Hellooo mini donuts.
Hellooo gingerbread scents.
Hellooo Justin Beiber Christmas album. What?
Remember when I told you that this frosting was my life? I wasn’t lying. And good news! I’ve made it acceptable to eat it for breakfast. A soft, warm, spicy donut with smooth frosting? That’s a whole lot of pre-holiday cheer.
And the good news doesn’t stop there. Today there’s a giveaway for a mini-donut pan on Pinch of Yum’s Facebook page! Go.get.it.now.
Because seriously, this is the best possible thing you could whip up in 15 minutes (no, seriously) for your holiday company, and you need a mini-donut pan to do it.
Don’t have holiday company? Me either. And I’m just sayin, I’ve never had a problem with too many leftover mini-donuts.
- 1 cup flour (I used white whole wheat)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- pinch of allspice
- pinch of cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup brown sugar, divided
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons milk, divided
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients, using ¼ cup brown sugar and setting the rest aside.
- Whisk in moist ingredients, using 1 tablespoon milk and 2 tablespoons melted butter.
- Pour batter into a gallon-sized plastic bag and cut the corner off. Pipe the batter into a greased mini-donut pan, filling each donut space about ½ full (for me, this was about 22 mini donuts). Bake for about 7-8 minutes. Remove from oven and take each donut out of the pan.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter with ¼ cup brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and boil for about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon milk and bring back to a boil. Add powdered sugar, using the last tablespoon of milk to help thin out the frosting if needed. Keep over low heat (otherwise it will start to crystallize) and dunk each mini donut into the frosting. Frosting should set almost immediately.
PS. In case you wanted to know, the nutrition information is for 2 donuts. And in case you didn’t want to know, the nutrition information is for, um, 8 donuts.
PPS. I just had an incredible vision: early morning Black Friday insanity shopping, hearing the sweet sounds of Bieber Christmas at the mall, followed by pajamas and a heaping plate of at least 8 warm baked gingerbread mini donuts.
Wait – even better vision: shopping online in my pajamas, listening to my Bieber Christmas Pandora station, while eating at least 10 mini donuts and simultaneously donating to my favorite cause in the world. That’s for real, friendz! Check it out.
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My goodness those look good! Might have to be breakfast tomorrow.
Sounds like a good plan!
This post has made me realise that I need to buy a donut pan right this very second. And, um, that I might need to download the Bieber Christmas album.
Here’s the thing about Bieber Christmas – his voice got lower. It makes me a little sad, but I can deal with it, especially on a Christmas CD.
Ooh little Bieber’s growing up!
You had me at gingerbread. And combined with donuts, wow… I really need a donut pan. As in: NOW!
it just went up on facebook! go get it!
These look Delicious! Yes, with a capital D. I think I need a mini-donut man.
Actually, what I meant was mini-donut PAN, although, I guess a mini-donut “man” could be fun too. . . .
LOL – oh my word, a mini donut man would be awesome.
Those are beyond precious! I’d been thinking about getting a mini-donut pan but talked myself out of it since I already have a regular one. But, your donuts are rrrrreally convicing me otherwise.
I want a regular one to go with my mini one!
yum! i make a mini gingerbread muffin similar to this. can’t wait to try the donut form!
Mmm. Gingerbread Muffin. Yum!
Iiiii am in love with these little guys. They’re too stinkin’ cute. They’ll be even cuter as I’m eating them! Nom.
I am in love with that frosting. Can you tell?
These look so good. I’ve been holding out on the donut pan phenomenon, but I might have to give in for these.
Don’t be too cool. It’s totally worth selling out for.
Mmmm, these look amazing. How do you get the nutritional information for all your recipes?
This awesome tool! http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp Just make sure you create a free account, otherwise it doesn’t save anything that you’ve put in.
i need a donut pan! these look great.
Ok, I must get the Bieber Christmas cd, pronto!!! These look amazing!
Yes you must. Tis the season for Beliebing.
OMG! Totally can’t wait to buy the Beibs’ Christmas album! And, are you kidding me?! These look DIVINE!
I jammed out to “Mistletoe” all weekend. Love it.
OMG! TOTALLY making these!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I keep thinking that I really NEED a donut pan!! Going to enter!
Someone at work told me that the Bieber CD was actually good. I didn’t like how they could openly lie to me like that. Haha.. maybe bring it along with some of these donuts at Christmas and we can test them both out…
LOL about the Biebs CD. “Christmas” is turning into a giant Pinch of Yum buffet. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Oh boy… these look so good! and they are baked! I’m totally making these.
Yum
Gorgeous! I just love the holidays!
Ditto (as you can tell…)
These look amazing! I’ve been making regular donuts but haven’t made mini donuts yet. Just got my full size donut pan and am loving it.
Your recipe looks awesome!
Minis are the best! Although I am in the market for a full size one, too!
OMG. this looks amazing. props.
These look DELICIOUS! I can’t wait to try them! Do you think a donut pan is absolutely necessary or could you potentially free hand them?
It MIGHT work to free-hand them, if you had your hands really floured well or if you piped the donuts onto a cookie sheet? The batter is pretty thick, but it’s not like bread dough. I know there are lots of yeasted donut recipes around that are ideal for freehanding!
Love the mini doughnuts! So fun!
Lindsay, can we hang out?! I’m coming to MN for Thanksgiving and you’re hilarious and so fun! We can make these donuts and listen to Justin. He’s the best and so are you!
Oh my word, you are embarassing me Soo. But thanks.
Glad you agree that J. Biebs is where its at!
Are these not perfect or what? So adorable!
These look fantastic Lindsay!!! I am drooling on my keyboard – what perfect pictures…100% drool-worthy and definitely making me crave those mini gingerbread donuts! Plus the mini size makes them a must in my book since I feel like I could eat 3 or 4 instead of 1
Just made these for breakfast. OMG soooooooooooooo good. I don’t have a mini donut pan but I do have a regular sized donut pan so it made six BIG donuts with just enough glaze for all of them. Mmmmm. These are being made on Thanksgiving too. Yummmy!
Ohhhhh my. These in jumbo size would not be good for me. I think I would still eat three.
I love these little donuts! I need to make these this morning! I also like that you included the calories on them!
These look so yummy! I love gingerbread. I have been thinking about getting a mini cupcake pan for a while, but this just might be the thing to push me over the edge!
Do it, do it, do it!
This has solidified that I need to buy a donut pan-like TODAY! These look incredible! And what a fun treat for the morning after Thanksgiving (to fuel us for shopping
)!
Exactly!!
And the good news is that mini-donut pans are actually really cheap. I have a 10$ Norpro one.
Oh boy. These donuts went to the top of my make-for-breakfast list! Your pictures are absolutely amazing. I’ll be back to report how my donuts turned out.
Thanks! I hope they turned out deliciousssly!
OH MY!!! These are incredible!
Thanks Laurie!
These looks so good, I want to eat a whole plate of them!! Maybe with a tall glass of egg nog!
That is the best.idea.ever.
Hi. Just found your site and love it! Is there any substitution for applesauce in your Baked Gingerbread Mini Donuts? I don’t like the taste of it but the recipe looks wonderful.
Thanks,
Deb
You could just use melted butter!
WOWEEE! This look amazing! I can’t wait to get a mini donut pan and try them. On a side note, reading through the comments…the one about getting a “mini donut man” made me giggle out loud! let me know if anyone knows where I can get one of those
thanks for again for the recipe!
lol… a mini donut man sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
Just made these! YUM!
Yummmmmm. I wish I would have just made these, too! But they’re long gone!!
quite excited to come across your blog tonight via pinterest. one of my friends pinned these delish donuts and I cannot wait to make them for friends and family on Thanksgiving!! also, really looking forward to keeping up with your blog! looks seriously yummy:)
Thanks so much Crystal!
These are amazing!!! I baked a double batch and baked half as mini donuts and half in a mini scone pan. They turned out great in the scone pan, too! I will definitely be making these again. Thanks for the great recipe!
Mini Scone Pan????? Adding that to my wishlist!
PS: your math is WAY off and the nutrition information is for the entire batch. Truuuuust me, I’m a math wiz. I intend on making these and eating the entire batch.
lol!
Made these today. Delicious! I love the wheat flour with it.
Awesome!
That makes my day.
I just bought a mini donut pan for these!
Yes, they look that good. And it was time to finally invest in one. I’d much rather bake donuts than deep fry them.
Thanks for sharing!
Agreed! I’d say that was a worthwhile investment (they’re not that expensive, which is nice, too). Hope you like them!
Hi! You made these donuts on my birthday this year! What a coincidence!
Also, I made your donuts this weekend: http://lambentdream.blogspot.com/2011/12/baking-donuts-in-throes-of-dead-week.html
Fun! Thanks for sharing!
I made these and wrote about them here.
5 star recipe all the way!!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thanks.
Getting ready to make a triple batch of these to take for relatives over Christmas–am wondering if you’ve ever tried baking them and them freezing for a couple days? If so how did they turn out? Obviously I won’t frost them before freezing! Thanks!
No, I haven’t made them and frozen them, but I wonder if you could refrigerate the dough and then just bake them the day of? If not, I’m sure they’d still be delicious after freezing.
Just reheat in the oven and frost.. can’t go wrong with that frosting! 
Thanks! I can’t wait to try them!
So, I made these today for Christmas morning (tomorrow) and they are awesome but mine only made 12 (barely). Did I miss something? And yep, I double checked to make sure I was using the mini donut pan. LOL!
When I make these, I hardly fill each donut hole with any batter – like about 1-2 tablespoons, otherwise they overflow for me. The only other thing I can think of would be that when I made them, maybe I doubled my recipe and forgot to change the amounts? I’m glad you liked them and thanks for letting me know about that – I guess I’ll just have to make them again to double check that the amounts are accurate!
Merry Christmas!
Hmmm, well let me know. I think I used about 2 Tbls for each and they were the perfect size with no overflow. I have no problem doubling that recipe. I can tell you that there weren’t any leftovers with the first batch!
Weird. I’m glad you guys liked them anyways!
What kind of pan do you use/recommend? I saw a mention of the Norpro, but on Amazon, some reviewers said it had problems with the donuts sticking. Any recommendations? Also, do you have a regular size donut pan also?
I use a norpro mini and they don’t stick for me, as long as I spray it with nonstick spray! I don’t have a full size pan… But I sure wouldn’t be opposed to getting one!
I just realized that I never left feedback and I hate it when people do that so here I am a little late! Sorry. These were fantastic! I used normal whole wheat and they were just perfect. I can’t get over those pictures… they’re just amazing.
Thank you so much for the recipe!
I’m 61 and I say that Justin Beiber Xmas album rocks! Over the Xmas season it was nearly the only one I listened to. All my friends thought I was joking when I insisted they buy it and buy it now. Oh, and the donuts look amazing!
Thanks Mona! Go Beiber!!
I love this recipe, I know it’s not Christmas but i’m in the mood of baking this, So here I am mixing all the ingredients while cheking out your blog. I’m afraid that I still need to buy a donut pan but i’ll try my best!!
and i love that you put nutrition information on your recipes, it’s quite useful .(future dietitian here haha)
I’m a big fan of knowing the facts. Most of the time.
These look wonderful. I cant wait to try this recipe.
I thought I was doing good to find a regular size donut pan (xlnt condition) at a thrift shop. Now the challenge is on – to find a MINI donut pan at a thrift shop! Yeah – I could probably just go get one or find one on line, but what kind of a fun challenge is that?
I’m going to go ahead and try it in the regular pan, though. I’m always up for a challenge. They don’t call my kitchen the Culinary Experiment Station for nothing!
Even though the “gingerbread season” has definately passed by now, I’ve had these on my to-make list for a while, and I was reallly wanting to make them today. So, I did.
They were approved by many! Thank you so much for the recipe! & I loved how the frosting set pretty much immediately. I liked the look a lot better than some frosting recipes I’ve used. Thanks again!
Agreed! This frosting is my favorite!
Just found your blog on pinterest…these look so fabulous…YUM!
Thank you Tammy!
I made these into large muffins and they were incredible! I doubled the recipe for 12 large muffins and doubled the cook time. You don’t need to double the icing recipe since there was plenty. My whole family’s mouth was watering. This was an awesome Sunday breakfast!
Great idea!
These are absolutely delicious! And, they were very easy to make.
These look fabulous. Can you just please confirm that the maple syrup is for the batter, not for the glaze? Thank you!
Hello!
I would like to make these as gifts for the holiday, but my experience with doughnuts and frosting/glazes in ziplock bags has been kinda awful. The sprinkles usually bleed off into the icing, which melts and turns the doughnut all squishy. (And the bag just rested at room temperature!) Do you have a recommended way to packages these as gifts while keeping them as fresh as possible?
The glaze on these actually hardens really well and lasts a lot longer than traditional powdered sugar and milk glazes. I would let the frosting set and then just keep them in the fridge to make sure the glaze doesn’t melt off and then just gift them right away – within the first day or two. Also, with these, I would skip the sprinkles to avoid a melty mess or choose non-colored sprinkles.
Yum! Yum!
Is the nutritional information for ONE donut?
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Nutrition information is for 2 donuts.