These carrot cake baked donuts are the perfect treats to serve at your Easter brunch. They have a cakey texture, are filled with shredded carrots, and are topped with a cinnamon cream cheese icing!
2ouncescream cheese (block-style), room temperature
2tablespoonsunsalted butter, room temperature
½cup powdered sugar
¼teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspoonvanilla extract
1 ½tablespoonsmilk
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 medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, milk, yogurt, and vanilla extract until combined.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet and gently fold 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 ¾ of the way full.
Bake the donuts for 9-11 minutes. Use a toothpick to check the center. If it comes out clean, then they're done. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 10 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, 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.
Notes:
Baking Pan: You'll need a 6-count donut pan like this one or this wilton donut pan. I have both of these and use them interchangeably. Be sure to spray it with nonstick spray.
Carrots: You will want to freshly grate your carrots instead of buying pre-shredded carrots 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 or ziplock 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.