Incredibly light and soft baked chocolate cake donuts glazed with a silky, smooth chocolate ganache will satisfy all of your chocolate cravings with each scrumptious bite.
Absolute deliciousness is the perfect way to describe these baked chocolate cake donuts. Incredibly soft and fluffy chocolate donuts dipped in a silky, smooth chocolate ganache glaze is a chocolate lover’s dream dessert. I originally created this recipe back in November last year but knew that a few minor tweaks would upgrade it from being really good to AMAZING!! So glad I finally got around to updating the recipe and photos for these baked chocolate cake donuts. I definitely see myself making these scrumptious treats quite often especially when I need my chocolate fix in under 30 minutes!
How to Make Baked Chocolate Cake Donuts
Chocolate Cake Donuts
Key Ingredients
- Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – I used this brand.
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Neutral Flavored Oil
- Vanilla Extract
To Make Chocolate Cake Donuts:
- Preheat – oven to 350F (180C). Properly grease donut baking pan(s) and set aside.
- Sift – flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk – add the egg, sugar, salt, oil and vanilla extract into separate medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Next, whisk in the buttermilk.
- Mix – pour wet mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and mix just until no more streaks of flour is present. Take cake not to overmix batter.
- Transfer – chocolate cake donut batter into a large pastry/Ziplock bag and cut off a 1/4” from the tip of bag.
- Pipe – chocolate cake donut batter into prepared donut baking pan(s).
- Bake – chocolate cake donut batter for 14-16 minutes, rotating the pan(s) halfway through break time. Donuts are ready when a toothpick inserted into one of them comes out clean.
- Cool – donuts in pan for about 5 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Key Ingredients
- Chocolate Bar/Chips – I used semi-sweet chocolate but may substitute with bittersweet, dark or milk chocolate. If using chocolate bar, finely chop.
- Heavy Cream – warmed
How To Make Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- Add – finely chopped chocolate/chips into a medium mixing bowl and pour warmed heavy cream over the top. Allow mixture to sit untouched for at least 30 seconds.
- Whisk – heavy cream into chopped chocolate starting inward and moving outward. Continue to whisk mixture until all the chocolate is melted. Chocolate ganache should be smooth and shiny without any lumps of chocolate.
Bringing It All Together – Baked Chocolate Cake Donuts
- Dip – cooled donuts into to chocolate ganache.
- Top – with your desired add-ons like chocolate/multi-colored sprinkles, chopped nuts, or shredded coconut.
How to Store Baked Chocolate Donuts
- Refrigerator – baked chocolate cake donuts will last up to 1 week refrigerated in an air-tight container.
- Freezer – individually wrap baked chocolate cake donut in plastic wrap, place in a large dated zip-lock bag/air-tight container, and store in freezer for up to 1 month. When ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Looking for More Donuts Recipes, Checkout the links below:
Baked Chocolate Cake Donuts
Incredibly light and soft chocolate cake donuts glazed with a silky, smooth chocolate ganache will satisfy all of your chocolate cravings with each scrumptious bite.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 16 Minutes
- Total Time: 26 minutes
- Yield: 7 Donuts 1x
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Donuts
- 3/4 Cup (94 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Spooned and Leveled
- 1/4 Cup (26 g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (75 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, Room Temperature
- 1/4 Cup + 3 (105 ml) Tablespoons Buttermilk, Room Temperature
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons (22.5 ml) Neutral Flavored Oil i.e. Grapeseed/Avocado/Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- 2 Ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar/Chips
- 1/4 Cup Heavy Cream (Warmed to Hot Not Boiling)
- Chocolate Sprinkles, Optional
Instructions
Chocolate Cake Donuts
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Properly grease donut baking pan(s) and set aside.
- Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a medium mixing bowl.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, add the egg, sugar, salt, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Next, whisk in the buttermilk.
- Pour wet mixture into bowl with dry ingredients and mix just until no more streaks of flour is present. Take cake not to overmix batter.
- Transfer chocolate cake donut batter into a large pastry/Ziplock bag and cut off a 1/4” from the tip of bag.
- Pipe chocolate cake donut batter into prepared donut baking pan(s).
- Bake chocolate cake donut batter for 14-16 minutes, rotating the pan(s) halfway through break time. Donuts are ready when a toothpick inserted into one of them comes out clean.
- Cool baked chocolate cake donuts in pan for about 5 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- Add finely chopped chocolate/chips into a medium mixing bowl and pour warmed heavy cream over the top. Allow mixture to sit untouched for at least 30 seconds.
- Whisk heavy cream into chopped chocolate starting inward and moving outward. Continue to whisk mixture until all the chocolate is melted. Chocolate ganache should be smooth and shiny without any lumps of chocolate.
Assembly
- Dip cooled baked chocolate cake donuts into to chocolate ganache.
- Top with your desired add-ons like chocolate/multi-colored sprinkles, chopped nuts, or shredded coconut.
Notes
- If you only have (1) donut baking pan, bake donuts in (2) batches.
- If chocolate cake donuts appears to be stuck in pan(s), run a butter knife around the border of each donut to assist with removal from pan.
- Baked chocolate cake donuts should be cooled completely before dipping into chocolate ganache glaze.
- I used semi-sweet chocolate in the chocolate glaze but may substitute with bittersweet, dark or milk chocolate.
- Instead of chocolate sprinkles, baked chocolate donuts maybe topped with multi-colored sprinkles, chopped nuts, or shredded coconuts.
- Baked chocolate donuts maybe stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. To store in the freezer, individually wrap each donut in plastic wrap, place in a large dated Ziplock bag and store in freezer for up to 1 month.
Baked Chocolate Donuts was originally posted November 8, 2019 and Modified June 11, 2020.
HK Andersen
These look amazing (your food photography is fantastic!). Baked chocolate donuts are one of my favorites at bakeries. If I don’t already have a donut baking pan, do you have recommendations for what I could substitute? If I use regular muffin tins instead, to make little patty donuts instead of properly shaped ones, would that affect how they bake up? Thanks for any tips, my kitchen is quite small so I try to avoid one-use items.
nourished endeavors
Thanks so much! Truly appreciate your kind words. Baked chocolate donuts are my fave as well. Although, I have not personally tried it, I do not see why recipe will not work in a muffin pan especially if you top with chocolate chips before baking…Yum. The consistency and texture should not change. If not using cupcake/muffin liners, I would advise to properly grease muffin pan to ensure the muffins do not stick to muffin pan. Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Winnie