Okay so I’ll be the first to tell you that doughnuts should always be fried and not baked because baked doughnuts just aren’t as good. I mean I’ll eat them because who can say no to a doughnut? (Except I’ll always say no to a krispy kreme because it’s not worth it. They just melt in your mouth before you even get to enjoy it). But I digress. I’ll also be the first to admit when I’m wrong and I guess I should reword my statement now to say that “most of the time” doughnuts should be fried. If you’re gonna bake a doughnut then I highly recommend these Baked Strawberry Cake Doughnuts because they are so good! The batter is studded with fresh strawberries and coated in a strawberry powdered sugar. The first time I ever saw strawberry powered sugar was in A Cozy Kitchen’s Strawberry Beignets a few years ago. That always stuck with me because it’s a genius idea and so I decided to amp up the strawberry flavor in these doughnuts by coating them in a delicious strawberry powdered sugar.
In a medium bowl, sift together 1 1/4 cups of the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
**Tip: If you want a really tender cake doughnut you could use cake flour instead of all-purpose, if you happen to have some on hand. If not, all-purpose is just fine.**
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
**Tip: Whenever you bake, I highly recommend using room temperature eggs because they blend into whatever you’re making much better. If you forgot, you can run the eggs under running hot water for a few seconds to get the chill off.**
Stir in the dry ingredients and yogurt, alternating between the two, making sure to start and end with dry ingredients. Do not over-mix at this point because you’ll end up with dry tough doughnuts.
In a small bowl, toss together the diced strawberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Add to the batter and gently fold until evenly distributed.
**Tip: Whenever incorporating add-ons to cake batters or muffin batters (like chocolate chips or fruit) toss in a bit of flour to prevent them from sinking down.**
Fill greased doughnut pans, about halfway up, with the batter and give them a gentle tap on the counter to even out as much as possible.
**Note: You can use two 6-cavity regular doughnut pans or I really recommend silicone doughnut molds because they’re a bit deeper and nonstick.**
**Tip: Use a spoon to add the batter to the molds or you can use a piping bag with a large circle tip to pipe the batter in a bit easier.**
Bake until golden brown around the edges and a toothpick, inserted in the middle, comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.
To make the strawberry powdered sugar, place the dried strawberries and powdered sugar in a food processor or a high speed blender. Blend until the strawberries are completely powdered and blended into the sugar. Transfer to a shallow dish.
**Tip: You can make a double batch and store in an airtight container and keep it in the pantry for all sorts of different uses.**
Working with one at a time, coat the doughnuts with the sugar, turning them over to coat both sides and then transfer to a plate or platter (or a wire rack like I did, ha).
The doughnuts should have enough moisture on the outside for the sugar to stick, like mine did. But if you find that they’re on the drier side, you can brush them lightly with a bit of melted butter before coating in the sugar.
These doughnuts are best when eaten the day they’re made because you’ll find that the sugar begins to melt into them the longer they sit. If you do happen to have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature and recoat them in sugar.
You could even bake them ahead of time and keep them uncoated. Then just coat in sugar before serving. If you do go with this method, you’ll probably have to brush them with the melted before for the sugar to stick.
I highly recommend these doughnuts, for the strawberry powdered sugar alone. I know it’s an extra step but it’s well-worth it. If you don’t want to make it, you can of course coat the doughnuts in plain powdered sugar BUT I urge you to please give it a go if you can because it really makes the doughnuts what they are! Let me know if you have any questions or comments below. Stay safe out there, my friends.
Baked Strawberry Cake Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 6 ounces fresh strawberries diced
- 1 1.2 oz bag freeze-dried strawberries
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease two doughnut pans with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together 1 1/4 cups of the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Stir in the dry ingredients and yogurt, alternating between the two, making sure to start and end with dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, toss together the diced strawberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Add to the batter and gently fold until evenly distributed. Fill the prepared doughnut pans, about halfway up, with the batter and give them a gentle tap on the counter to even out as much as possible. Bake until golden brown around the edges and a toothpick, inserted in the middle, comes out clean, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.
- To make the strawberry powdered sugar, place the dried strawberries and powdered sugar in a food processor or a high speed blender. Blend until the strawberries are completely powdered and blended into the sugar. Transfer to a shallow dish.
- Working with one at a time, coat the doughnuts with the sugar, turning them over to coat both sides and then transfer to a plate or platter. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Enjoy!
great way to incorporate strawberries! Sometimes I actually prefer the texture of cake over doughnut texture, even when not krispy creme they still sometimes are too “soft” for my preference, and even the cake fried doughnuts can sometimes make me feel slightly sick after eating I think because of the deep frying so, I like the bake option!
This looks so good! What a fun dish to make for weekend brunch!
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make them?
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors!