Sometimes, a donut craving hits hard. You know the feeling – that urge for a soft, pillowy donut hole with a crunchy cinnamon-sugar coating. But who wants to deal with a whole deep-frying situation or a massive batch of leftovers? Not me!
That’s where these Mini-Batch Baked Donut Holes come in. They’re quick, easy, and perfectly portioned for those moments when you just need a little something sweet.
Plus, they’re incredibly versatile. I wrote the recipe with apple butter, but you can make them with applesauce, mashed banana, pumpkin puree, or even sweet potato! The possibilities are endless.
The Secret to Mini-Batch Magic:
The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity. A simple batter, a few pantry staples, and a mini muffin tin are all you need to create these delightful little bites. And because we’re keeping it mini-batch, you’ll end up with just six donut holes – perfect for satisfying your craving without the temptation of leftovers.
Flavor Flexibility:
I’ve made these with both apple butter and mashed banana, and both versions were fantastic. The banana ones were slightly less sweet, which I actually preferred.
But if you have a serious sweet tooth, and don’t want to get a whole jar of apple butter for this mini recipe, feel free use mashed banana or applesauce and add a bit of sugar or your favorite granulated sweetener to the batter.
These mini-batch baked donut holes are the perfect treat for any time of day. They’re great for breakfast, snacks, or even dessert. So go ahead, give them a try! You won’t be disappointed.
Let me know if you give the recipe a try!
PS, this recipe was inspired by these lovely baked apple cider donuts.
Mini-batch Baked Donut Holes
Equipment
- (Mini) muffin pan
Ingredients
Cake batter
- 1/4 cup apple butter (60 g) sub ripe banana, pumpkin puree or applesauce
- 1 tbsp (plant) butter, melted (14 g) sub oil, nut/seed butter or even yogurt
- 1 tbsp (nut) milk (15 g) I used unsweetened almond milk
- pinch of salt, drop of vanilla
- 1/4 cup flour (30 g) gf all purpose if desired, can sub half of this for vanilla plant-based protein powder such as ALOHA
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
Cinnamon sugar coating
- 1 tbsp (plant) butter, melted (14 g) you can sub coconut oil
- 2 tbsp sugar (24 g)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease or line a mini muffin pan with liners.
- Mix apple butter, butter, milk, pinch of salt, drop of vanilla until combined.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and fold into the wet mixture (do not overmix). Transfer to muffin pan.
- Bake about 15 minutes until centers are done, cool completely.
- In a small bowl melt your butter. In a separate bowl whisk your sugar and cinnamon. Dip each muffin in the melted butter (i just forked them at the bottom and dipped) and immediately dip in the cinnamon sugar, coating as much as possible.
- Let this coating set and enjoy!!
Notes
- You can sub half or even all of the flour in this recipe for plant-based protein powder such as ALOHA which is my favorite. Use my ALOHA referral link to save on their products: https://aloha.com/MINIBATCH
I made mine with banana, I absolutely loved them. I want to try with pumpkin and apple as well, so tasty and easy.
Hi Bea! i was JUST yesterday thinking about making these with pumpkin haha they have been my daily treat but I keep running out lol. so glad these hit the spot for you, keep me posted! 🙂