Perfectly spiced and topped with a delicious cinnamon cream cheese icing, these Carrot Cake Baked Donuts are truly the best! In less than 30 minutes, you too can have these moist and chewy donuts for breakfast.
What better way to enjoy a nice Spring day than baking up a batch of donuts. More specifically, these carrot cake donuts. They feature all of those delicious spices that are normally found in that classic cake flavor, like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, except it's in donut form.
How fun is that?!
If you haven't started making baked donuts at home, you truly must! Not only are they super easy from start to finish, but they take less than 30 minutes to make. That makes them the perfect breakfast treat!
Just so you know, I also have Maple Baked Donuts on the blog and they are equally as good. So go ahead, make some donuts just for you and your family this morning. I promise you won't regret it!
Why you'll love these homemade donuts:
- They're perfectly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- The freshly grated carrots make them moist and chewy.
- They're baked, not fried.
- The cinnamon-spiced cream cheese glaze goes perfectly with the cakey donut.
- This recipe makes 6 delicious donuts!
It's super important to freshly grate your carrots instead of buying already shredded carrots from the store. We want maximum moisture from those carrots and that's only possible by rolling up your sleeves and grating them yourselves.
And since these donuts are baked, not fried, they truly are fool-proof and less messy. Plus, they're a bit healthier too since there's no grease. That's a win win in my book!
If you love the taste of a freshly baked carrot cake, I have no doubt these carrot cake baked donuts will be your new favorite carrot dessert.
Baking Tips Before Starting:
- Donut Pan: Since we are making donuts you will need a donut pan. I’d recommend a silicone donut pan like this one or a non-stick one. I have both of these and use them interchangeably.
- Carrots: You will want to freshly grate your carrots instead of buying them that way from the store. This helps the donuts to be moist, so please don't skip this step!
- Donut Batter: I find it so much easier to scrape the donut batter into a pastry bag or a zipped-up sandwich bag and pipe the batter into the donut cups. This method makes it less messy too.
- Glaze: If you find your cream cheese glaze to be slightly lumpy, just heat it up in the microwave for about 5-10 seconds. Then use a whisk to mix everything together again.
Ingredients In Baked Carrot Cake Donuts:
- All-Purpose Flour: The base and structure for the donuts.
- Baking Powder: This helps the donuts to rise when baking.
- Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves are the three spices I love to use in all of my carrot cake recipes.
- Salt: Enhances all of the other flavors.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds flavor.
- Egg: Helps to bind the ingredients together.
- Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness and chewiness.
- Milk: Helps to create a soft interior for the donut. I used 2% milk.
- Yogurt: Adds moisture. I used vanilla but you can also use plain yogurt.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor.
- Grated Carrots: You'll need about 1 large carrot.
- Cream Cheese: Always use the block-style cream cheese for baking.
- Powdered Sugar: Used to sweeten and thicken the glaze.
How To Make Baked Donuts:
This homemade baked donut recipe is truly so easy to make. With just a few simple steps, you'll be done in no time!
- Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in a large bowl.
- Wet Ingredients: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, milk, yogurt, and vanilla extract.
- Combine Ingredients: Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently fold together using a silicone spatula. Then fold in the shredded carrots.
- Bake: Pipe the donut batter into the donut cups and bake for 9-11 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then place them onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
The Glaze
This cinnamon cream cheese glaze is the perfect compliment to these spiced carrot donuts.
First, beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and creamy. Then add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and milk and beat until combined.
Trouble shoot: If the glaze is slightly lumpy, heat it in the microwave for about 8 seconds. Use a whisk to mix everything together.
Once the donuts have cooled, dip them into the glaze and place them back onto the wire rack (feel free to dip the donuts twice for extra glaze!). Once set, serve immediately and enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes you do, since we're making donuts. I recommend Wilton's non-stick donut pan (I have two of these) or this silicone one.
Although these donuts are best consumed the day of, they will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days.
This will sometimes happen if your cream cheese and butter were not at room temperature before making. To fix this, simply microwave your glaze for about 8 seconds. That will melt any lumps and make a smooth glaze.
If you made this donut recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below. I love hearing from you! Have ideas for more baked donut recipes? Let me know! I'm always up for a good donut recipe. 🙂
You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Happy Spring and happy baking, home bakers!
More Recipes You'll Love:
Carrot Cake Baked Donuts
Equipment
- Donut Pan
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients:
Carrot Cake Donuts
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cloves, ground
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tbsp yogurt, plain or vanilla
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup freshly grated carrots
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze
- 2 ounces cream cheese (block-style), room temperature
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tbsp milk
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 6-count donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Carrot Cake Donuts: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, milk, yogurt, and vanilla extract until combined.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and gently fold your ingredients together using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until combined (be careful not to over mix). Then gently fold in the grated carrots.
- Scoop the batter into a piping bag or a zipped-up sandwich bag. Simply cut a corner off of the bottom of the bag and pipe the donut batter into each donut cup, filling it up about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake the donuts for 9-11 minutes (10 minutes is perfect for me). To check if the donuts are done, touch the top of one carefully with your finger. If it bounces back, they're done. You could also take a toothpick to check the center. If it comes out clean, then they're done. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before carefully removing them and setting them on a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze: In the bowl of an electric stand mixer using the paddle attachment (or a handheld mixer), beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and creamy (about 1 minute). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and milk and beat on med-high speed for an additional 1-2 minutes. Scrape the glaze into a small bowl and if it's slightly lumpy, heat in the microwave for about 8 seconds. Use a whisk to mix everything together.
- Once the donuts have cooled, dip them into the glaze and place them back onto the wire rack (feel free to dip the donuts twice for extra glaze!). Once set, serve immediately and enjoy!
- Keep leftover donuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Oh wow these donuts look amazing. I haven't made baked donuts in a while. I think this is the perfect recipe to try next!
I love carrot cake so these donuts are sure good with the flavors of cinnamon. Ive never had a carrot cake donut before, something to try!
I love baked donuts, and have not tried carrot cake ones before! These look amazing, I can see the spices in them and that cream cheese glaze looks divine!
Thank you, Sarah! Baked donuts are so fun to make and way easier than fried. 🙂