Treat yourself with these easy carrot cake donuts! With plenty of shredded carrot, juicy pineapple and an icing sugar glaze generously sprinkled with nuts, this baked donut recipe is sure to be a favourite!
I love baked donuts! You too? Some of my faves are these blueberry baked donuts and vanilla glazed donuts.
Today I’m sharing another easy donut recipe. These carrot cake donuts are super easy to prepare and a favourite around here!
If you’re a fan of carrot cake, then I know you’ll love these too.
I grew up with pineapple in my carrot cake, so I used it in these donuts. Plus, the pineapple juice is used for the simple icing sugar glaze.
And because there’s a veggie in these donuts, they’re practically considered a health food, right? Okay, not really, but they are delicious.
These carrot donuts are great for a random Wednesday, but would also be a lovely Easter dessert or addition to brunch. Plus, who doesn’t love homemade donuts?
Now, all that’s left to do is put on a pot of coffee (or boil the kettle) and whip up a batch of these bad boys. Sound good?
Why We Love These Carrot Cake Donuts
- They take minutes to prep!
- Baked donuts are an easier and healthier version compared to fried donuts.
- The ingredients are mostly those that one would find in their pantry or have on hand already.
- They’re an easier version of carrot cake, nice-n-portable too.
- You don’t have to visit your local coffee shop to enjoy fresh donuts. Homemade is always a good idea!
- These carrot cake donuts are so delicious!
How To Make Baked Donuts
Full details on how to make these donuts are in the recipe card below, but here are the basics:
- To a bowl, add flour, sugar, shredded carrot, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix to combine.
- In another bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla extract.
- Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk or blend to combine.
- Add in chopped pineapple.
- Spoon or pipe donut batter into a greased donut pan and bake.
- Once baked, allow to cool in the pan for a little bit.
- Then place the donuts onto a cooling rack to completely cool before glazing.
- Make the icing sugar glaze, then invert each donut into the glaze to coat. For added flavour and texture, sprinkle over chopped nuts.
Do I Have To Use Icing Sugar Glaze?
Not at all!
The glaze adds an extra special touch to donuts, but you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. Alternatively, you can simply dust with a little icing sugar.
Tip: If you opt not to glaze (but still want to use nuts), mix some into the batter.
Tips and Variations
- Do not glaze the donuts until they are fully cooled. Otherwise, the glaze will melt right into the donuts.
- The icing sugar glaze is on the thicker side (which works great for these donuts). It’s best to add a little pineapple juice, mix in and see how you like the consistency. Then, add more as needed. And if you thin out your glaze too much, no worries! Just add a little more icing sugar to thicken things.
- Canned pineapple is used, but you can totally use fresh if you prefer.
- Another delicious addition to these carrot cake donuts is fresh orange zest. You can mix some into the batter, as well as top the glaze.
More Easy Desserts
If you make these glazed carrot cake donuts, be sure to leave a comment below!
Baked Carrot Cake Donuts
Ingredients
Carrot Cake Donuts
- Cooking spray, to grease donut pan
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup grated carrot, about 1 small carrot
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
- 1 large egg
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup small dice canned pineapple, about 3 slices of pineapple (drained from juice, but juice reserved)
Glaze and Garnish
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, approximately
- ⅓ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
Carrot Cake Donuts
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spray a donut pan with cooking spray and set aside.Note: This recipe yields 8 donuts. If you have a 6-count donut pan, you can bake in batches. Just make sure to wash, dry and re-spray your pan when you are baking your remaining donuts. Or, if you have a larger count donut pan, even better!
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, grated carrot, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk together the milk, melted butter (allowed to cool for a few minutes before adding to milk and egg mixture), egg, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Whisk or mix the milk mixture into the reserved flour mixture until combined and there are no streaks of flour remaining.
- Stir in pineapple.
- Pipe or spoon donut batter into the prepared donut pan. Smooth tops and tap on a hard surface to settle things.
- Bake for about 12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick or cake tester inserted in the donuts comes out clean. Don't overbake.
- Let donuts cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then remove the donuts from the pan and allow them to fully cool on a cooling rack before glazing.
Glaze
- In a bowl, whisk together the icing sugar and pineapple juice until smooth. It's better to start with a little juice first and add as necessary. As you stir it, the glaze will get smooth and should be thick.Note: If you add too much juice and the glaze is too thin, add a little more icing sugar to thicken.
Glaze and Garnish the Donuts
- Once donuts are cool, invert each donut into the icing sugar glaze and sprinkle with chopped walnuts. If you like, you can allow the glaze to set, so let the donuts rest on a cooling rack for a little bit (or you can dig in). Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Do not glaze the donuts until they are fully cooled. Otherwise, the glaze will melt right into the donuts.
- The icing sugar glaze is on the thicker side (which works great for these donuts). It’s best to add a little pineapple juice, mix in and see how you like the consistency. Then, add more as needed. And if you thin out your glaze too much, no worries! Just add a little more icing sugar to thicken things.
- Canned pineapple is used, but you can totally use fresh if you prefer.
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Michelle
I found the recipe to be very easy to follow, I didn’t have nutmeg so I subbed that out with cloves and they were still delicious! Thank you for sharing!!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thanks Michelle! So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
I baked these up for Easter morning and they were loved by the whole family! I mean, what’s not to love?? Carrot cake + donut + coffee = very happy belly! The pineapple juice in the glaze is brilliant and tasted AMAZING!! Thank you for the delicious recipe Dawn!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Oh my goodness! Thank you, Tasia! So very happy to hear that!! You made my day. 🙂 XO
Valentina
Brilliant combination. And I love when two of my favorite things are served up together — donut+carrot cake! 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thank you so much!!
Mary Ann | The Beach House Kitchen
OMG! I am so into make donuts lately Dawn. So excited to add these to my baking list. They look super yummy! Pinned!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Happy to hear it! Thanks Mary Ann! Enjoy!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop
I love carrot cake and I love a good donut so these are made for me! And by the way….the glaze, in my mind, is not optional! 🙂
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Yay! Thank you, Kathy. 🙂
Sarah
My sis in law is the one with the donut pans. I just sent this to her and now I’m waiting to see if they appear at my door 🤣 These sound soooo good!!! I wonder if I could make them in Madeleine pans instead of donut pans? (Idk why I have Madeleine pans and not donut!)
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Lol..wouldn’t that be wonderful?? Thanks Sarah. 🙂
[email protected]
Carrot. Cake. Donut. Are you kidding me?! And that glaze? Oh man – ’twill be difficult to share!! Happy Easter, my friend! XO
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Lol…right?? Thanks Annie! Hope you had a good one! XO
David @ Spiced
Twist my arm! Coffee and a carrot cake donut? Yup, I think that sounds like a great idea…so great that it needs to happen this morning. Robbie and I have been doing a lot of baking lately, and we actually made donuts the other day. He’s been asking to make them again, so perhaps we’ll put a carrot cake twist on ’em this time. These look amazing, Dawn!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Right?? Thank you David!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
I mean, carrot cake is clearly a health food! These look SOOO good, Dawn! I could easily eat an entire batch–carrot cake is one of my favorites!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Lol! Thanks Kelsie!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
Such a fabulous donut and loving that pineapple glaze! I’ll take a dozen 🙂
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
You got it. 😉 Thanks Jennifer!
Marissa
My mouth is literally watering looking at these beautiful treats, Dawn! What a fun idea to mashup two favorites: carrot cake and donuts! Love that they’re lighter than your average deep fried version.
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Thanks Marissa! 🙂
Haylie / Our Balanced Bowl
Dawn, oh my word. I’m salivating and I immediately need one of these! Carrot cake is my favorite dessert….so I am ecstatic that I can now eat it for breakfast in donut form!
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
Yay! Thanks Haylie!