soda. Adds lift to leaven the doughnuts.
- Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger is just delicious in these baked gingerbread doughnuts.
- Unsalted Butter. To get the cinnamon sugar coating to stick, you’ll need to brush the baked doughnuts lightly with melted butter.
- Cinnamon-Sugar. Adds a sweet and spicy crunchy finish.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and spray 2 standard doughnut pans (6 doughnuts each) with non-stick spray. Even if your doughnut pans say they’re non-stick, you have to use non-stick spray or your doughnuts will stick to the pans.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, and molasses. Separately, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the doughnut pans, dividing it evenly between all 12 molds. Bake the doughnuts for 12 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool the doughnuts for 2 minutes in the pan, and then gently remove them and place them on a cooling rack.
- While the doughnuts are baking, melt the butter and mix up the cinnamon sugar mixture in a bowl for dipping.
- When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, but still warm, use a pastry brush to lightly brush the doughnuts with the melted butter, then immediately coat them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Set on the cooling rack while you finish coating the rest of the doughnuts.
- Serve warm, or at room temperature. These baked gingerbread doughnuts are best eaten the day they’re made, although they’re still tasty for several days after.
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Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
Baked Gingerbread Doughnuts
Equipment
- Doughnut Pans
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, loosely packed
- ¼ cup original molasses (not Blackstrap)
- 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup cinnamon-sugar (1/2 cup granulated sugar + 2 tsp ground cinnamon)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and spray 2 standard doughnut pans (6 doughnuts each) with non-stick spray.
- In a bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, and molasses.
- Separately, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until combined.
- Spoon the batter into the doughnut pans, dividing it evenly between all 12 molds. Bake the doughnuts for 12 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool the doughnuts for 2 minutes in the pan, and then gently remove them and place them on a cooling rack.
- While the doughnuts are baking, melt the butter and mix up the cinnamon sugar mixture in a bowl for dipping.
- When the doughnuts are cool enough to handle, but still warm, use a pastry brush to lightly brush the doughnuts with the melted butter, then immediately coat them in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Set on the cooling rack while you finish coating the rest of the doughnuts.
- Serve warm, or at room temperature.
Delicious! Thank you for the wonderful recipe. Light and flavorful.