These Baked Chai Spice Donuts are the ultimate Fall treat! Soft donuts baked to perfection and coated in chai cinnamon sugar!
Hey friends! Happy September! Are you the type to want Summer to stick around until Fall officially starts on September 21st or are you like me and want Fall to start after Labor Day?!
Either way, I’m coming at you today with a delicious and BRAND NEW Fall baking recipe that I think you’re gonna love!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
It’s incredibly easy! If you have a hankering for a baked good, sometimes they often involve chill time or long bake times…this recipe is easy to whip up and only takes 11 minutes to bake!
The cozy chai spice throughout is warming and the perfect flavor!
It’s not “in your face Fall/pumpkin/apple” but it’s still cozy, warm and comforting.
The donut itself is PILLOWY soft and so tender.
Three words: chai cinnamon sugar coating. Yup. It costs the outside of the donut for a crunchy sugary delicious taste with each bite.
It’s the perfect treat! You can serve it for breakfast, brunch, a midday snack or a sneaky late night dessert – maybe even with a scoop of ice cream!
Ingredients You Need:
- All purpose flour – a classic staple
- Baking powder + soda – to help get a good rise out of the donut
- Light brown sugar – not too much, just enough added sweetness for taste!
- Chai spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice) – these will go both in the donut batter and for the chai cinnamon sugar coating!
- Granulated sugar – the sugar used for the chai cinnamon sugar
- Melted butter – this keeps the donuts moist plus you’ll dunk the baked donuts in this before you coat them with sugar!
- Milk – any milk of choice should work! I usually use either whole milk or oat milk.
- Vanilla extract – because you can’t have a baked Fall good without it!
- Egg – this helps to bind the donuts together
How to Bake Donuts in 5 Simple Steps:
Baking donuts is SO easy. Let me tell you how!
- Preheat the oven to 350. Grab your donut pan and spray with non stick baking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – that would be the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and spices. These need to be whisked together well to combine!
- In a smaller bowl, melt butter and let it COOL. This is important (see expert baking tip below)…Once cooled, add in milk, egg, vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until no flour streaks are left. It should look something like this:
- Add donut batter to a ziploc bag and cut the tip off – carefully fill the donut holes in the pan until they’re 2/3 full. Bake for 11-12 minutes.
- Once done, it’s so important to let them fully cool! Then dunk in butter and then coat with chai cinnamon sugar. Time to eat up!
Expert Baking Tips:
Don’t forget to use a high quality non stick baking spray for your donut pan. This will ensure the donuts don’t stick which would be disastrous.
You can always use butter to grease the pan as well.
It’s important to let the melted butter cool before you add in the egg/milk mixture because if you had it in too quickly, it could curdle.
It’s also important to whisk it quickly even when it DOES get added.
Speaking of letting things cool…very important that you let the donuts cool once they’re finished baking. I recommend letting them cool for 5 minutes in the donut pan.
After that, carefully take a butter knife and carefully go around the edges of the donut to make sure they are loosened. Then it’s time to add them to a cooling rack and let them finish cooling fully.
What to Serve Donuts With:
Of course, you can have just the donuts by themselves…but if you’re looking for something else to serve with, here are a few options that I personally love:
- soft scrambled eggs
- cooked breakfast sausage links
- crispy bacon
- mimosa
- and of course, a hot cup of tea or coffee goes AMAZING with these donuts.
How to Store Leftovers:
These are best eaten the day of – however, if you do have leftovers, just store them in a tightly sealed Tupperware container at room temperature 🙂
I hope you absolutely love every spiced sugary bite of this donut! It’s one of my favorites. Pair with a creamy cup of coffee for breakfast or steaming cup of tea in the afternoon. Enjoy!
Did you enjoy this donut recipe? Here are a few more you might like:
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Baked Chai Spice Donuts
These Baked Chai Spice Donuts are the ultimate Fall treat! Soft donuts baked to perfection and coated in chai cinnamon sugar!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
Wet Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp melted, salted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup milk (I used whole milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Chai Cinnamon Sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 4 tbsp melted salted butter
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350. Take a donut pan, grease it (either with butter or cooking spray) and set aside.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, chai spices) until combined. Set aside.
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Melt the butter in a smaller bowl. Make sure you give 3-4 minutes for it to cool completely. Once it has cooled, add the vanilla extract, egg, and milk. Whisk vigorously to combine and then IMMEDIATELY add it to the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon until they are mixed together.
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Next, carefully spoon the donut batter either into a ziploc bag or a piping bag if you have one. If you're using a ziploc bag, cut the tip of the bag and pipe the batter into the greased donut pan, about ⅔ of the way full for each donut.
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Bake for 11-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove them to continue cooling on a wire rack.
Chai Cinnamon Sugar Coating
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Once the donuts have fully cooled, melt an additional 4 tbsp of salted butter in a bowl and let it cool.
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In a shallow dish, mix the granulated sugar and chai spices until combined.
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Dunk the cooled donut into the butter and then into the chai cinnamon sugar dish. Coat with the cinnamon sugar on all sides and then place on a cooling rack or plate. Repeat until all donuts are done.
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Time to eat! Enjoy!