Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Ultra bright and fresh, perfect for spring!
Texture: The donuts are soft and light while the glaze is thick and rich.
Ease: Super easy 30 minute dessert recipe.
Appearance: I just love the cracked appearance of the glaze once it sets and that you can see little specks of fresh lemon zest.
Pros: Fresh and fun, much easier and less indulgent than fried donuts.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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You guys know my obsession with donuts is strong. Some of my most popular posts have been donut recipes, so I know the obsession is mutual. It seemed only right to share a bright and fresh spring donut recipe with you in the form of these Baked Donuts with Lemon Glaze. They’re a million times quicker and easier than fried donuts and while the texture isn’t exactly the same as fried, they’re positively addicting. Not only are these baked, but they’re made mostly with yogurt instead of tons of oil or butter making them even lighter! Perfect for all the shorts, tanks, and bikinis spring and summer require.
Baked Donuts with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
For the donuts:
- 1 cup (127 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 large egg
- 6 ounces (170 grams) unsweetened nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
For the Lemon Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) confectioners powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Instructions
For Doughnuts:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 6-cup donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl whisk together egg, yogurt, oil, and lemon juice. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into the hole. Gently fold everything together until combined. The batter will be thick; do not overmix.
- Scoop batter into a piping bag or freezer bag and snip a bottom corner with scissors. Squeeze out batter evenly into prepared donut pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few moments and then flip over onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
For Glaze:
- Whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Add more sugar for thickness, more lemon juice for thinness. Dip the doughnuts in glaze and place on a lined baking sheet. Let stand until glaze has set before serving.
Hi Tessa,
I want to make these donuts, but my plain yogurt isn’t Greek, it’s just regular. Should I add a little more flour to the batter or do you think it will be ok as is? Thanks.
Hi Bella! No, the fat content in Greek yogurt isn’t the same as regular yogurt, so it won’t work well as a substitute. Adding additional flour will result in denser donuts. Other readers have successfully substituted sour cream for the yogurt though, if you’d like to give that a try!
Can’t find recipe Imperial Sugar site not found I wanted to make
these today BUMMER
Hey Ginger, the recipe is updated now! Sorry for the inconvenience. I hope you give these donuts a try!
This is a great and FANTASTIC recipe they were delicious thanks for sharing!!
I loved these! While I am mostly a chocolate glazed/jelly filled kind of woman, I chose these because the prep-to-consumption ratio was definitely in my favor, lol. 20 minutes, start to finish is great by me. I tweaked the recipe a bit based on what I had on hand, subbing sour cream for the yogurt and adding just a couple drops of vanilla extract. The glaze is so good, I may cover myself in it to see if I can get a fella. 🙂 These were tender and flavorful with the glaze providing the perfect accent. I look forward to making these again.
Haha! That’s awesome Vicky, thanks for your fun comment 🙂
Just made this the other day and it was FANTASTIC!!! It has the right balance of sweetness and tangy flavor of the lemon….refreshing!! Gonna make this again!!! Thanks for this great recipe Ms. Tessa!!!
Yay! Thrilled to hear it 🙂
If making mini-donuts, how long should they be baked for?
If I want to make plain baked glazed donuts, should I omit the lemon juice in the batter? Should I add some vanilla extract instead? Thank you!
Hi Karina! Yes, just omit the lemon juice from the batter, and omit the juice and zest from the glaze. You don’t need to worry about the juice in the batter so much, but can replace the juice in the glaze with milk. You can add some vanilla extra in place of part of the lemon juice, but 2 Tablespoons of vanilla might be a bit too strong, so I’d suggest maybe adding 1 teaspoon vanilla and the remaining 1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons or so of milk. I hope that helps 🙂
Baked donuts are the best. And lemon glaze just makes them better! Love these to pieces!
Yay for spring and donuts! Love that these are healthier too.