These carrot cake donuts are the real thing. They’re so good that I’d say half of them never even make it to the cream cheese icing stage because my people keep grabbing them off the cooling rack when they’re still warm.
My people are a problem, y’all, but I love them anyway.
These carrot cake donuts were inspired by my carrot cake recipe which I was thinking about making, but when I was looking for cake pans in my cupboard, I spotted my donut pans and I knew I had to make doughnuts instead!
Ingredients for baked carrot cake donuts
Exact measurements and preparation steps are in the printable recipe card below.
- all-purpose flour
- sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground nutmeg
- egg
- milk
- vanilla
- butter
- carrots
- cream cheese
- powdered sugar
They’re absolutely delicious!
I like baking donuts rather than frying them because it’s healthier, but the bottom half of the donuts always comes out a little darker than the top half. I haven’t figured out a way to prevent that. Perhaps I’m just being picky because they taste fantastic.
But my best tip when it comes to baking carrot cake donuts (or carrot cake doughnuts, if that’s your thing) is to grease and flour the pan VERY WELL. Those little stinkers love to stick to the pan. Baking spray with flour works best, so try this or this or this.
Other donut recipes you’ll love
- Chocolate monster donuts for Halloween
- Honey-glazed cornbread donuts with crumbled bacon
- Apple cinnamon mini donuts
- Strawberry glazed donut bites
Carrot Cake Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ½ cup finely grated carrots
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray and flour donut pans thoroughly.
- In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Set aside.
- In large bowl, whisk egg, milk, vanilla and melted butter together. Stir in carrots. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, just until combined. Spoon batter into donut pan, filling about half to three-fourths full.
- Bake in 425 degree oven for 7-9 minutes or until donuts spring back to the touch and are golden on edges. Let sit in pan for a minute, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely.
- To make glaze: Beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk and drizzle over cooled donuts.
