Baked Banana Donuts

Baked Banana Donuts made with warm cinnamon and nutmeg and sweet, ripe bananas and dipped in a rich dark chocolate ganache! These banana donuts are baked, not fried making them easy to make any day of the week!

Tender, moist banana donuts made right in the oven and featuring hints of warm cinnamon and nutmeg and sweet banana flavor. These banana donuts are so flavorful they’ll make you glad some of your bananas have ripened on you! If you have even more bananas leftover, definitely make my all time favorite banana bread recipe!

I’m slowly but steadily adding to my baked donut recipe collection! If you love chocolate, these Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Cake Donuts are for you! For a brighter tasting treat, I love these Lemon Blueberry Cake Donuts are the perfect treat anytime of the day or year! For a super fall flavored donut, I love Ina Garten’s Cinnamon Baked Donuts!

To make baked donuts, you’ll need a donut pan. Donut pans are basically molds with holes in the middle which give your batter a donut shape. 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!

WHY MAKE BAKED DONUTS AT HOME

• They’re super easy to make! The batter is similar to but easier than a cake batter. No mixer is required and they bake up much faster. Also, unlike yeast doughnuts, no rising time is required.
• There’s almost no mess to clean up. Since these are baked, not fried, there’s no messy oil to clean up or deal with.
• They’re a little bit healthier. No oil not only makes them less messy, but also a little bit healthier.

HOW TO MAKE THIS BAKED BANANA DONUT RECIPE

1. PREPARE THE DONUT PANS:  Grease the donut pans well and set aside.
2. WHISK TO COMBINE THE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
3. COMBINE THE WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg, whisk together the egg and sugar til smooth and combined. Add the vanilla, milk or yogurt, mashed bananas and melted butter. Whisk this wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir til just combined. The batter will be pretty thick.
4. FILL THE DONUT MOLDS: 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.
5. BAKE AND COOL: Bake donuts 8-10 minutes then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing.
6. MAKE THE GANACHE: Make the ganache while the donuts are baking or cooling.
7. DECORATE THE DONUTS: Dunk the donuts in the ganache or spoon/drizzle it over the cooled donuts.

EASY DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE

I can attest to the fact that these donuts are delicious plain! That said, everything is more delicious with a chocolate glaze. This glaze is super simple and very similar to the rich, sweet ganache is from my Boston cream pie cupcake recipe. The only difference was that I used dark chocolate chips instead of semi sweet and I added a little vanilla and a pinch of salt.

To make the ganache, or chocolate glaze, simply pour hot heavy cream over a bowl of chocolate chips. Let it sit for three minutes then stir til smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

A FEW SUBSTITUTION OPTIONS

One of my favorite things about this recipe is the simplicity of the ingredients and the steps! If you find you’re missing a few ingredients, check out these substitution options to see if there’s anything you can swap in before making an extra trip to the store!

• Butter: I prefer melted butter for the flavor. Vegetable or canola oil is an easy swap for the butter.
• Milk: Lots of substitution options here including buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream.
• Nutmeg: I like the hint of nutmeg with the cinnamon. If you don’t have nutmeg, you can increase the amount of cinnamon to take its place.
• Dark chocolate chips: Swap in chopped dark chocolate or chopped semi sweet chocolate. Semi sweet chocolate chips can also be used.

Like most donuts, these donuts are at freshest and most flavorful if enjoyed the day they’re made. If you have any left after the first day, definitely store them in the fridge.

I hope you love the ease and deliciousness of these Baked Banana Donuts as much as I do! They’re tender, flavorful and so easy to make. I love them for dessert in the late summer or fall but have to admit they’re yummy any time of the day or year!

LOOKING FOR SOME MORE BANANA RECIPES, TRY MY:

• BANANA BROWNIES
• BANANA MUFFINS WITH PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• EASY BANANA SMOOTHIE RECIPE
• BLUEBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE

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