Homemade Donuts Made Easy {Recipe}

In my family, we all have different opinions about what the best donut flavor/ flavor combination is. So, I've come up with some ways to make a number of different flavors with just one cake mix and a few additions.

I'll give you lots of options for flavor combinations at the end of the recipe, but the one that my family tends to go back to is using a white cake mix to make vanilla, chocolate and peanut butter donuts. A little bit of something for everyone.

What You Need
For the Donuts:
1 White or Vanilla Cake Mix
3 eggs
1 cup Plain Yogurt (Greek Yogurt is best)
1/2 cup milk
(below is divided)
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
2 Tbsp. Melted Chocolate Chips

Optional Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 Tbsp. milk

For the Icing:
4 oz. (half-brick) cream cheese (at room temperature)
1/4 cup (half-stick) butter (at room temperature)
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp. milk
Vanilla, Chocolate Syrup, Maple Syrup or other flavor to taste

Yield: 2-3 dozen large donuts. 5-6 dozen small/mini donuts
Bake the Donuts:

Beat the eggs in a medium mixing bowl with a mixer until bubbly and fluffy.

Add the cake mix, yogurt and milk. Mix on low until blended (about 1 minute).
*Note: I add the yogurt to make the donuts a little more dense and chewy. I find that if I just use 1 1/2 cups of milk, they're too airy, and fall apart when I try to glaze or frost them. Plus, it makes them a teeny bit better for you, right?!

Divide among three bowls. (This usually ends up being about 1 1/2 - 2 cups per bowl.)
To one bowl, add the vanilla. To another, add the peanut butter. To the other, add the chocolate and cocoa powder. Mix each for an additional minute.
*Note: These bowls are cute, but so illogical for mixing. Be smart, use mixing bowls, or you'll end up with batter everywhere.

Pour each kind of batter into a zip-top baggie. (You may want to label which is peanut butter and which is vanilla. They look a lot alike. But one sniff tells you pretty quickly which is which.)

Squeeze into prepared donut pans or donut maker and bake according to pan/maker instructions. (This large pan takes 5-7 minutes in a 425-degree (F) oven. My mini maker takes just 1-2 minutes each.)
(Click the link to see more information about the donut makers and donut pans I use.)

Glaze the Donuts (optional):
If you want to glaze the donuts with a powdered sugar glaze, you need to be sure you do it when they're warm. If they're cool, they don't glaze, they just get sticky and mushy. (Trust me on this one!)

Combine the powdered sugar and milk in a bowl, and mix until it is soupy and runny. Dip the donut in the glaze, and coat both sides by flipping it with a fork.

Set the glazed donut on a cooling grid (placed over a baking pan or waxed paper to catch drips). It shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes for the glaze to dry.

I usually skip the glazing step. It's just added sugar, and I don't really miss it when I put icing on top anyway. One of my guys is in love with the glaze, though, so we do it occasionally-- in place of frosting.

Frost/Ice the Donuts:

To frost the donuts, combine the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar and milk in the bowl of a mixer. Mix on medium-low speed until combined.

I divide my frosting then into bowls and thin them with either vanilla, maple syrup or chocolate syrup. (Like I said, we like options in this house.)

You want the icing to be thick enough so that it's not pouring all over the place, but thin enough that it sticks to a warm donut when you dip the top in the icing.

Like so.

Top with sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, crushed up potato chips... whatever your heart desires.

Other Donut Flavor Options:
(The amounts of additional ingredients below are based on dividing the batter by thirds, so if you are doing an entire cake mix, you will need to multiply the below amount by three!)
Chocolate Chip Donuts: add 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips 
Banana Donuts: add 1 smashed banana (probably only need two for a whole batch)
Cinnamon Donuts: add 1-2 tsp. cinnamon to the batter. Shake the warm donuts in a paper bag with cinnamon sugar.
Coffee Donuts: substitute 1/2 cup brewed coffee for 1/2 cup milk in entire recipe

Click the Links Below to See:
The Best Donut Makers & Pans
Healthy Homemade Donut Recipe
Best Donut Frosting and Glaze Recipes
(Coming Soon!) Crazy Chocolate Donut Concoctions

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