High Altitude Baked Chocolate Espresso Donuts

An easy, high altitude recipe for baked chocolate espresso donuts, coated in espresso sugar. The donuts are so soft, fluffy, cakey and rich with Dutch processed cocoa powder, and the espresso infused sugar is the perfect sweet, crunchy finish. These are fantastic served warm from the oven with a cup of coffee.

You might also love these high altitude recipes for baked maple glazed donuts, baked vanilla cake donuts, and baked funfetti donuts.

This site contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links.  This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services.  All opinions expressed on this site are my own.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Quick and Easy. You only need 30 minutes and a few simple ingredients to make these delicious baked chocolate espresso cake donuts.

No Frying. If frying chocolate doughnuts in hot oil intimidates you, then you’ll be happy to know that you don’t need to fry anything for today’s recipe. For these baked chocolate donuts, you’ll be making a thick cake batter, piping it into ring-shaped molds (a donut pan) and then baking the donuts until light and fluffy. They’re essentially donut-shaped cupcakes, but the crunchy sugar coating gives them more of a donut vibe.

For Coffee Lovers. There’s a double dose of coffee flavor in these donuts, with instant espresso powder in the cake batter, as well as rubbed into the sugar coating.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour. Gives the doughnuts structure.
• Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
• Cocoa Powder. Use a good-quality Dutch processed cocoa powder for the best, richest chocolate flavor.
• Espresso Powder. Used in both the cake batter and in the sugar, the espresso powder deepens the flavor of the chocolate.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness and enhances the chocolate.
• Baking Soda. Leavens the doughnuts so they rise.
• Eggs. Adds strength and richness to the batter.
• Sour Cream. The moisture and acidity in the sour cream makes a very soft, tender chocolate cake doughnut.
• Oil. Moisture.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.

Equipment

• Doughnut Pans. You’ll need a few doughnuts pans, but the size is up to you. You can use standard sized doughnut pans to get about 12 doughnuts from today’s recipe. A mini doughnut pan makes the cutest, teeny tiny donuts. If using the mini pan, I recommend getting 2 pans, because you’ll be refilling it several times, and will get about 3 1/2 dozen mini donuts. I used this donut pan, which features three different molded designs. This pan makes fairly small donuts, so I was able to get 2 dozen baked chocolate espresso donuts. They’re not quite “mini” size, though, and not as big as a standard sized donut.
• Disposable Piping Bag. The cake batter is too thick for spooning into the pans, so a disposable piping bag makes this task much easier.

Instructions

Donuts

• Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of your oven. Spray your doughnut pans with non-stick baking spray.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt and baking soda, then whisk until evenly distributed.
• Separately, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir together with a spatula just until moistened.

• Scrape the batter into a piping bag, and snip off the tip. Pipe the batter into the doughnut pans, filling the molds no more than half full.
• Bake the doughnuts for about 8 minutes, until risen and the tops spring back when gently touched. (For larger standard sized donuts, bake them for 10-12 minutes. For mini sized donuts, bake them for 6-8 minutes.)

• Cool the doughnuts in the pans for 2 minutes, then turn the pans over onto a cooling rack, letting the doughnuts fall out onto the cooling rack.
• If you still have batter left, re-fill the pans with the rest of your batter, and bake a second batch of doughnuts.

Espresso Sugar

• In a bowl, combine the sugar with the espresso powder, then use your fingers to rub the espresso powder into the sugar, to really infuse it with the coffee flavor.

• While the doughnuts are warm, coat them in the espresso sugar.
• Serve the doughnuts warm, or at room temperature.

Recipe Variations: Espresso Icing

If you like an iced donut, rather than one coated in sugar, this is an easy espresso icing recipe that you can spoon on top of your baked donuts. Just stir the ingredients together until smooth.

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp meringue powder (helps the icing set quickly)
• 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 tbsp milk or cream

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

What donut pan did you use?

I used this donut pan, which features three different molded designs. This pan makes fairly small donuts, so I was able to get 2 dozen baked chocolate donuts. They’re not quite “mini” size, though, and not as big as a standard sized donut. How many donuts you get will totally depend on the size of the molds in your pans.

What if I only have one doughnut pan?

Most baked cake doughnut pans usually come with 6 or 12 molds or cavities. If you only have one pan, you can bake the batter in batches, and just let the remaining batter rest while you bake the first batch.

Where do you get espresso powder?

I buy Medaglia D’Oro Instant Espresso Coffee at my local grocery store. It has a great flavor, both for drinking and for baking.

How long do chocolate espresso donuts stay fresh?

These doughnuts will stay soft and moist for about 3 days, stored in an airtight container at room temperature, but the sugar will soak into the doughnuts and get a little sticky. To serve the leftover doughnuts, save the espresso sugar and freshen the doughnuts up with a new coat of sugar before serving.

You Might Also Like

Favorite Products

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!