With simple ingredients and fresh flavors, these Raspberry Donuts are such a yummy breakfast. The baked doughnut recipe is easy, fun, and perfect for a holiday—or any day!
Baked Raspberry Donuts
I’m always amazed at how excited my kids are when I bake something in a donut pan, and these fruit-forward doughnuts are a favorite. The flavor is so bright and zesty from the raspberries and fresh lemon—and they’re super easy to stir together.
I love this recipe because it uses basic pantry staples, including flour and sugar, but gets extra flavor and tenderness from yogurt and fresh raspberries. There’s also a hit of fresh lemon, which is such a nice flavor note.
These donuts bake up quickly in a donut pan, which is the easiest way to make homemade donuts, and are fun for breakfast or snack. (They’re perfect for Easter breakfast or a birthday morning.) The icing drizzle is totally optional but a fun addition.
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Ingredients You Need
To make this recipe, you need these ingredients on hand and ready to go.
- All-purpose flour: This helps the donuts stay light and fluffy.
- Brown sugar: I like the flavor note that this adds, which is why I use it here.
- Baking powder: Using fresh baking powder ensures the donuts rise and bake through with a tender crumb.
- Unsalted butter: We’ll melt the butter and let it cool slightly before adding it to the batter for richness.
- Egg: I use large eggs in my baking. In this recipe, it helps bind the batter together easily.
- Plain whole-milk yogurt: This makes the batter super moist, though you can also use milk.
- Vanilla extract: A little vanilla adds lovely flavor in combination with the lemon and raspberry.
- Fresh raspberries: I like to cut these up with kitchen scissors so they’re a nice size in the batter. You can use frozen berries if that’s preferable for you, just cut them up with kitchen scissors like you would with fresh berries.
- Fresh lemon zest: This adds such great flavor, especially when paired with the berries and vanilla.
TIP: To make these dairy-free, use your favorite plain nondairy milk.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at how to make this baked donut recipe. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full information.
- Stir the dry ingredients together.
- Add the wet ingredients.
- Stir together gently but thoroughly. (The batter is thick.)
- Divide batter among the donut pan, carefully spread it around the middle of the pan, and bake. Once cooled, you can add the optional icing.
Frequently Asked Questions
I love my pan from Wilton. It’s nonstick and delivers really even results.
Sure, you can make them up to a day ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature and frost before serving.
Sure, these are lightly sweet as the recipe is written, but for more of a classic donut flavor, you can use ½ cup sugar if you prefer.
How to Store
These are best on the day they’re made, but you can store the doughnuts in an airtight container for up to 24 hours to enjoy later. After that, I’d store in the container in the fridge. You can also warm slightly before serving if needed to soften them up a little.
Best Tips for Success
- Use a fine microplane to zest the lemon, avoiding the white part if possible.
- I cut the raspberries in half with a pair of kitchen shears.
- These donuts are not super sweet but have a nice flavor with the optional icing.
- To make these with a mini muffin pan, follow the instructions and use 1 tablespoon batter in each cup. Bake for 12-14 minutes. This will make 15 mini muffins.
- Dairy-free: Use your favorite plain nondairy milk.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose.
- Egg-free: Omit the egg and use ½ cup milk total. Use 1 teaspoon baking soda in place of the baking powder. (There’s a slight chance the baking soda will react with the raspberries and cause them to look a little dark. The batch I tested looked good, though!)
Related Recipes
Muffins
Favorite Raspberry Muffins
Breakfast
Easy Baked Apple Donuts
Desserts
Easy Vanilla Cake (Vegan)
Desserts
Favorite Carrot Cake Bars
These are a festive breakfast for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or any day you want to share a special snack or breakfast. If you make them, I’d love to hear your feedback below!
Baked Raspberry Donuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup milk (or plain whole-milk yogurt)
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup chopped raspberries
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
- Optional Yogurt Frosting: ¼ cup plain whole-milk yogurt and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and coat a donut pan with nonstick spray.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the milk, butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir gently. Fold in the raspberries and lemon peel and stir gently to just combine. (This batter is thick and it may look too thick, but keep gently stirring to bring it together.)
- Portion out into the donut pan, dividing the batter among each of the 6 rounds and spreading so the batter is evenly distributed.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 2 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edges of each doughnut and carefully flip onto a wire rack to cool fully.
- Optional frosting: Stir together the yogurt and powdered sugar in a bowl. Spoon into a zip-top plastic bag. Seal and cut off one of the bottom corners to make a piping bag. Drizzle over the donuts and add sprinkles.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Store doughnuts in an airtight container for up to 24 hours at room temperature. (They are slightly crispy around the edges soon after baking; they soften as they sit in the container.)
- Use a fine microplane to zest the lemon, avoiding the white part if possible.
- I cut up the raspberries with a pair of kitchen shears.
- These donuts are not crazy sweet, but they have a nice flavor with the optional icing.
- To make these with a mini muffin pan, follow the instructions and use 1 tablespoon batter in each cup. Bake for 12-14 minutes. This will make 15 mini muffins.
- Egg-free: Omit the egg and use ½ cup milk total. Use 1 teaspoon baking soda in place of the baking powder. (There’s a slight chance that the baking soda may react with the raspberries and cause them to look a little dark. The batch I tested looked good, though!)
- Dairy-free: Use your favorite plain nondairy milk.
- Gluten-free: Use cup-for-cup gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose.
Nutrition
This post was first published February 2017.
Would you put the icing on these before freezing? Or add individually as you thaw out?
I think either would work but you could do it after since it might be easier to store them unfrosted.
My son is OBSESSED with these donuts. I have been making them nonstop for going on 3 years, and he never tires of them. I always have a batch in the freezer, and he would choose one of these donuts over literally any other breakfast on earth. So many of your recipes are family staples for us – thank you, Amy!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Our family loves these doughnuts! I was craving chocolate, so we replaced some of the flour with cocoa powder — probably about 1/4 cup. Super yummy.
I’ve made these a few times, and they are delicious every time. I do use nondairy milk instead of yogurt, and they’re still super yummy.
Can these be made with whole wheat flour?
Sure, you may want to add an extra 1-2 tablespoons milk if the batter seems very thick though
Hi! How long should I bake these as regular sized muffins? Thank you! Can’t wait to try!
I think in the 16-18 minute range
Can this recipe be made with frozen raspberries?
That should work fine. I would thaw a little and cut in half if scissors but otherwise should work similarly
Delish — sorry to my kiddo in advance because he will be sharing these with me. I did find that it took me closer to 18 minutes to get the right bake but I used a silicon donut pan so maybe that’s why? Used milk this go around but would love to try with yogurt next!
This is a favorite recipe for my family! We have made these several times and always love them!
I’m so glad!
Adore these. I added 1/2 cup of whole raspberries and blueberries with the yogurt, baked in mini muffin tins for 12 minutes. My three year old enjoyed making them with me , she had three back to back. Great snack to pack in her lunch box.
I’m so glad to hear that!
These came out very good! I ended up turning the recipe into a paleo one. I replaced the flour with paleo flour from Bob Mills, regular sugar with coconut sugar and milk with almond milk. I didn’t have a big lemon so I did a combination of lemon zest and lemon juice. They didn’t raise as much as in the video – probably because of home made baking powder but I loved them because they are now very sweet and not very dense as other paleo recipes I tried before. My son had one with a little bit of Simple Mills Vanilla Frosting.
I will make them again!
I’m so glad they worked out for you!
Can I use a sugar substitute? Like maple syrup? Why does the BHG recipe have less sugar? Do prefer regular sugar over brown sugar for children?
I haven’t tried it with maple syrup but I think that would work. The BHG recipe isn’t as good and I made adjustments to make these taste better. (I have gotten better at developing recipes since I did that one many years ago!) I have no preference between brown sugar and granulated sugar. I hope that helps!
Thank you for the response! looking forward to trying them
So yummy! My 4 year old ate them up! Definitely make the yogurt icing!!
Family devoured them! Perfect amount of sweet and fresh. Perfect for Valentine’s Day breakfast!
I made muffins since I don’t have a donut pan… yet! Toddler and I both loved them perfect amount of sweet with lemon and a great snack at 20 weeks pregnant ?. Only change was I used cream cheese for the frosting since it sounded good! Thanks for all your recipes!
Can I use bottled lemon juice to substitute for the lemon zest if I don’t have a lemon on hand?
You could probably do 1-2 teaspoons!
Would it work with frozen raspberries? Thank you
Do you think these would freeze well?
I haven’t tried it and suspect they would be okay, but perhaps softer after being frozen and thawed.
Do you think frozen raspberries would work?
They should, though thaw them a little first otherwise the batter may clump together around the frozen berries.
Another hit with my family, not just my toddler! While I was mixing the batter I was worried that it might be too thick (even with the warning), but these baked up nicely. (I used a mini muffin pan and baked the muffins for 12 minutes.) Thanks again, Amy!
Is there a vegan option? My kids have egg allergies and my daughter dairy.
I’m actually working on that this week so I will let you know if I find a good one!