Baked Chocolate Mini Cake Mix Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

These Baked Chocolate Mini Cake Mix Donuts are light, fluffy, and full of rich chocolate flavor. Topped with a creamy chocolate glaze, these baked donuts are the perfect homemade dessert that can be whipped together in minutes.

Jump to:

• Why Make Baked mini donuts with cake mix
• What you will need to make these baked cake mix donuts
• How To Make Easy Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts
• Toppings and Glazes
• What is the difference between a cake donut and a regular donut?
• Do you glaze donuts hot or cold?
• Expert Tips
• More Donut Recipes To Try:

Why Make Baked mini donuts with cake mix

Rather than being a traditional donut that is made with a yeast-based dough and fried, these donuts are made without yeast using a ready-made cake mix and are baked in the oven. You will need a donut pan to make this recipe.

Cake mixes can be adapted for all sorts of recipes (I usually use Pillsbury ready-made mixes). Using a cake mix speeds up the preparation time in making the donut batter and guarantees a delicious texture and taste.

This recipe uses a chocolate cake mix as its base, and therefore this baked donut recipe is incredibly quick to make and has a rich chocolate flavor.

These Chocolate Mini Donuts taste homemade and are a fun twist on a standard cake and doughnut. It is a simple and fun recipe to make with children, and it is almost fool-proof so you are pretty much guaranteed a great end result.

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What you will need to make these baked cake mix donuts

Because this recipe uses a ready-made chocolate cake mix, there are not a lot of ingredients involved in making these chocolate donuts. All you will need is:

• Chocolate cake mix: Any kind will work, so use your favorite one. For a delicious variation, use vanilla or red velvet cake mix.
• Eggs: Room temperature is best. This will make sure that your ingredients are properly combined.
• Oil: I used canola, but vegetable oil will also work. Other neutral tasting oils work well too. Try melted coconut oil for a healthier option.
• Water: To get the perfect donut butter consistency.
• Chocolate frosting: Use ready-made or make your own.
• Milk: To turn the frosting into a thinner glaze that will coat the donuts. Try using oat milk or other milk alternatives for a dairy free option.
• Your favourite toppings: Sprinkles, nuts, cocoa nibs, etc. Have fun!

How To Make Easy Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts

I have included a video to show you exactly how to make these Easy Cake Mix Donuts. They are incredibly quick and easy to make.

STEP ONE: Lightly grease your donut pan with non-stick cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350ºF.

STEP TWO: Place all the ingredients for the donuts in a large mixing bowl and use a whisk or electric mixer to combine the ingredients. Mix until just combined but do not not over mix.

STEP THREE: Fill the greased donut pan by either spooning the mixture carefully into the donut pan. Alternatively use a piping bag or ziploc bag to pipe the batter into the donut pan.

STEP FOUR: Bake for 8-10 minutes than allow to cool before glazing with chocolate glaze.

Toppings and Glazes

For the donut glaze, I used a ready-to-use frosting that I mixed with some milk to make a thinner consistency. But if you prefer a thick glaze you can leave out the milk. You can also use make your own homemade chocolate frosting - I just used a ready-to-go option to speed up the process.

Other glaze options:

• Powdered sugar
• Jam
• Peanut Butter
• Vanilla Frosting
• Cocoa Powder
• Melted white chocolate

Topping Ideas:

• Cocoa nibs
• Sprinkles
• Chopped nuts
• Chocolate chips

What is the difference between a cake donut and a regular donut?

Donuts of all forms are delicious. Baked donuts are prepared differently from regular donuts, so naturally, there is a slight difference in the flavour and texture.

Baked donuts have a denser, cakey texture in comparison to fried donuts. A cake doughnut is made from essentially cake batter and it gets its lift and aeration from chemical leaveners like baking powder and/or baking soda.

Fried donuts and baked donuts both look the same. They both also work extremely well with a glaze - and a sprinkling of chopped nuts or sprinkles.

Do you glaze donuts hot or cold?

These baked chocolate donuts are best glazed once they have cooled off. Fried donuts are glazed while they are still hot, but for baked donuts, it is best to glaze donuts cold.

This way the glaze doesn't melt and runoff, but rather it stays nice and thick and sets up on the donut.

Expert Tips

Don't overfill the donut cavities - To get the perfect donuts, fill each donut cavity ¾ full before baking. Over filling the donut cavities will result in flopped donuts.

Grease your pan properly - Make sure to properly grease each donut cavity for the easiest removal. The donut pan can be a little tricky so if not greased properly removing the donuts after baking can be quite difficult.

Allow to cool - Allow the donuts to cool properly before trying to remove them from the donut pan as they might break easily. It is also important to ensure they are fully cooled before glazing the donuts. Hot donuts might result in melted glaze.