Easy Oven-Baked Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze, rich, decadent, with an incredibly fluffy texture, and a lot healthier than the fried version. These doughnuts are heaven!
If you think of doughnuts as being one of the most unhealthy, sugar-loaded, deep-fried calorie bombs, you are probably not too far from the truth. But, there is a better, and less naughty way of making doughnuts.
And guess what, they taste as good in the oven as if you would deep fry them. It doesn’t take that much longer either, they only need about 15 minute in the oven. And no doughnut pan needed.
Yes, there is the double proving, just so you can get some nice fluffy doughnuts, but if you get on with something else, you won’t even notice how time flies by and you dough is nice and risen.
Note! It is important to let the dough rise in a warm place, so that the dough can double in size, otherwise the doughnuts will be flat in the end. And do prepare yourself for some good kneading. 5 minutes at least, no cheating, please.
But then, when you get to have a bite of these super duper doughnuts, you will congratulate yourself on the great job you have done.
How to make baked doughnuts
The secret to perfect doughnuts is making sure the yeast is still active. If you use fast-action dried yeast, some shops sell different ones for keading by hand or in a bread machine/kitchen aid.
- warm up the milk, add a bit of sugar, flour and the yeast and set aside for 10 minutes or so until it becomes foamy
Again, it’s important the room to be warm, if it’s cold, the yeast will take a lot longer to activate, or it won’t activate at all. In which case, the dough will not rise.
- in a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, yeast mixture, butter, egg and lemon zest.
Make sure the butter and egg are at room temperature, the dough will rise faster in this way, since cold ingredients can slow down the yeast working its magic.
- knead well for at least 5 minutes until the dough is elastic, and it does not stick to the hands. Shape it into a ball, lighly brush it with oil, cover with a clean towel, and leave to rise for about 1-2 hours
- once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to the work surface, and use a rolling pin to flatten it to about once cm thickness (half an inch)
- leave the doughnuts to rise again for about one hour
- bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes or until golden
How to glaze the doughnuts
You can choose any glaze you fancy, there is no right or wrong here. My favourite is the chocolate glaze, or chocolate sauce, which is super easy to make and ready in less than 5 minutes.
They can also be decorated with sprinkles or anything else you prefer. Another good option would be topping them with caramel sauce. This can either be bought or made at home.
To get a nice shiny glaze, pour the chocolate sauce into a large bowl, hold a doughnut well, then quickly dip it into the sauce, then gently shake off the excess glaze.
Leave the doughnuts onto a cooling rack, so the glaze can dry off nicely. And that’s it, some seriously delicious doughnuts that are way healthier, and as tasty as the real deal.
If you’ve tried my OVEN-BAKED DOUGHNUTS WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Oven-Baked Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze, rich, decadent, with an incredibly fluffy texture, and a lot healthier than the fried version. These doughnuts are haven!
- 250 g plain flour
- 100 ml milk
- 1 tsp dried yeast
- zest from one lemon
- 60 g caster sugar
- 1 drop of lemon extract
- 50 g butter
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 100 g milk chocolate
- 1/3 cup double or heavy cream
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Warm up the milk and pour it in a jug.
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Add the yeast, a teaspoon of flour and a teaspoon of sugar, and set aside for at least 10 minutes so that the yeast can become foamy and rise.
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In a large bowl, add the flour, the rest of the sugar, zest of one lemon, egg and butter. The butter and egg should be at room temperature.
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Now pour over the milk and mix everything well with your hands.
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Transfer the dough to the working surface and knead it for at least 5 minutes, it will become elastic. Use a bit more flour if it's too sticky.
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Shape the dough into a ball.
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Oil the bowl and place the dough in it, oiling it lightly as well.
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Cover with cling film and wrap the bowl with a clean tea towel.
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Leave it to proof for at least 1 hour, so that it can double its size.
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To make the chocolate glaze, bring the cream to a boil, then add the chocolate broken into pieces, give it a good stir, so that the chocolat can melt, then take it off the heat.
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When the dough is double its initial size, transfer it to the working surface again.
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Use a rolling pin to flatten it and cut round circles, and a smaller cirles in the middle, cookie cutters will be good, otherwise a glass and a plastic bottle lid can work too.
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Place the dough rounds on the baking tray and again leave to proof for about 1 hour.
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Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. (390 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Bake the doughnuts for about 10-15 minutes, keeping an eye on them so that they don't burn.
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Leave to cool, then dip them into the chocolate sauce to coat the top. You can adds some sprinkles too if you like.
- If you'd like to see the ingredients listed in cups and ounces, please check the US Customary Link.
- Also, the amount of ingredients changes depending on the servings, so click on the number listed to change it to the number you prefer.
Wow these look so good!
Thank you, Lynn! They are really nice, even nicer than the fried ones.
I just love donuts! These look so soft an pillowy (I think that’s a word?) And salted caramel? Yum!
Thank you so much, Julie! 🙂
Thank you for briging the doughnuts, they are not just gorgeous they are baked, OMG, love them. Beautiful work, they are perfect party food,
Thank you, Suzanne! I am glad you like my doughnuts 🙂
I love doughnuts! This salted caramel version of your’s is just too good!
Thank you, Lina!