These Dark Chocolate Donuts with Blood Orange Glaze are so soft, melt in your mouth and loaded with dark chocolate! The blood orange glaze is the perfect citrus twist on top! The best brunch option!
Citrus season is upon us! For most of my life, I feel like I didn’t necessarily understand seasonal foods. So for example, I didn’t realize that in the Summer when I was eating the juiciest peach of my life, that I wasn’t going to be able to eat said juicy peach in January.
Now that I do understand seasonality of foods, you best believe that I am making up for lost time when it comes to citrus season. I feel like it’s underrated but it honestly blesses us with the best, most delicious FRESH tastes in the middle of an otherwise dreary Winter.
I’ve been specifically loving blood oranges. First of all, they’re absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I love the dark deep berry red color. Second, they are SO JUICY AND SWEET AND DELICIOUS.
I’ve basically been eating my weight in blood oranges so I knew that I wanted to create a recipe with them..and what better pairing that citrus and chocolate?!
Side note: has anyone else tried those dark chocolate oranges you get around Christmas time? Best candy ever!
Chocolate + Citrus: The Perfect Pair
Say hello to these Dark Chocolate Donuts! Chocolate is my favorite dessert item of all time. Give me anything chocolate flavored, ESPECIALLY dark chocolate, and I’m happy. Pair it with oranges and I’m even happier!
These dark chocolate donuts are baked, which ensures they are super soft and melt in your mouth. I combined both unsweetened cocoa powder and dark chocolate morsels to achieve an insanely dark flavor of chocolate. They are rich and not overly sweet which I’m thankful for.
And the blood orange glaze! Yessss!! It’s tangy, tart and the perfect combination with the dark chocolate. The glaze soaks through the donut and makes it super moist and soft and oh my word. It’s just amazing. So let’s get into how to make them already!
Ingredients You Need:
- all purpose flour
- light brown sugar
- unsweetened cocoa powder
- baking powder + baking soda
- espresso powder (optional but gives a rich flavor)
- melted dark chocolate
- egg
- whole milk
- vinegar
- melted butter
- powdered sugar
- juice of a blood orange
How to Make Dark Chocolate Donuts with Blood Orange Glaze
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Go ahead and grease your donut pan and set that aside.
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl – dry ingredients being the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Make sure those are evenly combined in the bowl.
In another bowl, melt the salted butter. Let it cool for a minute or so. To the butter, add in the egg, vinegar, and whole milk. Whisk together until combined. Using a wooden spoon, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until they are mixed together.
To the now mixed donut batter, which should look like this by the way:
Add in the melted chocolate! I just simply melted my chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments (it doesn’t take long) and stirred it as I went to get the silky smooth texture.
Add the dark chocolate to the bowl of batter and gently stir in until combined.
Next, carefully spoon the batter into a ziploc bag (or a piping bag if you have one!) and then cut the tip of the bag off.
Pipe the donut batter into the donut pan, filling them about ⅔ of the way full.
Bake for 10-11 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean. Allow them to cool in the donut pan for 5-10 minutes or so and then carefully move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Time for the glaze! As the donuts are cooling, you can whip up that delicious blood orange glaze.
Simply combine powdered sugar with the juice of an entire blood orange together in a bowl. Whisk until there are no lumps and it’s smooth and delicious. If it’s too thick still, feel free to add 1-2 tbsp of water to get it thinner.
Now that the donuts are all cool, dip half of the donuts into the glaze! You could also just drizzle the glaze on top if you wanted to.
And noowww….we eat! If desired, you could add some more powdered sugar on top or a slice of blood orange for a fun garnish.
Eat for breakfast, brunch, snack or late night dessert! YUM. Cheers to eating more donuts in 2020!
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others 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! 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

Dark Chocolate Donuts with Blood Orange Glaze
These Dark Chocolate Donuts with Blood Orange Glaze are so soft, melt in your mouth and loaded with dark chocolate! The blood orange glaze is the perfect citrus twist on top! The best brunch option!
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) melted butter
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (melted)
Blood Orange Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- juice of 1 blood orange
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the donut pan and set it aside.
-
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, espresso powder, baking powder and baking soda.
-
In another bowl, melt butter and let it cool for a minute or so. To the butter, add the whole milk, egg and vinegar. Whisk until it's fully combined.
-
Using a wooden spoon, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until they are mixed together.
-
Next, melt your chocolate and add it in to the donut batter. Gently mix in until it's combined.
-
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.
-
Bake for 10-11 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.
Blood Orange Glaze
-
Combine the powdered sugar with the juice of an entire blood orange together in a bowl. Whisk until there are no lumps and you reach your desired consistency. If it’s too thick still, feel free to add 1-2 tbsp of water to get it thinner.
-
Once the donuts are cooled, gently dip one half of the donuts into the glaze OR just simply drizzle the glaze on top. Enjoy!
I just want to reach through my screen and grab, like, all of these!! Love blood oranges…they’re just so beautiful and I bet they add so much flavour to these donuts. P.S.Are you referring to those ‘Terry Chocolate Oranges’? They’re a staple in our home around Christmas time!! Have you tried the version with the toffee bits?? So good!
Thank you so much, Dawn! Yes, I am referring to the Terry’s Chocolate Oranges…SO GOOD! Must try the ones with the toffee! YUM! 🙂
I’m LOVING blood oranges right now. I’m getting my hands on all of the citrus these days! In fact, my mouth is watering just thinking of it haha. These donuts are genius! Chocolate and orange is a terrific combo!!
Me too, Katherine! In fact I accidentally stained my countertop the other day with blood orange juice LOL! Worth it…:)
Chocolate and citrus really are the perfect duo! These donuts look so delicious and cakey – which is the best kind of donut texture! The blood orange glaze is also the perfect topping!
Yes!! I love the soft and cakey donuts…they melt in your mouth! Thanks, Leanne 🙂