Enjoy these baked carrots cake donuts with a glass of milk. They are delicious fresh out of the oven or topped with a cream cheese frosting! These are perfect for an Easter brunch or the donut lover in your home.
I am excited to partner with Florida Milk on this post. As always opinions are 100% my own.tner
Donuts always make me think of my dad. Growing up he had a mustache and a love of powdered donuts. He often got caught after enjoying one because of the powdered sugar left on his mustache. When I was thinking about recipes to share with Florida Milk donuts were one of the first foods that came to mind. In addition to loving donuts my dad also believes that vegetables are best in desserts. Then it hit me I should make Carrot Cake Donuts in honor of my dad.
And I am so happy I did. These baked carrot cake donuts are so amazing. We had to make a second batch because the first batch disappeared before I could make the icing or take photos. Pair them with an ice cold glass of milk and you are set for a brunch or snack. Top them with cream cheese icing and you have the perfect dessert.
Baked Carrot Cake Donuts
These carrot cake donuts are so delicious. Talk about a yummy combination. I love that this recipe is a sneaky way to add in food that I want my family to eat like milk and carrots. I have shared before that my family LOVES milk. But I know other families are often times looking for creative ways to add in more dairy or vegetables. Speaking of milk did you read When Can a Baby Have Cow Milk?
Recipe for Bake Carrot Cake Donuts
Baked Carrot Cake Donuts
Ingredients
Donut
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup milk I used Florida Dairy
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups large carrots peeled, shredded and chopped about 2 carrots
- 2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch nutmeg
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature ½ package
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup powdered icing sugar
Instructions
Donuts
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease your donut pans.
- In a large bowl, stir together butter and oil.
- Then add sugar and whisk until combined.
- Then add milk, eggs, vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Stir in carrots.
- Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and nutmeg and stir until combined.
- Pipe batter into prepared pans, about ¾ full. Don't have a pipping bag simply put the batter into a large zip lock bag and cut a small hole in the bag.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth with a hand blender. At first it may not look like it is coming together, but give it time it will
- Once the donuts are cooled spread onto each donut. You can add other toppings if you would like.
- Serve with a glass of milk!
Video: How to Make Carrot Cake Donuts
What is a Cake Donut?
Did you know cake doughnuts first appeared in US cookbooks in the 1830s? This was around the same time that baking soda and baking powder first became commercially available.
Donuts come in two main versions, cake and yeast. According to Bon Appetit a yeast doughnut is made with yeasted dough. It’s puffy and light, maybe a little chewy, and has little or no sweetness without some sort of glaze or sugar coating. Cake donuts uses baking soda and baking powder making it more tender.
The big advantage of a cake doughnut is that the batter can come in all kinds of flavors like carrot cake, chocolate, pumpkin and lemon, whereas yeast doughnuts typically get most of their flavor from the glaze
Why Bake a Donut Instead of Frying it?
I am always looking for easy ways to still enjoy yummy treats. but also make healthier swaps. And since we have an air fryer and not a regular fryer I figured it was better to buy a donut pan instead of a fryer. This donut pan is so adorable with the different shapes.
How to Store Baked Carrot Cake Donuts
Chances are high that you will not have any leftovers because these donuts are amazing if you do store them in an air tight container. If you have added the icing you will need to put them into the refrigerator. If you leave with without icing, you are store them outside of the refrigerator.
The donuts may be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days or in the freezer up to 3 months.
Pin for Later: Baked Carrot Cake Donuts
