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Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts

written by Ashley Fehr

Updated November 26, 2024

4.68 from 52 votes
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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.

overhead image of baked lemon blueberry donuts with no glaze

Got extra lemons? Make these Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, these Glazed Lemon Cookies or this Moist Lemon Bundt Cake recipe!

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.

lemon baked donut being dunked in lemon glaze

(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.

baked donut on cooling rack dripping with glaze

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?

overhead image of 6 baked donuts with glaze

More Lemon Blueberry love:

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Baked Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts

written by Ashley Fehr

Baked Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts: So fresh and perfect for Spring! They’re easier than you think, and super moist! www.thereciperebel.com
overhead image of 6 baked donuts with glaze
4.68 from 52 votes
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Cooling time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 23 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 14 donuts
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Ingredients 

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar, (150g)
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup oil
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs,, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest, (from 1 lemon)
  • 2⅔ all-purpose flour, (350g)
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries

Glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar, (220g)
  • 7-8 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, (from 2-3 lemons, divided)

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease two donut pans with butter or spray with nonstick spray.
  • In a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter, and oil and whisk about 2 minutes, until smooth.
  • Add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest and whisk until smooth.
  • Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, and whisk until just combined. Stir in the blueberries. (The batter will be thick.)
  • Spoon the batter into a large disposable piping bag or zip-top bag. Cut off the end of the bag so the opening is about ½- ¾” wide. (Big enough for the blueberries to get through!) Pipe the batter around each donut hole. (The batter should just fill the indent because the donuts will expand and rise.)
  • Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before transferring the donuts from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Glaze

  • In a medium-sized shallow bowl, combine powdered sugar and 6 tablespoons of the juice. Add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of juice if needed. (You want the glaze to be thin enough to evenly coat your donuts, but thick enough that it will set completely.)
  • When the donuts are completely cool, dip the tops into the glaze, overturn and set on a cooling rack so the glaze runs down the sides. Set aside for the glaze to set. (It happens quickly!)

Video

Notes

*The batter will be thick – that’s okay! I find the easiest way to get it into the pan is using a piping bag, but you can scoop with a spoon if you don’t have one.
*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

Calories: 202cal, Carbohydrates: 31g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 134mg, Potassium: 101mg, Sugar: 29g, Vitamin A: 170IU, Vitamin C: 4.3mg, Calcium: 47mg, Iron: 0.2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Meet Ashley

My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!

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Comments

  2. Sonja says

    Hi Ashley
    So happy to have found your blog. So inspiring and beautiful.

    The Doughnuts look wonderful. Did you ever try to deep-fry them?
    Love from Switzerland
    Sonja

    Reply

  3. Leslie says

    I just made these today and they were AMAZING!!!!! Seriously incredible. My daughter has food allergies so I used Blue Bonnet Light for the butter and oil, Ener-G egg replacer for the eggs, and soymilk with vinegar in it for the buttermilk. They were incredible in every way. Moist and fluffy and perfect. I used lemon in the glaze and it really made the donuts perfect. Thank you for this recipe!!

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      That is awesome! I’m so glad you were able to make the changes you needed — and thanks for coming back and letting us know!

      Reply

  4. Dorothy Dunton says

    Hi Ashley! Just wanted to come back and comment on frozen blueberries. You probably know this, but some of your readers might not. Keep them frozen and gently fold them into your batter at the last minute.

    Reply

  5. Dorothy Dunton says

    Hi Ashley! I just found your blog and these look wonderful! I don’t use my donut pans nearly as much as I should. Have you ever used frozen Maine wild blueberries? They are much smaller and taste so good! Plus, they would go through a piping bag easier. I think these are on my Sunday breakfast menu! Thanks!

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      Hi Dorothy! I’m glad you found me! I have not tried using frozen blueberries. I think the size would be perfect! I’m just not sure about the extra liquid. Let me know if you try it!

      Reply

      • Dorothy Dunton says

        Hi Ashley! I make a streusel topped coffee cake using the frozen Maine blueberries and it comes out perfect. I also use them in waffles. The Maine berries are much smaller and not as watery as regular blueberries, so they don’t release much juice at all. But they are packed with flavor! I’m with you on proper spelling and English. I always reminded my children that it was very important, because you are judged by how you present yourself.

  6. Jill says

    I made these doughnuts this morning but didn’t have a doughnut pan, so I used mini muffin pans (trying to pass them off as doughnut holes!). They were really good, would have been better had I used a doughnut pan! As for the spelling, when my kids were little they asked who came up with doughnuts. I told them they were invented by a guy named Doug (DougH.Nuts to be exact!). I have no idea where they really came from, but it’s been a family joke ever since. It makes it easy to remember how to spell as well!

    Reply

  7. Kathy says

    Did you use buttermilk or regular milk in the doughnuts pictured above? I want mine exactly like yours lol!!!! Also for the glaze did you go all out lemon or just milk? Thanks and I can’t wait to make some, guess I need to get a doughnut pan first!! Thank God for Amazon prime lol ☺️

    Reply

    • Ashley says

      Haha, yes the doughnut pan helps! I used buttermilk, just because I had some in the fridge. I don’t always though! I actually made 2 batches of glaze, one with all lemon juice and one with milk — it just depends on how strong you like your lemon flavour!

      Reply

  14. Izzy says

    I absolutely LOVE your new site, Ashley!!! It looks so great! And I love the logo you decided on!! I also love these doughnuts! I have a doughnut pan and for some reason I’ve only used it once. They were so good though, so I’m not sure why it just sits in the cupboard! These blueberry ones sounds delicious 🙂

    Reply
4.68 from 52 votes (32 ratings without comment)

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