These soft banana donuts are full of warm banana bread flavor and are topped with chocolate ganache. This easy recipe is made without a mixer and takes only 10 minutes to bake! They’re perfect for brunch or afternoon treat!
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Banana bread donuts have the warm flavor of banana bread in a fun donut shape. They bake up much faster than banana bread. You can bake them in less than 10 minutes!
This banana donuts recipe is a bit healthier than fried donuts. It’s also super quick and easy to mix them up by hand.
These donuts are full of banana flavor just like my spiced banana cake, banana and nutella cookies and banana bread recipe!
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Why We Love This Recipe
- You don’t need a mixer. These donuts bake in less than 10 minutes just like my peanut butter baked donuts!
- They’re baked, not fried. There’s no messy oil to clean up and they’re healthier than fried donuts. For more baked donut recipes without yeast, try my chocolate Oreo donuts and lemon baked donuts.
- Bananas add a warm flavor and natural sweetness just like they do in my banana strawberry cake recipe and banana brownies!
Ingredients
Below are useful notes on some of the ingredients for banana baked donuts.
- Brown sugar: Light or dark brown sugar. I prefer dark brown sugar for the flavor.
- Butter: Use melted unsalted butter.
- 1 egg: You’ll need 1 large, room temperature egg.
- 2 overripe bananas: Use 2 overripe bananas. Overripe bananas have brownish peels or peels with brown spots. They are soft, sweet and perfect for baking. Make sure to also try my banana nutella swirl bread and banana rhubarb muffins!
- Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet regular chocolate chips are used for the ganache.
- Heavy whipping cream or heavy cream: For the chocolate ganache topping.
Substitutions & Variations
- Use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. You can also swap in vegetable or canola oil in place of butter.
- Add some chopped nuts to the batter or sprinkle them over the ganache before it sets.
Step 1 (Photo 1 above): Whisk together the sugar and egg. Whisk in the mashed banana, melted butter and vanilla til smooth.
Step 2 (Photo 2 above): In a large bowl, whisk to combine the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients til just combined.
Step 3 (Photo 3 above): Pipe or spoon the batter into buttered donut pans between 2/3 and 3/4 full. Bake at 350 F for 8-9 minutes.
Step 4 (Photo 4 above): Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Step 5 (Photo 5 above): Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream in the microwave for about 40 seconds til hot, but not boiling. Pour hot cream over chocolate. DO NOT stir. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let it sit for 3 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
Step 6 (Photo 6 above): Drizzle the ganache over the cooled donuts or dunk the donuts in the ganache.
Expert Tips
Use the end of your whisk to mash the banana.
For best results, use a donut pan.
My donut pans make six donuts, so I have two pans. Having two makes it easier to bake the whole batch at the same time!
Use a fork, electric mixer, whisk, or potato masher to mash the banana.
Recipe FAQs
Donuts are best the day they’re made. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days or up to 1 week in the fridge.
Overripe bananas are best for baking. They will have brownish-black peels or brown spots on them. If they look too ripe to eat, they are perfect for baking.
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Banana Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
Banana Donuts
- 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) salt
- ½ cup (110 g) brown sugar light or dark, packed
- 1 (1) large egg room temperature
- 2 (2) medium overripe bananas mashed
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled, or vegetable oil
- ¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) vanilla
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅔ cup (120 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¼ cup (59.15 ml) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
Instructions
Banana Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease donut pans well with butter (preferable- for flavor) or nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar til smooth and combined. Add the bananas. Mash them with the end of your whisk til mashed. Whisk in the vanilla and melted butter. Whisk til smooth and combined.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula. Stir til completely combined but do not overmix.
- Use a piping bag or zip lock bag or spoon to fill the dough into the donut molds between 2/3 and 3/4 full.
- Bake 8-9 minutes until toothpick comes out dry or edges are lightly browned. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes then remove from pan and let donuts cool completely on wire rack.
Chocolate Ganache
- Place the chocolate chips in amedium sized heatproof bowl.
- Pour the heavy cream in a heat proof bowl. Microwave for about 40-45 seconds til very hot but not boiling.
- Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate chips. DO NOT STIR. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow mixture to sit for 3 minutes.
- Stir with a metal spoon til chocolate is completely melted and combined with the cream. Stir in the vanilla.
- Dip the cooled donuts in the glaze or drizzle the glaze over top. Set the donuts glaze side up on a cooling rack set over a sheet of parchment or wax paper to catch any drips. Allow glaze to set or enjoy right away!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Angela
Do you think I could substitute a flax egg to make these vegan friendly?
Natalie
Hi Angela! I haven’t baked with flax eggs and haven’t tried any substitutes with these, so unfortunately can’t say how these would be. Please let me know if you try it! Have a great day. -Natalie