Simple Baked Carrot Cake Donuts with lots of cardamom and cinnamon, and an easy honey butter glaze! These Baked Carrot Cake Donuts are perfect for springtime brunches or holidays!
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So, I thought I would post these just in time for…. oh, wait. Easter was WEEKS ago. Oops.
The best laid plans.
I think I always feel so behind because I’ve actually baked pretty far ahead. If I were ever to catch up on posting recipes, I would then feel ridiculously behind. You know what I’m saying?
While these donuts are very late for Easter, I was assured that carrot cake recipes could still feel generally “springy.” Agreed.
Besides, are donuts EVER ill-timed? Nope. Never. Donuts are never, ever ill-timed. A carrot cake donut can be eaten any time of the year and it will ALWAYS be welcome. Because we are talking about DONUTS.
Too many capital letters in one post. Eek.
My undying love for donuts is well-documented and discussed all too often, but it did inspire these lovely Baked Carrot Cake Donuts when springtime hit. With lots of brown sugar, buttermilk to keep them fluffy and moist, fresh shredded carrots, and warm spices like cinnamon and cardamom, these are quite a tasty donut!
I’m all for traditional cream cheese frosting on anything carrot cake, but I thought that was maybe too expected and was hoping to think outside the box a little.
Initially, I was inspired to make a honey rum glaze for these carrot cake donuts after watching a Food Network special on some hip donut joint somewhere cool like NYC. That glaze was a big fat failure. I experimented with many different proportions of honey and rum and, frankly, they were all gross. Obviously, it’s me. Not them.
But when I mixed up a concoction of honey, powdered sugar, and melted butter = !!!
Dunking a perfectly spiced, soft, fluffy, Baked Carrot Cake Donut into a honey butter glaze? Donut heaven.
Some of the other carrot cake recipes on the blog, if you’re interested, are this Chocolate Carrot Cake and Pumpkin Carrot Cake. Those carrot cake recipes are both completely excellent. I love the fresh spin on classic carrot cake in both those recipes.
My #1 Easter recipe, not related to carrot cake, but if you’re looking for Easter recipes, check out these Easter Chicks Lemon Cookies or Easter Chick Cookies. They’re a little different from each other, but generally both are lemon cake mix cookies decorated easily as adorable chicks!!
Baked Carrot Cake Donuts with Honey Butter Glaze
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Donuts:
- 2 c. flour
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 1 c. buttermilk or sour milk
- 1 c. finely shredded carrots
Honey Butter Glaze:
- 3 tbsp. honey
- 3 tbsp. melted butter
- pinch of cardamom
- 2 c. powdered sugar
Instructions
For donuts:
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Coat 2 regular-sized donut pans with cooking spray. (Regular-sized donut pans typically have 6 cavities.)
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In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom.
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In another bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, and carrots.
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Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
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Pour batter into a gallon-sized ziploc bag, and snip off the corner of the bag.
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Pipe the batter into the baking pans, filling each donut cup about 3/4 full.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then flip the pans over and tap the donuts out onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
For glaze:
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In a small bowl, combine honey, butter, cardamom, and powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth.
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To glaze the donut, dunk the donut into the bowl of glaze, covering about 2/3 of the donut. Allow the excess glaze to run off.
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Place the donuts back on the wire rack to set for about 10-15 minutes before eating. Enjoy!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice says
April 29, 2015 at 6:43 amOh these donuts look just perfect, Sarah! I’ve never had a carrot cake kind before, so these are just calling my name. And that honey butter glaze? Genius! Sounds delish!
Sarah says
May 1, 2015 at 5:09 pmThanks so much, Gayle! 🙂
mira says
April 29, 2015 at 12:13 pmLove homemade donuts Sarah! These look gorgeous!
Sarah says
May 1, 2015 at 5:10 pmMe too. I’m hooked on making donuts from scratch!! Thanks, Mira! 🙂
Amanda says
April 29, 2015 at 10:36 pmI want one of these donuts! They look absolutely delicious!!!
Sarah says
May 4, 2015 at 9:07 pmThank you!
Stacey @ Bake.Eat.Repeat. says
April 30, 2015 at 12:07 amYum, I need to make doughnuts more often. these look amazing! And carrot cake is definitely fine any time of year, especially in doughnut form!
Sarah says
May 4, 2015 at 9:07 pmI love carrot cake desserts!!
Jen says
May 8, 2015 at 11:59 amI don’t know how I missed these! They are gorgeous. And the flavors are phenomenal. Pinning and I hope they get a lot of repins!
Sarah says
May 8, 2015 at 6:34 pmAww, thanks girl! You are so sweet!! 🙂 TGIF!
Mark says
January 28, 2016 at 8:24 pmMy glaze ended up seizing and being very stiff. Had to use a couple tablespoons of milk to thin it out to a glazing consistency.
Stephanie says
January 11, 2017 at 7:58 pmMine too. I added at least 3 tablespoons of cream.
Sarah says
January 12, 2017 at 12:49 pmThanks for your feedback. I’ll retest the recipe again in the next week or two.
Stephanie says
January 11, 2017 at 7:57 pmNot sure how your donuts look like this. It was very spongy and the glaze was NOT a glaze. I as well, added multiple tablespoons of milk to get it anywhere near a glaze consistency.
Sarah says
January 12, 2017 at 12:50 pmThanks for your feedback. I’ll retest the recipe, but have made it a few times without issue. I do appreciate you letting me know!
Cindy @ A Uniquely Edible Magic says
August 26, 2018 at 7:12 amIs it strange that I like baked doughnuts more than the fried ones? And the carrot cake flavour sounds wonderful! Love this idea 🙂
Sarah says
August 26, 2018 at 8:35 pmNo! I think both kinds of donuts are awesome, and I think I might actually like baked ones better too. 😉