White Chocolate Donuts Recipe

These white chocolate donuts are soft baked cake donuts, scented with a little nutmeg and dipped in a thick white chocolate glaze. One batch makes 12 donuts in about 32 minutes at 350°F (175°C). The glaze is 1½ cups of white chocolate melted with just 3 tablespoons of heavy cream, so it clings to the top and sets instead of soaking in.

No frying and no yeast. You stir two bowls together, pipe the batter into a donut pan, bake for 10 to 12 minutes, and dip once they are cool.

One Batch at a Glance

• Makes: 12 baked donuts
• Time: 20 minutes prep, 10 to 12 minutes in the oven, about 32 minutes in total (plus cooling before glazing)
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), greased donut pan
• Glaze: 1½ cups (225 g) white chocolate and 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• Texture: light, cakey crumb with an ivory glaze that sets smooth
• Storage: airtight at room temperature for up to 2 days once glazed

What Goes Into the Batter and the Glaze

The batter is a plain cake donut base: 2½ cups (315 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ cup (100 g) sugar, with 2 eggs, ¾ cup (180 ml) whole milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 tablespoons melted butter and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. The butter gives flavor. The oil keeps the crumb soft the next day, when butter alone would firm up.

The ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg is optional, but it is the smell people know from bakery cake donuts. A pinch of cinnamon works instead if that is what you have. All the white chocolate goes into the glaze, so the donuts themselves are vanilla, and the glaze carries the white chocolate flavor.

Mixing, Piping and Baking the Donuts

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease the pan well, including the center posts, where donuts like to stick. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and sugar in a large bowl.

In a second bowl, beat the eggs, milk, vanilla, melted butter and oil until smooth. Fold the wet mix into the dry with a spatula and stop as soon as you see no dry flour. The batter is thick, more like soft muffin batter than pancake batter. Extra stirring builds gluten and gives you tough, bready donuts.

Spoon the batter into a piping bag, or a zip top bag with a corner snipped off, and fill each cavity about ¾ full. Go any higher and the batter rises over the post and closes the hole. Most donut pans hold 6, so you will bake in two rounds. Let the pan cool, grease it again, and pipe the rest.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They are done when the tops spring back under a light press and a toothpick comes out clean. Leave them in the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. A muffin pan works if you have no donut pan; the shape changes, so check with a toothpick rather than the clock.

The Glaze Ratio: 1½ Cups White Chocolate to 3 Tablespoons Cream

That is roughly 5 parts chocolate to 1 part cream by weight. A pourable ganache uses far more cream. This one is closer to melted chocolate with a little give, which is why it stays on the top of a donut, does not run down the sides, and sets ivory white and smooth. If you came here for a white glazed donut, this is the white chocolate version of it.

Put the chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl. Melt over a pot of barely simmering water, with the bowl not touching the water, or in the microwave at half power in 15 to 20 second bursts, stirring after each one. Stop heating while a few small pieces are still visible and stir until they melt. The glaze should be glossy and fall from a spoon in a thick ribbon. If it is too stiff to dip, stir in warm cream a teaspoon at a time.

White Chocolate Chips or a Chopped Bar?

Both are on the card, and both work. Chips are made to hold their shape in cookies, so they melt thicker and set a little more matte; plan on that extra splash of cream. A good white chocolate bar, chopped fine, melts more fluid and shinier and needs less help. Check the label either way: you want cocoa butter in the ingredients, not only vegetable oil, or it will taste waxy.

Dipping, Drizzling and Gold Flakes

Hold each cooled donut by the sides, dip the top into the glaze, lift, and let the extra drip back for a few seconds before turning it right side up. Set it on the rack. Add sprinkles, white chocolate curls, chopped white chocolate or edible gold flakes while the glaze is still wet, or they will not stick.

For a drizzle, warm any leftover glaze and zigzag it over the set tops with a spoon or a small piping bag. For contrast, melt the 2 ounces of dark chocolate on the card and drizzle it the same way. Thin lines look neater than heavy ones, so snip a small hole in the bag.

When the Glaze Goes Grainy, Thick or Runny

• Grainy or pasty: it got too hot. White chocolate scorches at a lower temperature than dark. Stir in a teaspoon of warm cream; if it stays gritty, start a fresh batch at lower heat.
• Suddenly stiff and dull: a drop of water or steam got in and it seized. Stirring in a little more warm cream can turn it back into a smooth glaze.
• Too thick to dip: warm cream, a teaspoon at a time. Reheating alone risks scorching it.
• Runny and sliding off: the donuts were still warm, or too much cream went in. Let the donuts cool fully and give the glaze a few minutes to thicken in the bowl.
• Donuts stuck in the pan: the posts were not greased, or they were turned out hot. Wait the full 5 minutes and loosen the edges with a thin knife.

Flavor Swaps and What to Serve Them With

Cinnamon can stand in for the nutmeg. A few drops of almond extract or the finely grated zest of an orange in the batter both go well with white chocolate. For a two tone look, drizzle milk chocolate over the white glaze.

They are a breakfast or brunch donut, good with coffee or tea. For dessert, serve one barely warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and glaze it just before it goes on the plate.

Keeping Glazed Donuts Fresh

Once the glaze has set, keep the donuts in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The fridge dries out the crumb and can leave the glaze looking dull. To work ahead, bake the plain donuts the day before, store them airtight, and glaze them the morning you serve them.

White Chocolate Donut Questions

Are these donuts baked or fried?

Baked. The batter goes into a greased donut pan for 10 to 12 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

Is there white chocolate in the donut itself?

No. The donuts are a vanilla and nutmeg cake batter; all 1½ cups of white chocolate go into the glaze.

Can I use this white chocolate glaze on other donuts?

Yes. The same ratio of 1½ cups white chocolate to 3 tablespoons cream covers the tops of about 12 donuts, baked or store bought.

How long does the glaze take to set?

At cool room temperature it usually firms up in about half an hour. Wait until it no longer feels tacky before you stack or box the donuts.

More Baked Donuts to Try

If chocolate is the point, try my glazed chocolate donuts or the deeper double chocolate donuts. For summer, berry cream donuts are filled instead of glazed. Smaller bites are in the sourdough donut holes and gluten free donut holes. If you have white chocolate left, it also makes a white chocolate ganache filling for cakes, and there are plenty more chocolate desserts to browse.