This baked donut recipe is an easy Easter dessert that the kids can help make! After baking, follow these decorating tips to make them into spring chick and Easter bunny donuts using frosting.
For more easy Easter ideas, check out our printable Easter bunny sign set, 25 colorful and fun Easter decorating ideas, and 32 non-candy Easter basket ideas.
Easy Baked Donuts Recipe for Easter
This post contains affiliate links. Learn more and read our full disclosure policy here.
These homemade baked donuts are so easy that the kids can make them! All you need is a cake mix, butter, eggs, and milk. Then follow the decorating instructions below to frost your homemade cake donuts to be fluffy yellow spring chicks or classic white Easter bunny donuts.
No fancy decorating tools or skills needed! Just sprinkles, a #4 round decorator’s tip, a #3 round decorator’s tip, and disposable decorator bags.
How to Make Baked Donuts
To make baked cake donuts at home, you’ll need a donut pan. This pan set has a large donut pan and a mini donut pan, plus the piping bags and a spatula to make it easy!
Then just mix up the donut batter until smooth. Fill a large pastry bag and pipe the batter into the pans. (You can also use a large zipper plastic bag with a corner snipped off.)
One boxed cake mix will make 12-15 full sized baked donuts and about 24-30 mini donuts.
Want to make homemade donuts without a donut pan? Try this muffin tin donut hack: Roll a small cylinder of tin foil and place it in the center of a the well of a muffin tin. Grease the pan and the tin foil “donut hole”. Then pipe the donut batter around the cylinder and bake as usual.
More baked donut recipes from scratch: chocolate berry baked donuts // pistachio and cranberry baked donuts
How to Frost Baked Donuts
Homemade baked cake donuts are delicious with or without frosting — but we all know that kids love frosted donuts (with sprinkles!)
The key to frosting homemade donuts is dipping the donut into the frosting, rather than trying to spread the frosting on the donut.
Scoop half a can of frosting into a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 30 seconds. Stir the warmed frosting well to remove any chunks, and stir in any desired color food coloring.
Dip the top half of the cooled donuts in the frosting. Allow the excess to drip back into the bowl, shaking gently if needed. Turn the donut right-side up and shake gently side to side to level the frosting.
Set the donuts on a mesh cooling rack to allow the frosting to drip off the edges if needed. (A cookie sheet or wax paper under the cooling rack makes for quick cleanup.)
Each can of frosting will decorate about one batch of donuts, depending on how much frosting you use for the added decorations below. If you’re decorating with multiple colors of frosting, you’ll need about half a can for each color to have enough frosting to adequately dip the donuts.
We recommend this decorator food coloring set.
How to Decorate Easter Bunny Donuts
To frost an Easter bunny donut:
- Dip the donut in warmed white frosting. (Adding white food coloring will make the color extra vibrant.)
- Add a white sprinkle marshmallow tail and cut marshmallow ears with pink sprinkles.
- Finish with 2 mini chocolate chip eyes and a heart sprinkle nose.
Attach the tail, ears, eyes, and nose using the leftover warmed white frosting.
To make the sprinkle marshmallow tail, put a mini marshmallow on a toothpick and dip it in warmed frosting to coat all sides. Immediately dip the marshmallow into the white non-pareil sprinkles, roll to cover, and set aside to cool.
To make the cut marshmallow ears, cut one mini marshmallow in half diagonally. Immediately dip the cut part into a small bowl of pink sprinkles.
How to Decorate Spring Chick Donuts
To frost a spring chick donut for Easter dessert:
- Dip the donut in warmed frosting after adding yellow food coloring.
- Divide the remaining canned frosting into 3 small bowls and color them dark orange (for the beak and feathers) and 2 lighter shades of orange (for the feathers).
- Add colored frosting to piping bags, using a #3 round tip for the beak and #4 round tip for the feathers.
- Use 2 mini chocolate chip eyes, then pipe on the beak and feathers.
Cake Mix Baked Donut Recipe and Decorating Instructions
Cake Mix Baked Doughnuts for Easter
Ingredients
Baked Donut Ingredients
- ● 1 15.25 oz box Cake Mix - any flavor
- ● ½ cup 1 stick butter, melted and cooled
- ● 2 eggs room temperature
- ● 1 cup milk
Frosting and Decorations for Easter Bunny Donuts
- ● 1 can vanilla frosting - canned frosting works best
- ● White Food Coloring optional
- ● Mini Marshmallows
- ● Mini Chocolate Chips for eyes
- ● Pink Heart Sprinkle for nose
- ● White and Pink Nonpareil Sprinkles
Frosting and Decorations for Spring Chick Donuts
- 1 can vanilla frosting
- Mini Chocolate Chips for eyes
- Yellow and Orange Food Coloring
- Disposable Decorator Bags
Instructions
Baked Donut Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Coat doughnut pan with non-stick cooking spray AND wipe out excess with paper towel
- Mix all donut ingredients together until smooth
- Add batter to a disposable decorator bag or resealable bag
- Pipe batter into doughnut pan, filling ½ full
- Bake at 325 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the doughnut comes out clean
- Cool in pan for 10 minutes, remove and cool completely on wire rack
Frosting for Easter Bunny Donuts
- Add about ½ of the can of frosting to a microwave safe bowl
- Heat about 30 seconds
- Add white food coloring for a more vibrant frosting
- Add wire rack on top of baking sheet - to catch the drips
- Mix well, the consistency needs to be runny but not too runny or hot
- Turn doughnut upside down and dip top into the melted frosting
- Gently shake off excess
- Turn right side up and shake side-to-side to level frosting
- Place on wire rack until firm
Decorations for Easter Bunny Donuts
- Add white nonpareil sprinkles to a small bowl
- Add a mini marshmallow to a toothpick (for dipping) and dip into melted white frosting
- Immediately dip into sprinkles and set to dry
- Add pink nonpareil sprinkles to a small bowl
- Cut 1 mini marshmallow in half diagonally
- Immediately dip cut part into the sprinkles and set to dry
- For face - turn mini chocolate chip upside down and insert into doughnut for eyes
- Add a very small amount of frosting to the heart sprinkle and add to doughnut for nose
- Dip bottom of “tail” into frosting and add to doughnut
- Dip bottom of ears into frosting and add to doughnut
- Set aside to dry
Frosting and Decorations for Spring Chick Donuts
- Repeat frosting process as for bunnies, but coloring the frosting yellow
- To decorate - add a small amount of frosting into 3 bowls and color each with dark orange (for beak and feathers), and 2 shades of orange for feathers
- Add frosting to decorator bag fitted with a #4 tip for the feathers and #3 tip for the beak
- For face - turn mini chocolate chip upside down and insert into doughnut for eyes
- Pipe on beak with dark orange frosting
- Pipe on feathers
- Set aside to dry
More baked donut recipes:
Pin this to save it for later!
Leave a Reply