Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze
Filed Under: Dessert | Donut | Fall

Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze

  |  
November 18th, 2011

Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze are sweet yet spicy and warm. Plus they're super, super simple to make!

Yield: 6 donuts

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Sweet yet spicy and warm. These taste like a mixture of fall and winter. Texture: The donuts are soft and somewhat airy while the frosting is thick and luscious. Appearance: The frosting sets so quickly and beautifully. Pros: No yeast-based dough to wait for, no frying mess to clean up. Cons: The frosting will stick to your pan if you let it sit out too long. Would I make this again? Probably.

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Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze are sweet yet spicy and warm. Plus they’re super, super simple to make!

Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze

Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze

Do you ever find yourself stretched too thin? You have a million obligations and things to do but you can’t focus on even one. I’ve come to the realization this past week that you can’t say yes to everything and everyone, you have to prioritize. You have to decide what’s more important, what deserves your time. It’s not easy. This is another one of those life lessons that really make you feel like an adult.

Have you ever had to give anything up in order to make room for something else? In retrospect, was it the right choice?

The good thing about today’s recipe is that it’s quick enough to fit into almost anyone’s list of things to do. And it will make you and your family happy. The glaze on these donuts is to die for. The recipe calls for a donut pan, which is available on Amazon. I’ve also seen them at Sur la Table, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Michaels.

How to make
Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze

Yield: 6 donuts
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Baked Gingerbread Donuts with Maple-Caramel Glaze are sweet yet spicy and warm. Plus they're super, super simple to make!

Ingredients

For the donuts:

  • 1 cup all-purpose or white whole-wheat flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted

For the glaze:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

To make the donuts:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and brown sugar. With a rubber spatula stir in egg, applesauce, milk, and melted butter until combined.
  3. Pour batter into a large zip-top plastic bag and cut one corner off. Pipe the batter into a 6-hole donut pan (I used a Wilton donut pan), filling half full. Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until lightly browned and cooked. Cool on cooling rack until donuts are cool enough to remove from pan.

To make the glaze:

  1. Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon milk and bring back to a boil. Add powdered sugar, using an additional tablespoon milk to thin out frosting if needed. Keep over low heat until ready to glaze donuts. Carefully dip donuts into glaze. Frosting will set quickly.

Recipe Notes

Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American
Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Bonnie — October 27, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    Hi. Help please – where is the maple for the maple-caramel glaze? Am I overlooking something?
    Bonnie

  2. #
    Tara — November 20, 2012 at 8:09 pm

    Hi! Came across this website and am excited to try these. A question – do you think I could make these as mini donuts? How long would I bake them for?

    • #
      Tessa — November 30, 2012 at 9:52 am

      I don’t see why not, I would try 5-6 minutes.

  3. #
    Jenny — December 6, 2011 at 1:19 am

    I love these, I'm making them for a second time…they are delicious!! Thank you for sharing this 🙂

  4. #
    alison — November 24, 2011 at 11:50 am

    Thanks for a great blog
    Ginger Bread cake

  5. #
    nat@thesweetslife — November 21, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    I was literally just thinking that I need to try gingerbread donuts…and now I don't even have to hunt for (or create) a recipe! Thanks for sharing!

    And yes, I totally know how you feel… I suffer from “can't say no” syndrome too!

  6. #
    Nicole Gamble — November 21, 2011 at 9:12 am

    Great recipe ! I made it! It`s delicious!!! And it looks great , too!

  7. #
    Rebekah Hubbard — November 18, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    Hey Tessa,
    We made your baked chocolate donuts last weekend when my parents were in town and they were a huge hit. Definitely will try these next. It's so nice to see baked donut recipes… I do not want my breakfast to be deep fried… very often 🙂
    Keep up the good work. Love reading your blog!

  8. #
    Jessica — November 18, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    If I promise to do the dishes, will you save me one of these?!!

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