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Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts Recipe

Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts are chocolatey, tender and fluffy. They’re great for breakfast but can also step in as dessert and baking didn’t sacrifice taste.

A stack of baked chocolate donuts sitting on an antique butter paddle. The top donut is glazed with chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles.


Do you have one of those foods that you have a heck of a time resisting? I do, I LOVE fried pastries like apple fritters and old fashioned donuts. In celebration of #Choctoberfest, I decided to splurge my love of chocolate with my love of pastries. Baking instead of frying wasn’t a sacrifice in the case of my Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts, however!

Three chocolate baked donuts. One dusted with powdered sugar, and two glazed with chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles.

When I was a child, my grandmother would stop at a commercial bakery and buy day-old donuts. We loved those donuts and always dipped them in milk or coffee. I think dipping was required so they didn’t stick in our throats because they were dense and on the dry side.

A side view of half of a baked chocolate donut sitting on a wooden butter paddle. A whole donut sits in the background.

When it comes to chocolate, John and I love the good dark stuff. Milk chocolate doesn’t exist in our house. So my donuts had to taste rich with great chocolate. I also wanted these donuts to be tender, moist, and fluffy. Can donuts be fluffy?

Thrde baked donuts leaning in a row. The front donut is sprinkled with powdered sugar next to an antique sifter.

The morning I made these I shared the photo with some friends of ours that we had dinner with that evening. Guess what we had for dessert? Yep, Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts. Even though they were best right after I made them, they were still chocolatey, tender, moist and fluffy that evening!

Baked chocolate donuts on a white wooden background that have been glazed and sprinkled or just dusted with powdered sugar. A cooling rack of more donuts sits in the background.

If you’re a donut lover like me, here are a few recipes you may like

A stack of baked chocolate donuts sitting on an antique butter paddle. The top donut is glazed with chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles.

Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts with Chocolate Ganache

Author: Hostess At Heart
Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts are chocolatey, tender and fluffy. They’re great for breakfast but can also step in as dessert and baking didn’t sacrifice taste.
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes
Course Breakfast and Brunch
Cuisine American
Keyword: Baked Donuts, Chocolate Ganache, Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts
Servings: 10 donuts

Ingredients
  

Batter

  • 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder sifted
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanila
  • 1/2 cup canola oil

Ganache

  • 4 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray donut pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  • In a large mixing bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa and espresso. Whisk together to combine.
  • In a medium sized mixing bowl combine egg, egg yolk and buttermilk. Whisk to combine. Add oil and vanilla. Whisk again to combine.
  • Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
  • Fill a zip lock bag with the filling and clip the corner of the bag. Squeeze batter into donut pan until 3/4 full.
  • Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don’t over bake.
  • Let cool 5 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Ganache

  • Put cream in a glass measuring cup and microwave until hot in 30 second intervals. Pour over chocolate and stir until smooth. I put my chocolate in a small food processor, poured hot cream over the chocolate, and pulsed until smooth.
  • When cooled, dip into ganache. Sprinkle with desired toppings.

Nutrition

Serving: 10gCalories: 267kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 2gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 162mgPotassium: 104mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 200IUCalcium: 38mgIron: 1mg

Nutritional Disclaimer

This recipe was calculated using the exact brands and measurements I used to make this recipe. If you are following a strict diet please note changing anything will cause the nutritional info to change. My calculations are intended as a guide only.

Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

This post was previously shared with Fiesta Friday and Saucy Saturdays!

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Don’t have time to make them now? Pin it for later!

A two photo collage for Pinterest. The top photo is a stack of baked donuts with the top one glazed and topped with chocolate sprinkles. The bottom photo is three donuts glazed with chocolate and sprinkled with chocolate sprinkles. The title \"Baked Chocolate Donuts Recipe\" runs through the center.
Recipe Rating




Lolli

Wednesday 21st of February 2024

WOW these are/were delicious!I got 12 donuts from this recipe and cooked for 8 min. My husband gives them 2 thumbs up.Thank you for sharing . Can't wait to try your other recipes

Julie Menghini

Friday 23rd of February 2024

Thank you so much, Lolli! I can never turn down a delicious donut and chocolate anything is my favorite.

Mike

Tuesday 26th of May 2020

Who doesn't like doughnuts? The kids love to help bake them and then eat them

Cranberry Vanilla Baked Donuts Recipe - #CranberryWeek | Hostess At Heart

Wednesday 23rd of November 2016

[…] donut demon has been released.  Ever since I made the Dark Chocolate Baked Donuts recipe, I’ve been dreaming up other ways to show my once neglected donut pan some love.  This […]

Jenny | Honey and Birch

Monday 17th of October 2016

You had me at dark chocolate. And donuts.

Julie Menghini

Tuesday 18th of October 2016

Thank you Jenny! I'm a dark chocolate lover too!

Jennifer A Stewart

Sunday 16th of October 2016

I am a huge doughnut fan and we would get the day old ones from Krispy Kreme. I always ate mine with chocolate milk since we only had the plain glazed ones. I love baked doughnuts now since they remind me of the old fashioned ones and they are close in texture to the sour cream cake ones that are my absolute favorite of all time!! I have a baking pan for doughnuts, regular and mini, so I am going to give these a try!

Julie Menghini

Monday 17th of October 2016

Thank you Jen! I don't have the mini pan....hmmmm. I'd only used that pan once in over a year but it's getting a lot of love since I made those donuts.

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