The Recipe Rebel

The Recipe Rebel / Desserts

Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts

written by Ashley Fehr

Pin0
4.15 from 14 votes
Prep Time 15 mins
Total Time 23 mins
Servings 14 donuts

Jump to Recipe

Published on March 16, 2021 / Last updated on March 16, 2021

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
Get FREE recipes right in your inbox
Easy meal ideas that will bring your family to the table fast!

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:

ashley avatar

Pin this recipe to save for later

Pin this recipe to your favorite board

Baked Lemon Blueberry Doughnuts

written by Ashley Fehr

4.15 from 14 votes
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
Review
Print
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 8 mins
Total Time 23 mins
Cuisine American
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Servings 14 donuts
Calories 202cal

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

*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 Information

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

Want to save this recipe?

Create an account easily save your favorite content, so you never forget a recipe again.

Register Now

Tried this recipe?

Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel —
I love to see what you’re making!

Tag @thereciperebel
Pin0

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!

Read More

You May Also Like

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Julie says

    My 3yo daughter loves to mix up batter. We made these tonight. I need more pans! Your recipe made 14 standard size donuts plus a full pan of mini size. It was well past her bed time, but we delivered a few doughnuts to her “Ganmom”. She is traveling tomorrow and will share them with other family members of ours. Thank you for a delicious recipe!

    Reply

  4. Sara says

    I was super excited to use my brand new doughnut pan and I was looking for an easy recipe. These ended up being a huge success at my work bake sale and I’m making them again for a Christmas potluck. Love, LOVE them. I ended up using frozen blueberries and they worked really well. I will definitely make the glaze thicker this time though. Thank you SO MUCH!

    Reply

  7. CL Griffin says

    Another “doughnut” speller/eater here! I think a batch of these will be perfect this mid-week morning, so I’m very happy that I invested in a second doughnut pan (I get to eat sooner than when I only had one pan)! But I think you wanted to say the glaze should dry to the “touch” instead of “tough”! I’m a spelling snob too! 😉 Thanks for a wonderful recipe and a giggle too.

    Reply

  9. Sa-eeda Daniels says

    Wow! These look super amazing!
    It’s Winter on our side of the world now, so no blueberries just yet. Hoping to make them soon!
    I absolutely love baked doughnuts! (And yes, we South Africans spell like the British :p)

    So glad I follow you on FB!

    Thanks for sharing from a chilly Cape Town
    Sa-eeda 🙂

    Reply

    • Ashley Fehr says

      Thank you so much Sa-eeda! And thanks for following on Facebook! We are just getting our first fresh summer berries here and it’s very exciting — I’m going to have to make another batch soon!

      Reply

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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.

        Reply

  16. 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

  17. 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

  24. 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

Leave A Reply

Have you tried this recipe? Leave a rating