These Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts are fluffy, packed with citrus flavor and bursting with blueberries and covered in a tangy glaze! Baked donuts are the perfect healthy breakfast or snack. Includes step by step recipe video.
It was a big day here on The Recipe Rebel the day these first appeared: my first successful batch of baked donuts.
I have no idea why it took me so long to get on board.
I first posted this recipe more than TWO years ago (what?!?) but it needed a little love and a new recipe video, and — well — I needed another batch of these doughnuts.
I received a doughnut/donut pan way too long ago for Christmas. I baked doughnuts once, they sucked, and then I put it on the bottom of my stack of baking pans for a couple years.
When we were grocery shopping the other day, my husband told me he’d seen a mini doughnut maker in the clearance section for $9, and I had to buy it. Because if there’s anything better than eating a homemade doughnut, it’s eating a dozen mini homemade doughnuts.
(I also saw a pumpkin shaped cake pop pan for 94 cents, and absolutely wasn’t going to leave it there. But then I thought about sharing some pumpkin cake pops on the blog, and Step 3 being “now whip out your pumpkin-shaped cake pop pan”, and all of you leaving and never returning. So I left it there.)
So I bring home my mini doughnut maker and some blueberries and lemons.
Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts.
I had a big hankering for citrus and warm weather, so I mixed up some doughnut batter, and stir in some lemon zest and blueberries. The batter is thick, and I’m a little worried they’re going to be dense and chewy like my first batch.
Nevertheless, I scoop it into a large disposable piping bag and try piping it into the mini doughnut maker but the blueberries are just too big and it’s not really working.
Back to my trusty doughnut pan.
Turns out, they weren’t dense and chewy at all. They are soft, and cakey, and lemony, and springy, and PERFECT.
And they’ve made me a hardcore believer in the homemade baked doughnut. So there’s a good chance you’ll see about 713 variations of them in the next couple months.
I hope you won’t be mad?
More Lemon Blueberry love:
- Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
- Cream Cheese Filled Blueberry Lemon Bread
- Greek Yogurt Lemon Bundt Cake
Baked Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150 g
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tsp grated lemon zest depending on your tastes
- 1 cup buttermilk or substitute regular milk
- 2 2/3 all-purpose flour 350g
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered icing sugar
- 1-2 tsp lemon zest (optional)
- 7-8 tbsp fresh lemon juice or milk see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and grease your doughnut pans with butter or non-stick spray.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, oil and sugar and whisk until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and whisk just until combined. Stir in blueberries. Batter will be thick (see notes).
- Spoon batter into a large disposable piping bag or freezer bag (optional method – see notes. You can also spoon batter into doughnut pan). Cut off the end of the bag so your opening is about ½-3/4” wide (big enough for the blueberries to get through). Pipe batter once around each doughnut hole – the batter shouldn’t quite fill the hole as they’ll expand and rise.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from the doughnut pan to cool completely.
- Make the glaze:In a medium bowl (not too deep as you’ll want to be able to dip your doughnuts), combine sugar, zest, and 6 tbsp of juice or milk. Add an additional 1-2 tbsp of liquid if needed. You want your glaze to be thin enough to evenly coat your doughnuts, but thick enough that it will set and become dry to the touch.
- When doughnuts are completely cool, dip tops of doughnuts into the glaze and overturn so the glaze runs down the sides. Set aside for the glaze to set (or, just shove them right in your mouth!).
Notes
*If you like more lemon flavour, use fresh lemon juice for the glaze. If you like less lemon flavour, use milk.
*If you’re making these ahead of time, I recommend baking them, letting them cool, and storing in an airtight container, then glazing up to a few hours before serving them. The glazed doughnuts become softer and stickier when stored in an airtight container. I baked and glazed them in the morning, and let them sit on the counter the whole day so the glaze would stay set.
Nutrition Information
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Sarah says
These are the best donuts that I have ever made. I made them for a good friend and she said they were life changing! I highly recommend making them!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Sarah! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this kind review!
Cara Nahra says
I love these donuts and so does my family and friends. I was wondering can we use lemon extract instead of lemon zest inside the donut batter or for the glaze???
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Cara! It should be fine to use the extract. Hope you enjoy it!
Debra Horrigan says
I made these Paleo-ish. I made the following replacements:
Sugar- Coconut Sugar
Flour- Paleo Blend-Red Mill
Butter Milk- Coconut Cream
I used Frozen Blueberries.
Vegetable oil- Coconut oil
I did use real butter through. I did NOT make the icing.
These turned out great. I followed the measurements 1:1 for my replacements and perfect. Even my 16 year old son was impressed with good they are.
The Recipe Rebel says
Glad all of the replacements worked out for you Debra!
Ashley Smith says
These are amazing! Can I freeze this batter?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Ashley! Thank you! I’ve never attempted to freeze the batter before. If you decide to experiment, let me know how it goes!
Karon says
Great recipe. Thank you!
I didn’t want to use a single use plastic bag, so I used my pastry bag to spread the batter into the pans. Instead to adding the berries to the batter (they wouldn’t go through the pastry bag), I spread each donut cup with a thin layer of batter, added 4-5 berries, and topped them off with another layer of batter. Easy peasy.
My donut pan made 22 small donuts. For the glaze, I halved the sugar and lemon juice and still had glaze leftover.
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Karon! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Vicki says
Made double batch so easy to make and delicious Taking a batch to early meeting tomorrow. Hope the girls like these as much as my family did
Aislinn says
Loved these donuts!!! First time using a donut pan and it was so easy. The texture is awesome 👍🏼
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Aislinn! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
Gwen Frita says
For those of you without a doughnut pan; yes you can! However; only fill whatever pan your using 1 to 11/2 inches deep. This batter/dough expands a lot! And add an extra 10-15 minutes to the 7-8 min. As Ashley has instructed. It will also not be as soft and fluffy as doughnuts but still has a wonderful texture/crumb.
I’ve made these 3 times now; once in a loaf pan and twice in tex/jumbo muffin pan.
Cynthia says
Hi Ashley! I would love to try this. Does the recipe make 14 donuts with each donut being a serving? Thanks!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Cynthia! That is correct. Hope you enjoy them!
Cara Nahra says
Can you make the batter the night before and then bake in the morning?
Ashley Fehr says
Absolutely!
Andrea says
I have frozen huckleberries that I would like to try in this recipe. Does the extra moisture in frozen berries ruin the texture? Would you add them frozen or defrost and drain?
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Andrea! I’ve never baked with huckleberries before so I’m not sure what they are like. Frozen blueberries would be fine, but some larger berries will release too much moisture or cause spots that are soggy, so I can’t say for sure. If adding frozen berries they should be added frozen.
Lynn says
Other than cooking time what other adjustments should be made to turn this into a loaf instead of donuts, if any?
Love your recipes!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Lynn! I can’t really say as I’ve never tried, but I do have this lemon blueberry bread recipe that would be similar: https://www.thereciperebel.com/cream-cheese-filled-blueberry-lemon-bread-recipe-video/
Cheryl says
Got donut pans for Christmas, this is the 3rd recipe I’ve tried – it’s a Keeper! Used coconut milk & non-dairy butter (food sensitivities) Lemon makes such a fresh taste & the blueberries burst with flavor. They were super yummy!!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Cheryl!
Marnae says
These were really delicious! Light and fluffy and bursting with flavor. We made 12 doughnuts and a pan of doughnut holes(20) with this recipe. I substituted fresh raspberries from my garden for the blueberries and they were so good.. Gobbled down by my quarantined kids!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Marnae! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them! I love the raspberry swap 🙂
Meta Woods says
Do donuts come out the same using lactose free milk?
Ashley Fehr says
Sorry, I’ve never tried!
Gwen Frita says
Can this be baked in one or two batches in a loaf pan? That is all I have and really want to try this today!
Gwen Frita says
Okay, I found a very similar recipe for “Doughnut loaf” @ Thekitchn.com so I’m going to use your recipe and their baking instructions. Here is their recipe; https://www.thekitchn.com/donut-loaf-22978257
Hope it works!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Gwen! I actually have a very similar loaf recipe here: https://www.thereciperebel.com/cream-cheese-filled-blueberry-lemon-bread-recipe-video/