I love wild blueberries and rightfully so since I live only an hour from the blueberry capital of Canada! Until now, I’ve stuck with traditional recipes like blueberry chocolate chip muffins and blueberry white chocolate scones. I also have to mention my Nova Scotia blueberry grunt—it’s one of the most popular recipes on my site.
I’ve been wanting to play around a bit more, so let me introduce you to a less traditional but totally delicious new recipe—blueberry cake donuts! With a sweet blueberry glaze, these cute little oven-baked donuts are not just pretty, they’re also loaded with real wild blueberry flavor.
This is a cake donut recipe, so the batter is similar to cake batter and the donuts are baked in the oven; There is no yeast used, and the donuts are not fried. The only special tool you really need is a standard 6-hole donut pan, often available at stores like Marshalls, Target, or Walmart; I use this Wilton non-stick 6-hole baking tin. I really hope you enjoy this pretty and delicious little start to the day!
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💞 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
✔️ Oven-baked donuts mean a deep fryer isn’t required.
✔️ The donuts look super adorable AND they’re a cinch to make.
✔️ No waiting for yeast to rise. Just mix, pipe, and bake!
📋 Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Wild Blueberries—you can use fresh or frozen blueberries but check the recipe notes because they weigh different amounts.
- Frozen Wild Blueberries—will turn the donut batter purple. The more thawed the berries are the more vibrant the purple will be.
- Fresh Wild Blueberries—will not stain the batter the same way frozen berries do.
It’s important to note when making substitutions in recipes, the texture and flavor may be slightly different. However, these substitutes are the best options if you are looking to change the original recipe.
Ingredients Substitutions
- Butter—can be substituted with margarine.
- Whole Milk—you can use skim, 1%, or 2% milk in place of whole milk, however, the donut crumb may not be as tender after baking.
- Vanilla—almond extract is a nice replacement for vanilla extract.
🎬 Recipe Video
Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of this post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the PRINTABLE recipe card with ingredient measurements and complete instructions.
👩🍳 How To Make Blueberry Cake Donuts
STEP 1—melt the butter and then add the sugar, milk, egg, and vanilla. Whisk smooth.
STEP 2—sift in the flour and add the baking powder and salt. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until the flour is mixed in halfway.
STEP 3—add the blueberries and fold gently until no dry bits of flour remain.
STEP 4—spoon the batter into a piping bag. Pipe the batter evenly between the six donut cavities.
STEP 5—use a wet fingertip to smooth the top of each of the blueberry cake donuts.
STEP 6—bake for 13 to 15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.
STEP 7—once cool, make the glaze. Mix together blueberry juice, vanilla, and powdered sugar until smooth.
STEP 8—spoon the glaze over all six donuts until gone.
🗣 Expert Tips
1. If you don’t have a piping bag, snip the corner from a large plastic zip-top bag and use it instead.
2. Try adding lemon zest to the batter.
3. If you don’t want glaze, toss the donuts in cinnamon sugar while still slightly warm.
📝 Recipe Notes
- ¾ cup of fresh wild blueberries weighs approximately 120 grams.
- Fresh berries will not stain the donut batter purple the way frozen berries will.
- Baked blueberry donuts are best the day they’re made which is why the recipe only makes 6 donuts.
- The glaze will melt and run if the blueberry cake donuts don’t have a bit of air in storage. You can try small parchment paper squares in between the donuts to help prevent this.
🙋♀️ Recipe FAQ
Most baked donut recipes are similar to cake batter, usually with a bit less butter and liquid. Fried donuts are almost always made with yeast or leavened with an active sourdough starter, which adds stability to the dough to withstand frying.
There are two reasons baked donuts may be dry. First, not enough fat in the recipe. Try adding more butter or oil. And second, nothing on top to keep moisture in. This is where glazes and frostings come in—they taste delicious, and they also help retain moisture.
No not really. Even though they’re not cooked in hot oil, cake donuts are still full of fat and sugar which is why they taste so good.
🫐 More Great Berry Recipes
Did you make these blueberry cake donuts? Please rate the recipe and tell me how it went in the comments below. Also, stay in touch with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to see more delicious food and recipes!
🖨 Recipe
Blueberry Cake Donuts
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or digital kitchen scale
- 6-hole donut tin
- Piping bag or large zipper top bag with one corner snipped off
- Round piping tip such as Wilton 1A
- Microwave-safe mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Fine mesh sieve
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing the donut tin
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup wild blueberries, plus 2 tablespoons, see recipe notes
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar, also called icing sugar or confectioners sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly grease a 6-hole donut tin with melted butter and fit a medium-large piping bag with a large round tip. Set aside.
- Add the butter to a large, microwave safe mixing bowl. Heat the butter until melted, about 20 to 30 seconds.
- Add the sugar, milk, egg, and vanilla to the butter. Whisk smooth.
- Use a fine mesh sieve to sift the flour into the bowl. Add the baking powder and salt. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until the flour is mixed in about halfway.
- Add the blueberries. Continue to fold the donut batter gently until the blueberries are evenly distributed, and no dry bits of flour remain. If using frozen blueberries, the batter will probably turn purple.
- Spoon the donut batter into the prepared piping bag. Pipe one full circle of batter neatly into each of the 6 donut holes. Pipe any remaining batter evenly amongst the 6 donuts, then use a wet fingertip to smooth the top of the batter of each donut.
- Place the donut pan in the preheated oven and bake the donuts for 13 to 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the donuts on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Gently turn the donuts out onto the rack to cool completely before glazing.
- To glaze the donuts, heat the blueberries for 15 to 20 seconds in a small microwave safe bowl. Mash the warmed berries with a fork, then press them through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve any juice and discard the solids.
- Sift the powdered sugar into a second bowl and add the vanilla. Add blueberry juice by the ½ teaspoon, stirring well between each addition, until the glaze is runny, but still quite thick, about the consistency of honey. Spoon the glaze evenly over each cooled donut—there is enough glaze for all 6 donuts. Let the glaze set for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- ¾ cup of fresh wild blueberries weighs approximately 120 grams.
- Fresh berries will not stain the donut batter purple the way frozen berries will.
- Baked blueberry donuts are best the day they’re made which is why the recipe only makes 6 donuts.
- The glaze will melt and run if the donuts don’t have a bit of air in storage. You can try small parchment paper squares in between the donuts to help prevent this.
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