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Close up front shot of a baked donut on a plate
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5 from 3 votes

Lemon Baked Donuts

These glazed Lemon Baked Donuts come together in just minutes with help from a boxed cake mix!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword baked donuts, baked donuts with cake mix, lemon donuts
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Inactive Cooling Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 17 minutes
Servings 6 donuts
Calories 172kcal
Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cups lemon cake mix
  • ½ cup plain Greek-style yogurt (or sour cream)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 egg
  • Optional: ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries

For the Glaze:

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 6-cavity standard donut pan with nonstick spray.
  • In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the cake mix, yogurt, water and egg until smooth. Gently fold in blueberries, if using. Evenly distribute batter into the cavities of the donut pan and smooth out the tops. I like to pipe the batter into the donut pan by transferring the batter to a large Ziploc bag and then snipping a hole in one corner.
  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out mostly clean, about 12 minutes.
  • Cool donuts in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely (about 15 more minutes).

PREPARE THE GLAZE:

  • Once the donuts are cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and salt until thick and smooth. Add a small amount of additional milk to thin, as necessary, or add a small amount of powdered sugar to make it thicker (if necessary). You want it nice and thick so that it clings to the donuts.
  • Place a wire rack over paper towels or foil (for easy cleanup). One at a time, dip the donuts in the glaze, allowing most of the excess to drip off. Place on the wire rack and allow the icing to set for about 20-30 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • This recipe yields six donuts, since most donut pans have six cavities. If you have a 12-cavity pan (or two separate pans), you can easily double the recipe and prepare twice as many donuts.
  • Don't have a donut pan? This recipe will also work in a standard muffin tin. You may need bake the muffins a bit longer (closer to 15-20 minutes).
  • Other flavors to try: The options are really endless, so use your imagination and create a variety of baked cake donuts. For instance, use chocolate cake mix to make Chocolate Baked Donuts, use a strawberry cake mix and diced fresh strawberries to make Strawberry Donuts, or use a spice cake mix to make Spiced Baked Donuts.
  • It's important to spray the donut pan really well with cooking spray so that your donuts don't stick. I like to use this Pam baking spray, which has flour in the mix. It works really well!
  • Allow the donuts to cool for at least 15 minutes before glazing. If you dip them in the glaze when they’re too hot, the glaze will just slip right off. The donuts will then need about 20 more minutes for the glaze to set.
  • How to store Baked Donuts: Homemade donuts are best when enjoyed the same day that they are prepared. If you have leftover donuts, you can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days.
  • To reheat a donut, warm in the microwave for just 8-10 seconds. Don’t let it get too hot, or the glaze will melt right off.
  • How to freeze Baked Donuts: Wrapped tightly, you can freeze these doughnuts for up to 3 months. When thawed the consistency of the glaze will be thin and runny, so I recommend freezing the plain donuts before glazing. Then, when ready to enjoy, simply thaw the donuts and glaze as necessary.

Nutrition

Serving: 1donut (before glazing) | Calories: 172kcal | Carbohydrates: 29.7g | Protein: 3.5g | Fat: 4.5g | Saturated Fat: 1.9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.1g | Cholesterol: 35.2mg | Sodium: 257.7mg | Potassium: 66.5mg | Sugar: 16.3g