M&M Cake Doughnuts

Recently I went to a made-to-order doughnut shoppe that was almost like applying the fro-yo concept to fresh fried cake doughnuts. You got to choose the flavors, glazes, and toppings and I decided on chocolate glaze and mini M&Ms. Sadly the doughnut itself was pretty mediocre but putting M&Ms on top was AMAZING. The combination of textures between the cake doughnut, which is slightly more substantive, dense, and crispy as compared to yeast raised doughnuts, and the crispy crunchy mini M&Ms blew my mind. I’m not normally a huge candy lover but the sweet marriage here made me want to immediately go home a recreate it to make it even better.

The below video is a tutorial on How to Make Cake Doughnuts, which follows the below recipe. It also shows you a few extra tips and ideas in case you didn’t want to go the M&M route, or if you wanted to take one batch and switch it up a little. I hope you enjoy the recipe and video!

By the way, this is the doughnut cutter I used and the fry thermometer I used.

How to make

M&M Cake Doughnuts

Yield: 14 doughnuts

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Inactive Time 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

M&M Cake Doughnuts are fried perfection, topped with a thick chocolate glaze and crunchy m&m candies and are way quicker to make than yeast doughnuts!

Ingredients

For the doughnuts:

• 3 cups (13.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Vegetable, canola, or peanut oil, for frying

For the chocolate glaze:

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Mini M&Ms

Directions

For the doughnuts:

1. In a large bowl, mix together all the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the egg and yolk with the sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture with the sour cream and melted butter, starting and ending with the flour. The dough will be soft. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, or until the dough is firm enough to handle.
3. Make ahead: Store the covered dough in the fridge for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before using.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough out into 1/4-inch thickness and cut with a doughnut cutter or with a round biscuit cutter. I prefer doughnuts without holes so more M&Ms fit on top. Place the doughnuts on a lightly floured parchment lined baking sheet. Let the doughnuts sit at room temperature, covered, while you heat the oil.
5. Heat the oil in a large, deep, and heavy pan to 350°F. Place three to four doughnuts in the oil at a time and fry until golden brown, about 1 minute or less per side (30 seconds for the holes). Do not overcook the doughnuts. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

For the glaze:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla and heat until the butter melts. Decrease the heat to low and add the chocolate, whisking until melted. Turn off the heat and add the powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Immediately dip the doughnuts into the glaze. If the glaze begins to set return the saucepan to low heat and stir until liquid again. Immediately after dipping, sprinkle the doughnuts with M&Ms, pressing slightly to adhere.
2. Let the glaze set on the doughnuts for 30 minutes before serving.

Course : Dessert

Cuisine : American

Recipe by 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!)