Grab a boxed cake mix and make these Easy Cake Mix Donuts featuring 3 delicious glazes including vanilla, chocolate, and maple, and fun sprinkles. They’re so yummy and simple to make and both kids and adults will love them!
Easy Cake Mix Donuts (+ 3 Delicious Glazes)
Happy Tuesday everyone!
I’m so excited to share today’s fun recipe creation with you – Easy Cake Mix Donuts.
They’re absolutely delicious, easy to make, and my boys and I had a blast making them together this past weekend.
Since we’re in the Fall/Halloween season, we decorated ours with these fun spooky sprinkles to fit the occasion, but these cake mix donuts can be made any time of the year, with any cake flavor, and decorated any way you desire!
Keep reading below for the full recipe on how to make easy cake mix donuts and 3 delicious glazes.
Baked Cake Mix Donuts
As much as I love a traditional fried donut and my delicious biscuit donuts, after I purchased this amazing donut pan set, I’ve grown to absolutely love the taste of warm, freshly baked cake mix donuts.
Are Cake Mix Donuts and Old Fashioned Donuts the same?
This is probably the #1 question most people ask regarding cake mix donuts, and the answer is no, they are not the same.
Cake mix donuts are not the same as your typical yeast-based donuts which have a denser texture, but instead have a soft, fluffy, cake-like texture which is delicious!
They are also a lot easier and less time consuming to make since you don’t have to fry them and can make them quick and easy using these super affordable donut pans.
Are Cake Donuts Healthier Than Regular Donuts?
Because they are baked instead of fried, cake donuts are healthier than regular donuts.
Cake mix donuts also tend to have less sugar, fat, and calories since they are not as large and don’t have a fruit or cream filling.
Do keep in mind no donut out there is necessarily “healthy”, so moderation is always key. 🙂
Why Cake Mix Donuts are THE BEST
I think my favorite part about these cake mix donuts is that you can easily make them with any boxed cake mix flavor and glaze to satisfy whatever flavor you’re craving.
What cake mix flavors can I use?
- Vanilla
- Chocolate
- Funfetti
- Red Velvet
- Lemon
- Strawberry
- Spice Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Any other flavor you like!
If desired, you can also easily enhance the flavors of the cake batter with different extracts like vanilla, lemon, coconut, and hazelnut.
Delicious Glaze and Topping Ideas
And when it comes to glazing these delicious cake mix donuts, our personal favorites are vanilla, chocolate, and maple, but the possibilities are endless!
Here’s just a few other ideas:
- Caramel
- Cinnamon Sugar
- Peanut Butter
- Cream Cheese
- Strawberry
- Lemon
- Cookies and Cream
Top them off with some fun sprinkles, nuts, chopped up candies, or fruit, and you have yourself some incredibly delicious cake mix donuts!
Helpful Tips for Making/Decorating Your Cake Mix Donuts
- Buy these awesome non-stick donut pans. They’re extremely affordable and super easy to clean, and you will use them again and again!
- Use this cake piping bag to fill your donut pans. It saves so much time, hassle, and mess! Simply snip off the end and pipe into your pan. It makes filling your pan a breeze!
- Don’t overfill your donut pans with batter. If you overfill, you will lose the hole and intended donut shape. Ideally you only want to fill them until they are 3/4 of the way full.
- Place your donuts on a wire rack over a parchment paper lined baking sheet. This will allow the donuts to cool and once you glaze them, it will ensure all the excess glaze falls onto the parchment paper for an easy clean up.
- Let your donuts cool completely before glazing them. If you try to glaze them while they are still warm, the icing will melt/seep into the cake and won’t firm up.
- For a prettier glaze, glaze your donuts with the top side up. We originally started glazing them with the bottom side and my youngest son accidentally discovered it looked better the other way. 🙂
- Add sprinkles or toppings while the glaze is still wet. This helps ensure your toppings will “stick” and not fall off everywhere. Also let your donuts firm up before serving/placing in an airtight container.
Troubleshooting FAQ’s
I’ve received several questions and comments regarding issues with your donuts turning out too soft/falling apart, and this isn’t an issue with my recipe, this has to do with baking.
Please follow my tips and guidelines listed both in the recipe and below to avoid any issues with this.
Help! My donuts are too soft/why did my donuts fall apart when I tried to get them out of the pan?
This problem can be the result of a couple different things. A. Underbaking your donuts and B. Removing them from the pan too soon.
How to avoid this issue:
- First off, make sure you fully bake your cake mix donuts until they are done. One way to tell when the donuts are done is they will have pulled away from the sides of the pan, the edges will be a light golden brown, and the middle will be spongy (and bounce back) to touch.
- DO NOT REMOVE FROM THE PAN until they are cool to the touch. Typically I let mine cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, but this is just a guide and you might need to let them cool longer.
- Lastly, use a spoon to go around the edge of the donut pan and underneath the donuts to gently remove them from the pan. You also want to make sure you spray your pan liberally with non-stick cooking spray before baking them so that they don’t stick.
Recommended Kitchen Tools:
- Donut Pans (Set of 3)
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Electric Mixer
- Whisk
- Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Cooling Rack
- Piping Bags
- Large Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
How to Make Cake Mix Donuts
Mix
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spray your donut pans with non-stick spray.
Place your cake mix, egg, oil, milk, and vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer or whisk, until well combined.
Fill
Next, place your donut batter into a large piping bag or large plastic Ziploc bag, snip off the corner, and carefully fill each donut cavity 3/4 of the way full.
FYI – This method is so much easier than trying to spoon in the batter one by one, and will save you a lot of time, hassle, and mess.
Bake/Cool
Place your donut pans into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cakes are a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Mine baked perfectly at 10 minutes.
Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. (about 10-15 minutes)
Glaze
While your donuts are cooling, prepare the vanilla, chocolate, and maple glaze by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking together.
Place each glaze in a shallow bowl for easy dipping. Each glaze should be a pourable icing consistency, but not runny.
If it is too thick you can always add more milk, until desired consistency is reached.
For easy clean-up, place parchment paper on a large baking sheet and place under the wire rack that the donuts will sit on.
Place the top side of your donuts into the glaze for a few seconds and let excess drip down into the bowl before flipping and placing on the wire rack for the glaze to set.
Decorate
If desired, add sprinkles, chopped up candies, or nuts on top of your donuts while the glaze is still wet.
These cake mix donuts are so easy to make and kids will really enjoy helping with this step.
You can easily personalize donuts for holidays, birthdays, or any other special occasion.
Easy Cake Mix Donuts
Print
Easy Cake Mix Donuts (+ 3 Delicious Glazes)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Grab a boxed cake mix and make these Easy Cake Mix Donuts featuring 3 delicious glazes including vanilla, chocolate, and maple, and fun sprinkles. They’re so yummy and simple to make and both kids and adults will love them!
Ingredients
Cake Mix Donuts
- 1 box cake mix, any flavor (I used a yellow cake mix)
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- sprinkles, if desired
Vanilla Donut Glaze:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons milk
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional: food coloring
Chocolate Donut Glaze:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1–2 tbsp milk
Maple Donut Glaze:
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tbsp milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and spray your donut pans with non-stick spray.
- Place your cake mix, egg, oil, milk, and vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer or whisk, until well combined.
- Next, place your donut batter into a large piping bag or large plastic Ziploc bag, snip off the corner, and carefully fill each donut cavity 3/4 of the way full.
- Place your donut pans into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cakes are a light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely (about 10-15 minutes).
- While your donuts are cooling, prepare the vanilla, chocolate, and maple glaze by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and whisking together. Place each glaze in a shallow bowl for easy dipping. Each glaze should be a pourable icing consistency, but not runny. If it is too thick you can always add more milk, until desired consistency is reached.
- For easy clean-up, place parchment paper on a large baking sheet and place under the wire rack that the donuts will sit on.
- Place the top side of your donuts into the glaze for a few seconds and let excess drip down into the bowl before flipping and placing on the wire rack for the glaze to set.
- If desired, add sprinkles, chopped up candies, or nuts on top of your donuts while the glaze is still wet.
Notes
- Leftover donuts can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week
- Leftover icing can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks
Keywords: cake mix donuts, easy cake mix donuts, baked cake mix donuts, baked donuts, oven donuts, cake donuts, boxed cake mix donuts, easy donuts, donut glaze
Recipes To Try Next:
I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe for my Easy Cake Mix Donuts with 3 Delicious Glazes! Do you love cake mix donuts too? Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for stopping by! – Cara
Pin This Post
I just made them and they didnt cool for 12 min, still in thenovern and they got all puffy.
They look like mini cakes
Sounds like you might have overfilled them (I did this the first couple times too). Hopefully they still tasted good though!
Can you store the batter? I only want to make a few at a time. Thank you.
Hi, I wouldn’t recommend it since it has egg in it. It would probably only be good for a day or two, refrigerated. The donuts unglazed can be frozen for up to 3 months in a freezer safe bag though.
These look amazing! Going to give them a try this morning! How many donuts does one cake mix make?
Thanks Julia! It will make around 18 donuts. Hope you love them!
You mentioned butter milk but, in the ingredients you just mentioned milk. What do I use? Thanks
Hi Donna, I’m not sure what you’re seeing but buttermilk isn’t used in this recipe, just milk. Let me know if you have any other questions!
I had a different recipe from somewhere else that needed buttermilk instead of regular milk. Perhaps you saw it the same place I did? I deleted the e-mail with the recipe and found this one while looking for the buttermilk one
Do I ignore the ingredients asked for in my cake mix, ie 2 eggs, butter and milk….. And use the recipe that you use using just the cake mix, little bit confused, new to making Don nuts, thanks
★★★★★
Hi Thomas! Yes, you will use the ingredients and amounts I list in the recipe card instead of the ones listed on the cake mix box. Hope that helps clear it up and I hope you love them!
Thanks,
I understand now
Do these taste different from just baking the cake mix ? I noticed the recipe calls for what’s different on the box, so do these changes give a more donut taste ? I’m so excited to try !
Yes, they are more soft/airy than if you were to bake as directed on the box, but less chewy than a traditional yeast donut. Hope you love them!
I want to try these but is it the same recipe even if I used a chocolate cake mix?
★★★★★
Yes, absolutely! You can use any cake mix for this recipe and adjust your glazes/toppings as desired. With a chocolate mix, some vanilla icing and crushed up Oreo would be delish. Enjoy!