Baked Red Velvet Donuts with Cream Cheese Icing

We try to bake at least one sweet treat for every holiday and since we love donuts, and we love red velvet, it seemed appropriate that this year we share our favorite baked red velvet donuts recipe for Valentine’s Day this year. It also finally gave me a reason to use my mini fluted cake pan! I guess technically, this would make these mini cakes, but they are small and round with a hole in the center so I won’t tell if you don’t tell!

Obviously in order to make this recipe, you’ll need a donut pan (or in my case, a mini fluted cake pan) of some sort. I also found this donut pan set on Amazon that seems to have excellent reviews if you need one quickly. No matter which one you choose, make sure to read the directions so you know how much you should fill each section before baking. They may differ. Most will require you to grease them well so that your donuts come out easily. I use this avocado oil spray which works beautifully and is a healthier alternative to vegetable oil and butter!

What I love most about these baked red velvet donuts are that they are baked and not fried. You won’t miss the oil, I promise! These donuts come out so moist and delicious and the cream cheese icing provides the exact about of sweetness to balance out the flavors. If you aren’t a fan of cream cheese icing, you’ll be pleased to know that you can’t even taste the cream cheese in this one! Even my youngest daughter thought it was vanilla.

To add the icing, you can use a piping bag or similar tool. If the icing is a little too runny for your liking, you can always stick our cooling rack and donuts in the freezer for a few minutes and it will help it solidify.

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5 from 9 votes

Baked Red Velvet Donuts with Cream Cheese Icing

Similar consistency to a small cake, these red velvet donuts are baked, not fried. Drizzled cream cheese icing provides exactly the right amount of sweetness. These are perfect for Valentine's Day.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Keyword: desserts, family, kid friendly, valentine's day

Servings: 6 donuts

Equipment

• Donut Baking Pan
• Electric Mixer
• Piping bag or Similar Decorating Tool

Ingredients

Red Velvet Donuts

• butter or oil for greasing pan
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2½ tbsp butter melted
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp red food coloring liquid

Cream Cheese Icing

• 3 oz cream cheese room temperature
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 drops red food coloring (liquid) optional
• decorating sugar or sprinkles optional

Instructions

Red Velvet Donuts

• Melt butter (do this first so that you have time for it to cool down).
• Preheat oven to 350° and grease donut baking pan.
  
• In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined.
  
• In a smaller bowl, combine melted butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla and whisk until combined.
  
• Fold the wet mixture into the dry, making sure not to over mix.
• Add food coloring and stir until evenly distributed.
  
• Spoon your batter into each donut pan evenly, filling each one approximately 1/2 way.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes. This will depend on your pan. Mine takes 15 minutes. I recommend checking it at 10 minutes. Press lightly on the donut with the back of a spoon. If it's ready, it should spring back. If not, put it back into the oven for a little bit longer.
• Let the baked donuts sit for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack to complete the cooling process.

Cream Cheese Icing

• Using an electric mixer, on medium-high speed, combine cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth.
• Lower the mixer to low and gradually add in the powdered sugar.
• Once combined, add the milk. You can adjust the amount of milk depending on how thick you want your icing. The more milk, the runnier it will be.
• If you'd like the icing to be pink, add in your food coloring and mix on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes.
• Once you're happy with the consistency of your icing, add it to your piping bag or decorating tool and drizzle over your donuts. You can also finish them off with sprinkles or decorating sugar.

We hope you love this baked red velvet donut recipe as much as we do. Don’t forget to check out all of our other family-friendly recipes!

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XOXO