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Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts

written by Ashley Fehr

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4.67 from 48 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes
Servings 14 donuts

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Last updated on March 1, 2024

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

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

4.67 from 48 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
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes
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
US Customary – Metric

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

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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

    • Dianne McKinney says

      This recipe was amazing. I had to make it dairy free I substitute smart balance dairy free for butter, and for the milk I used full fat coconut milk. The doughnuts were amazing. They did not taste dairy free.

      Reply

  2. Aleta Hoover says

    I measured everything correctly, but I do not believe my batter was “thick”, I could pour it. The recipe as is on the page made way more than 14 donuts, just an FYI. They were very tasty but I feel like I should have flipped them during cooking as the colors were pale on top and lovely golden brown on bottom.

    Reply

    • The Recipe Rebel says

      No I’m sorry, I’ve only made these with eggs. If you decide to experiment, I’d love to know how it goes!

      Reply

  5. Cindy K says

    I mean mini bundts put of them and I put one in my mouth and almost cried they were so good and delicate. I changed the recipe a little amd added a tablespoon of the lemon juice to the batter and of the 6 tablespoons of lemon juice left only used 5 and the glaze was perfect! Normally when I do random internet recipes they come out terrible and I leave the snarky comment “please don’t ever write a cookbook!” I am urging you to please do write a cookbook! these are pillows clouds from heaven. I’m addicted!

    Reply

  6. 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!

    Reply

  7. 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???

    Reply

  8. 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.

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

  10. 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.

    Reply

  11. 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

    Reply

  13. 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.

    Reply

  16. 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?

    Reply

  17. 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!!

    Reply

  18. 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!

    Reply

  20. 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!

    Reply
4.67 from 48 votes (32 ratings without comment)

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