4th of July Cake Donuts
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These 4th of July Cake Donuts will be the most delicious pop of red, white and blue on your dessert table this Independence Day!
4th of July is so much fun, mostly because I love all the patriotic desserts that come out of it. These donuts taste like my Baked Vanilla Cake Donuts but are dyed red, white and blue to be extra festive! The best part is these cake donuts are so easy and quick to make because they’re baked not fried!
Ingredient Breakdown
Nutmeg – this is the secret ingredient to getting that classic cake donut flavor (if you don’t like nutmeg you can totally omit it and they’ll still be just as tasty!)
Baking powder/baking soda – unlike traditional donuts this recipe doesn’t use yeast so it relies on chemical leaveners to rise and get fluffy.
Butter – melted butter adds both flavor and moisture! I always recommend using unsalted butter but salted butter works if that’s all you have on hand, just be sure to omit the 1/2 teaspoon of salt later on.
Buttermilk – adds flavor and makes the donuts so moist!
How To Make 4th of July Cake Donuts
1. In a small bowl combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until well combined.
3. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. The batter will be thick and lumpy. Do not over mix!
4. Evenly divide batter into 3 bowls. Color one bowl with red food coloring, one bowl with blue food coloring. Leave the last bowl plain.
5. Fill 3 piping bags or a zip-top bags with each batter color (one color per bag) and pipe each donut ring 2/3 full. Do not fill to the top, the donuts will rise as they bake. Drag a toothpick through each ring to marble the colors.
6. In a small bowl whisk the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and milk until smooth. Immediately dip cooled donuts and top with red, white and blue sprinkles. If the glaze is too runny add more confectioners’ sugar a tablespoon at a time. Store cake donuts in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.
Pro Tips For Cake Donuts
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate; baking is a science after all!
- Use gel food coloring! It yields a deeper color without using a ton of dye and throwing off the consistency of the batter the way liquid food coloring does.
- Do not over mix the batter after adding the dry ingredients otherwise the donuts will be tough.
- Don’t over fill the pan! Only fill each donut ring 2/3 full.
- If your donut holes closed up while baking you can use a small round cookie cutter to cut out the middle. The smallest ring from this set fits perfectly.
If you try this recipe then please leave a rating/comment below to let me know how you liked it and feel free to ask any recipe questions you may have! 🙂
4th of July Cake Donuts
Equipment
- Donut pan
- 3 Piping bags or zip-top bags
Ingredients
Donuts
- 300 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 150 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 240 g (1 cup) buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- red food coloring
- blue food coloring
- red, white and blue sprinkles optional
Vanilla Glaze
- 240 g (2 cups) confectioners' sugar
- 45 g (3 tbsp) whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Donuts
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease donut pans.
- In a small bowl combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until well combined.
- Gently fold drys into wets until just combined.
- Fill 3 piping bags or a zip-top bags with each batter color (one color per bag) and pipe each donut ring 2/3 full. Do not fill to the top, the donuts will rise as they bake. Drag a toothpick through each ring to slightly blend the colors.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove and allow to finish cooling completely on a wire rack before dipping in glaze.
Vanilla Glaze
- In a small bowl whisk the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and milk until smooth. Immediately dip cooled donuts and top with sprinkles. If the glaze is too runny add more confectioners' sugar a tablespoon at a time.
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. You can use salted butter, just be sure to omit the 1/2 tsp salt.
- Store cake donuts in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.
