These soft, baked Orange Donuts are made with fresh orange zest and olive oil and coated in cinnamon sugar. Ready in about 30 minutes, they’re a delicious breakfast treat that everyone will love!
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
When I created these donuts, I wanted cozy and fresh in one bite. The cinnamon sugar coating gives that warm fall feel like my apple cider cookies recipe and snickerdoodle cookie bars. Fresh orange zest and olive oil add a bright Mediterranean flavor just like my orange cardamom olive oil cake.
They’re simple but a little unexpected. Easy to make, but they taste like they came from a bakery. Perfect for breakfast, a snack, or an easy dessert just like these lemon blueberry cake donuts and lemon donuts.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
- The olive oil is fragrant, flavorful and adds so much moisture, just like in my lemon olive oil rosemary cake.
- Fresh orange juice and zest make these donuts so fresh tasting and delicious.
- The cinnamon sugar coating will remind you of apple cider donuts!
- This recipe uses basic baking ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry and fridge.
- These donuts are made without yeast. They don’t need time to rise and only take 30 minutes to make!
- Baked, not fried.. This makes them a little healthier like my chocolate cake donuts. It also makes clean up much easier!
Ingredient Notes
Below is some useful information about some of the ingredients.
- Extra virgin olive oil makes these donuts moist and adds a fruity flavor. For milder flavor, use regular olive oil instead of extra virgin. You can use melted butter or olive oil to coat the baked donuts. For more olive oil desserts, try my olive oil chocolate chip cookies and blood orange olive oil cake!
- Use granulated sugar and light brown sugar for best flavor. Make sure your brown sugar is fresh.
- You’ll need 1 large room temperature egg.
- The zest of about one medium orange and juice of about a half an orange adds lots of fresh citrusy flavor.
- Ground cinnamon in the batter and in the coating adds a delicious warm flavor.
See complete recipe for complete list of ingredients and their measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
Swap in vegetable oil in place of olive oil. The donuts will bake up nice and moist but without the olive oil flavor.
Lemon juice and zest could be used in place of orange.
How to Make Orange Donuts
Quick Video Recap
wprm-recipe-video]
Instructions
Step 1: Whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
Step 2: In a medium sized bowl, combine the sour cream, milk, egg, olive oil, orange juice and orange zest.
Step 3: Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir only until completely combined.
Step 4: Spoon or pipe the batter 3/4 full into greased donut pans. Bake at 350 9-11 minutes. Stir to combine the cinnamon and sugar while the donuts bake.
Step 5: Cool 5 minutes in pans. Invert pans over a cooling rack. While donuts are warm, brush with olive oil then coat with cinnamon sugar.
Step 6: Set donuts on cooling rack to cool.
Expert Tips
- Weigh your flour or spoon it into the measuring cup and level it with the back of a knife. Avoid dredging your measuring cup in the flour. This will cause you to use more flour than needed.
- Grease your donut pans well to make it easy to remove the donuts from the pans. Use baking nonstick spray, melted butter or olive oil to grease your donut pans. Sprinkle them with flour.
- Use two donuts pan to bake all 10 donuts at once. If you only have one donut pan, bake two batches. Allow pan to cool between batches then wash, dry and grease it.
- Brush donuts with oil and coat with cinnamon sugar while they’re still warm.
Recipe FAQs
I highly recommend using a donut pan for baked donuts. I have only made baked donuts using a donut pan. I use two of these nonstick Wilton pans.
Baked donuts are healthier than fried donuts. They are baked in the oven and not fried in oil. They are a dessert, but they are healthier than fried donuts.
Yes. Olive oil adds a fruity flavor to these donuts. It’s not overpowering because you can also taste the orange and cinnamon.
Yes. You can swap in vegetable oil in place of olive oil.
These orange donuts taste best when eaten the day they’re made. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Baked Orange Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon plus more for the cinnamon sugar-see below
- ¼ cup (55 g) light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (76 g) sour cream room temperature
- ¼ cup (59 ml) whole milk room temperature
- ¼ cup (59 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) orange zest
- 2 tablespoons (29 ml) orange juice freshly squeezed
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 2 tablespoons (44 ml) extra virgin olive oil for brushing
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup (66 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease about nine cavities of a donut pan with olive oil, baking spray or butter. Lightly sprinkle some flour over them. Flip pans over and top bottoms of the pans to remove excess flour.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, sugars, salt and cinnamon. Set aside
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk to combine the olive oil, sour cream, milk, orange juice, orange zest and egg.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir til just combined. Transfer mixture to a piping bag or medium zip lock bag then snip off a corner and pipe dough into donut pans. Fill about 3/4 full. Alternatively, you can use a spoon to spoon the batter in. Bake 9-11 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a donut. Allow to cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn donuts out onto a baking rack. Brush each donut with olive oil while the donuts are still warm then toss in the cinnamon sugar to coat. Place donuts on a cooling rack as you continue to coat them all with cinnamon sugar.
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- While the donuts are baking, stir to combine the cinnamon and sugar in a shallow dish or bowl.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Nupur
This recipe was so delicious! It had the perfect about of sweetness and subtle orange/olive oil flavor. Loved it and highly recommend!
Natalie
Hi Nupur, I’m so happy you enjoyed these donuts! Thank you so much for making them and for taking the time to comment. Wish you a great day!!
Dave
Your recipe sounds fantastic. But, won’t orange zest discolor the donut wells of the baking pan permanently? I would love to try this recipe.
Natalie
Hi Dave, Thank you for the compliment! The orange zest doesn’t discolor the donut wells. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you enjoy the donuts!
Barbara Ward
Such yummy and delicious looking donuts with orange juice as a main ingredient!
Natalie
Thank you! I was looking for a delicious orange donut recipe, so I made these! They turned out so good!