Crumb Cake Donuts
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These homemade Crumb Cake Donuts are flavored with warm spices, covered in a buttery crumb topping and drizzled with vanilla icing!
These homemade Crumb Cake Donuts are the coziest treat to enjoy with your morning cup of coffee! They’re soft, fluffy and covered in a buttery crumb topping and drizzled with vanilla icing. They’re also super easy to make in less than 30 minutes because they’re baked, not fried!
Looking for more cake donut recipes? Try my Strawberry Cake Donuts, Oreo Cake Donuts or Red Velvet Cake Donuts!
Ingredient Breakdown
All-purpose flour – this gives the donuts structure.
Baking powder/baking soda – unlike traditional donuts this recipe doesn’t use yeast so it relies on chemical leaveners to rise and get fluffy.
Cinnamon and nutmeg -provides flavor.
Buttermilk – adds flavor and moisture! Whole milk also works if that’s all you have on hand.
Granulated sugar – sweetens and softens donuts.
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.
Eggs – helps bind the ingredients.
Vanilla extract and salt – enhances flavor. Always use pure vanilla extract instead of imitation for best flavor.
How To Make Crumb Cake Donuts
1. Make the Crumb Topping: in a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Add melted butter and mix until well combined. Use clean hands to break into crumbs then set aside.
2. Make the Donut Batter: in a small bowl combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. In a medium bowl whisk the buttermilk, granulated sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
4. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. The batter will be very thick. Do not over mix!
5. Use a piping bag or a zip-top bag to pipe each donut ring 2/3 full. Do not fill to the top, the donuts will rise as they bake. Sprinkle the tops of each donut with the crumb topping.
6. Bake Crumb Donuts at 350°F for 10 minutes. Allow to cool in donut pans for 10 minutes then unmold and finish cooling on a wire rack.
7. Make the Vanilla Icing: in a small bowl whisk the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla extract until smooth then drizzle over cooled cake donuts. Store Crumb 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 Crumb Cake Donuts
- Do not over mix the batter! There should still be streaks of flour in the batter when you add the apples otherwise the donuts will be tough.
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate; baking is a science after all!
- 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.
More Cake Donut Recipes
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! 🙂
Crumb Cake Donuts
Equipment
- Donut pan
- Piping bag or zip-top bag
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 180 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Donut Batter
- 300 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 240 g (1 cup) buttermilk
- 150 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 113 g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vanilla Icing
- 120 g (1 cup) confectioners' sugar
- 30 g (2 tbsp) water
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Crumb Topping
- In a medium bowl combine the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt. Add melted butter and mix until well combined. Use clean hands to break into crumbs then set aside.
Donut Batter
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease donut pans.
- In a small bowl combine the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl whisk the buttermilk, granulated sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. The batter will be very thick. Do not over mix!
- Use a piping bag or a zip-top bag to pipe each donut ring 2/3 full. Do not fill to the top, the donuts will rise as they bake. Sprinkle the tops of each donut with the crumb topping.
- Bake Crumb Donuts for 10 minutes. Allow to cool in donut pans for 10 minutes then unmold and finish cooling on a wire rack.
Vanilla Icing
- In a small bowl whisk the confectioners' sugar, water and vanilla extract until smooth then drizzle over cooled cake donuts.
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale! Measuring ingredients by volume is not accurate.
- Buttermilk: Whole milk also works if that’s all you have on hand.
- Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter. You can use salted butter, just be sure to omit the 1/2 tsp of salt in the donut batter.
- Store Crumb Donuts in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge.
- Nutrition: the provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Please read my Nutrition Disclaimer for more information.
