These Homemade Mini Powdered Donuts are light and fluffy inside with a sweet coating of powdered sugar on the outside. They're made in about 30 minutes with just 12 simple ingredients!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love These Homemade Mini Powdered Donuts
- Baked, not fried! These mini powdered donuts are baked, instead of fried, for a lighter take on the classic treat. Check out these dinosaur chicken nuggets and smiley potatoes for more healthier, baked (not fried) childhood favorites!
- Super nostalgic! These mini powdered donuts bring me back to childhood where I could easily polish off a large bag of store-bought ones in one sitting, complete with a powdered sugar smile and sugar dust all over my clothes!
- So easy! With just a few basic ingredients and 20 minutes of prep time, these mini powdered donuts can be ready to eat in just about 30 total minutes.
- No complicated kitchen tools! You don't even need a stand mixer to make these homemade donuts. Just a few mixing bowls, mini donut pans, and your oven will do!
Ingredients
A few notes about the ingredients:
- All Purpose Flour: All purpose flour is the best for this recipe because it helps the donuts retain their structure, while remaining soft and fluffy.
- Milk: I used whole milk, but any milk or plant based milk should work.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds some moisture to the donuts. If you don't have sour cream, plain greek yogurt should work well too.
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg: Both add light flavor and spice to the dough. I kept them minimal in this recipe so they closely resemble the store-bought ones, but you can add more if you prefer.
- Powdered Sugar: Perfect for coating the outside of the donuts and giving them that classic powdery look. It can also be called "confectioner's sugar" depending on the brand.
⭐️ See recipe card below for descriptions and quantities of each ingredient. Then, watch this brief tutorial on Instagram!
Instructions
- Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 mini donut pans (for total 24 donuts) with nonstick spray.
- Step 2: In a large bowl, add egg, sour cream, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
- Step 3: Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully combined.
- Step 4: Spoon mixture into a zip top bag or piping bag. Cut off the corner of the bag. Use the bag to pipe the batter into the donut cavities of the pan.
- Step 5: Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the donuts spring back when touched.
- Step 6: Add powdered sugar to a bowl. Working with one donut at a time, add a donut to the powdered sugar and lightly toss it around to coat on all sides. Repeat with remaining donuts.
⭐️ Tip: Don't overfill the donut pans! You want to just fill them ¾ of the way up so they still resemble donuts after they rise.
Substitutions and Alterations
- Sour Cream - If you don't have sour cream, use plain greek yogurt instead.
- Milk - I used whole milk, but any milk should work just the same. Plant based milks should work well too.
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg - Both are great warm spices that add subtle flavor to the donuts. However, you can use pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice for a more robust flavor or omit the nutmeg if you like simpler flavors.
How to Store Homemade Mini Powdered Donuts
To store: Store plain mini powdered donuts in an airtight container on your counter up to 3 days. Coat in powdered sugar just before serving.
To freeze: These donuts can be frozen without the powdered sugar up to 6 months.
To defrost: Defrost frozen mini donuts on your counter overnight. Then, coat in powdered sugar just before serving.
Top tip!
If you're not planning on eating the donuts right away, don't coat them all in the powdered sugar. Because of the moisture in the donuts, the powdered sugar gets absorbed if left to sit on the donuts too long.
Instead, coat the donuts in the powdered sugar just before serving and leave any remaining donuts uncoated until ready to eat.
Recipe FAQs
The exterior of the donuts is lightly moist after baking, which helps the powdered sugar stick to them. You may need to roll them in the sugar a few times to get it to stick.
I don't recommend adding any other moisture (like melted butter or milk) to the exterior because the powdered sugar will absorb it and make the outside of the donuts sticky instead of powdery.
I recommend using the mini donut pans, but if you don't have any or don't want to purchase them, you can use mini muffin pans instead!
The process and bake time should be fairly similar, but you may need to add a few more minutes if you fill the muffin pans with batter higher than you would the donut pans.
Related Recipes
Looking for more dessert recipes? Try these:
Share your cooking with me! If you make this recipe, I'd love to know. Leave a comment with a rating at the bottom of this page!
Homemade Mini Powdered Donuts
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup milk, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 mini donut pans (for 24 donuts total) with nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, add egg, sour cream, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully combined.
- Spoon mixture into a zip top bag or piping bag. Cut off the corner of the bag. Use the bag to pipe the batter into the donut cavities of the pan.
- Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the donuts spring back when touched.
- Add powdered sugar to a bowl. Working with one donut at a time, add a donut to the powdered sugar and lightly toss it around to coat on all sides. Repeat with remaining donuts.
Notes
- If you're not planning on eating the donuts right away, don't coat them all in the powdered sugar. Because of the moisture in the donuts, the powdered sugar gets absorbed if left to sit on the donuts too long. Instead, coat the donuts in the powdered sugar just before serving and leave any remaining donuts uncoated until ready to eat.
- Don't overfill the donut pans! You want to just fill them ¾ of the way up so they still resemble donuts after they rise.
Nutrition
Want more recipes like this delivered right to your inbox? Be sure to subscribe above and never miss a thing!
Curtis says
I’m 12 years old and I used this recipe in a mini donut maker. Recipe turned out the right consistency and easy to pour. When they were done, they were both good with and without the powdered sugar. This recipe was way better than the recipe that came with the donut maker. Amazing recipe!
Alana Lieberman says
Hi Curtis! I'm so glad you enjoyed these donuts. And wow 12 years old! So kind of you to leave a review and tell me about your experience. I hope you try some other recipes on my blog and let me know if you have any questions 🙂