Easy Chai Spice Donuts

WHAT a weekend. Did you do any Fall baking? What did you bake? I didn’t have a chance to and now I’ve got the shakes from withdrawal. Baking up a storm this week for sure.

My friend’s wedding was wonderful! Beautiful weather and the only thing more beautiful (besides the bride) was the pumpkin spice wedding cake for dessert. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard as I reminisce about every single bite of that marvelous confection. Though we did have a little uh-oh the next day. Jude wasn’t feeling very well, so we took a trip to the emergency vet. He has mild arthritis in his back knees and his joints are a little achey. He’s on pain meds for now. Will keep you updated!

One item I crossed off my list before this exciting weekend was baking a batch of donuts. Two batches, actually: traditional style and the itty bitty donut holes. DONUT HOLES! These 2-bite (but if we’re being serious 1 bite) little things make me so happy. ♥

I’m not sure if I’ve ever told you this, but I love 3 breakfast things the most. Ok, 4.

1. donuts of the maple, cinnamon-sugar, and/or jelly variety


2. the above mentioned donuts as donut holes


3. steamy chai tea lattes


4. a vat of coffee

The first 3 are typically treats reserved for weekends while coffee vats are a regular. When I was brainstorming some new Fall recipes to try, a twist on my baked cinnamon sugar donuts was a must. Chai style was a no-brainer and while I dabbled with the thought of glazing them, I kept going back to my cinnamon sugar standard. Only with the addition of ginger, cardamom, and allspice. They kind of remind me of these apple cider donuts!

This is such an easy breakfast treat, which is prime because the days are getting shorter and the schedules are getting busier. The donuts come together in 5 minutes and take about 10 minutes in the oven. No joke, you can have chai spice donuts on the table in under 30 minutes.

The first order of business is to combine all the wonderful spices with sugar. Part of this sugar-spice mixture will be for the actual donut batter while the other part will be for the donut coating.

The donut batter itself should look familiar as I’ve been using the same base recipe for years, only switching up the flavors (and shape!) here and there. I’ve began to use sour cream instead of yogurt and find their texture even more awesomely tender. I also added a little more melted butter to this batch only because I wanted a suuuuper rich donut. Clearly, we hated them.

I kid, I kid. Anything with extra butter is obviously delish.

Once the donuts or donut holes are baked, you’ll dip the warm donuts in some melted butter (more butter. these are so freakin’ good.) and then dunk them into the rest of the sugar/chai spice mix. And when I say “dunk” I mean let those donuts literally swim in the chai spice mix to make sure there’s a heavy coating of the good stuff. And just wait until you smell the easy chai spice donuts right out of the oven. You’ll wish this scent was available in candle form. (Calorie free that way…)

The donut holes are simply baked in a mini muffin pan, while the donuts are baked in my trusty and wildly inexpensive donut pan. I hope you have one by now!

Have your chai and eat it too!

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Easy Chai Spice Donuts

• 
  Author: Sally


• 
  Prep Time: 20 minutes


• 
  Cook Time: 10 minutes


• 
  Total Time: 35 minutes


• 
  Yield: 8 donuts or 20 donut holes


• 
  Category: Donuts


• 
  Method: Baking


• 
  Cuisine: American

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Description

Baked and completely easy chai spice donuts are extra delicious and ready in under 30 minutes!

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Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar


• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


• 1 teaspoon ground ginger


• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom


• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice


• 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons; 115g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (divided)


• 1 large egg*


• 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream*


• 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*


• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray donut pan or mini muffin pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.


2. Make the donuts: Whisk the granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and allspice together. Set aside.


3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside. Whisk 3 Tablespoons of melted butter, egg, 1/3 cup of the sugar/spice mix (the rest is for the coating), sour cream, milk, and vanilla together until completely combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick.


4. Spoon the batter into the donut cavities—I highly recommend using a large zipped-top bag for ease. Cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and pipe the batter into each donut cup, filling 2 ∕ 3 –3 ∕ 4 of the way full. Here is a visual of how I do this. Or, if making donut holes, spoon the batter into the mini muffin pan, filling each 3/4 of the way full. You’ll only need a couple teaspoons of batter for each.


5. Bake the donuts or donut holes for 9–10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and when poked lightly with a finger, they spring back. Once done, transfer to a wire rack set on a large piece of parchment paper or on a large baking sheet. Bake the remaining donut batter (there is usually enough batter for 1-2 more donuts) and once baked, transfer to the wire rack. Allow donuts to cool down until you can handle them.


6. Top the donuts: Re-melt the remaining butter if it has solidified by now. Dip the donuts in the melted butter, then dunk into the remaining sugar/spice mixture, making sure to coat all sides. Donuts are best served immediately. Leftovers keep well covered tightly at room temperature for up to 2 days.

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Notes

1. Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the donuts for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up to your liking in the microwave. I usually just zap ’em for a couple seconds.


2. Special Tools: Donut Pan | Mini Muffin Pan | Mixing Bowls | Glass Mugs (I LOVE these.)


3. Room Temperature Ingredients: I find it is best to have these 3 ingredients at room temperature. The batter comes together very easily. Any milk works, weather that’s whole milk, skim milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or almond milk.


4. Adapted from baked cinnamon sugar donuts.

Keywords: chai spice donuts, chai donuts

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You’ll also love my chai apple pie and chai snickerdoodles!

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