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How I Ditched Deep Frying and Started Baking Donuts at Home
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items Sick of grease-splattered counters and that lingering fried-oil smell in your kitchen? Same. I spent years thinking homemade donuts required a vat of hot oil and a prayer. Turns out a few smart pans and the right tools let you bake fluffy, golden don...
Sections
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Donut Baking Pans That Actually Release Clean
Silicone Donut Molds for Easy Cleanup
Batter Dispensers That End the Mess
Donut Glazes and Icings Worth Making
Sprinkles and Toppings That Stick
Mixing Bowls That Handle Thick Batter
Donut Baking Pans That Actually Release Clean
Nothing worse than prying a stuck donut out of a pan and ending up with a crumbled mess. These pans pop donuts out in one piece every single time — I stopped greasing halfway through and they still released perfectly.
Grab this if you've ever watched a donut tear in half coming out of a cheap pan. Six cavities is the sweet spot for a standard batch, and the non-stick coating actually works — I stopped using cooking spray after the third use and nothing stuck.
Wilton Daily Delights 6-Cavity Doughnut Pan Non-Stick
Switch to this when you're making donuts for more than just yourself. Twelve at a time means one batch covers a whole brunch crowd. Fits a standard oven rack without hanging over the edges, which was my biggest worry before buying.
Wilton Non-Stick Mini Donut Baking Mold, 12 Cavity
Try these for donut holes without the deep fryer — my kids demolished an entire pan of minis before the regular-sized ones even cooled. Perfect if you want portion control or just like popping tiny donuts like candy.
Wilton Bake it Simply Non-Stick Mini Donut Pan, 12-Cavity
Silicone Donut Molds for Easy Cleanup
Washing bakeware is the part nobody talks about. These silicone molds bend, flex, and basically push donuts out for you — then they fold flat in a drawer instead of taking up half a cabinet.
Use these if your kitchen drawers are already overflowing — they roll up and stash anywhere. The flexibility means you literally peel the mold away from the donut instead of flipping and hoping. Dishwasher safe too, which matters at 9pm on a Sunday.
Non-Stick Silicone Donut Baking Pans
Snag this three-pack before your next birthday party. Eighteen donuts in one oven cycle changed how I do dessert tables. The silicone is thick enough that it doesn't flop when you carry it to the oven — learned that lesson with a flimsy one from a do...
Anaeat 3 Pack Donut Pan Silicone Baking Mold
Keep these around for full-size bakery-style donuts. The wells are deeper than most silicone molds so you get that thick, fluffy ring instead of a sad flat circle. For anyone who wants their baked donuts to actually look like real donuts.
Anaeat 2 Pack Donut Pan Silicone Baking Mold
Batter Dispensers That End the Mess
Pouring donut batter from a mixing bowl is a disaster — it goes everywhere except the cavity. A dispenser changed my whole process and cut my cleanup time in half.
Grab this before you ruin another pan trying to pour batter from a bowl with a shaky hand. The valve on the bottom lets you dispense exact amounts into each cavity. Pancakes, cupcakes, donuts — it handles all of them without a single drip on the coun...
Norpro, Batter Dispenser, 4 Cups, Soft Grip Handle
Try this if precision matters to you — the handle squeeze mechanism gives you way more control than a pour spout. Filled six donut cavities evenly on my first try, which never happened when I was using a measuring cup and a prayer.
Pancake Batter Dispenser
Pair this with any dispenser for smoothing batter flat in the mold. Before I had this, my donuts baked with weird lumpy tops because I just left the batter however it landed. Ten seconds of spreading makes a noticeable difference.
Tovolo Mini Scoop and Spread Dual-End Spreader, Charcoal
Donut Glazes and Icings Worth Making
A plain baked donut is fine, but a glazed one is what makes people say ‘wait, you made these?’ These ingredients took my donuts from homemade-looking to bakery-level.
Ditch the imitation stuff — real vanilla in a simple powdered sugar glaze makes a difference you can actually taste. A capful in your glaze recipe gives that warm, bakery smell that fills the whole kitchen. For anyone who thought all vanilla was the ...
Great Value Pure Vanilla Extract, 2 fl oz
Use these melted as a dip coating when you want that smooth, shiny donut glaze look. They set up firm in about five minutes at room temperature. Way easier than tempering chocolate, and they come in enough colors to match any party theme.
Wilton White Candy Melts Candy, 12 oz
Toss a drop into white glaze and suddenly your donuts look like they came from a trendy donut shop. My daughter's unicorn-themed birthday donuts got more compliments than the cake I spent three hours on. Stock up — you'll use these more than you thin...
Great Value Assorted Food Color and Egg Dye, 1.2 oz.
Sprinkles and Toppings That Stick
Half my early toppings slid right off because I was adding them too late. Timing matters, but having the right toppings on hand matters more.
Keep a jar of these in your pantry permanently — they're the classic rainbow sprinkle that sticks to glaze without melting or bleeding color. Press them on while the glaze is still tacky and they lock in place. Kids go through these fast so buy two.
Pack of 6, Betty Crocker Rainbow Sprinkles, 1.75 oz
Swap these in when you want that tiny-dot sprinkle look instead of jimmies. They roll around less than you'd expect if you press them gently into wet glaze. The color variety means you can match any holiday without buying five separate containers.
Wilton Rainbow Nonpareils, 3 oz.
Try pressing these into chocolate-glazed donuts right out of the oven — they soften just enough to stick but keep their shape. Cheaper than fancy baking chips and honestly taste the same melted into a donut. For the chocolate-on-chocolate people who ...
Great Value Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips 12
Mixing Bowls That Handle Thick Batter
Donut batter is thicker than pancake batter and thinner than cookie dough — that awkward middle ground needs a bowl that's deep enough to whisk without splattering everywhere.
Grab the set so you have one for dry ingredients, one for wet, and one for mixing. The glass is heavy enough that the bowl doesn't spin on the counter while you whisk. Been using mine for four years and they still look new after hundreds of dishwashe...
Pyrex Essentials (3-Piece) Glass Mixing Bowls Set
Use these if you've ever cracked a ceramic bowl by dropping it — stainless steel bounces instead of shattering. The flat bottom keeps them stable on granite counters, which was a problem I didn't know I had until a round-bottomed bowl nearly rolled o...
Mainstays Stainless Steel Mixing and Storage Bowls Set
Snag these for the nesting storage alone — five bowls take up the space of one. The pour spouts actually work for transferring batter into a dispenser without making a river down the side. Color-coded so you always grab the right size without checkin...
Kitchenaid Set of 5 Plastic Mixing Bowls in Pistachio
Whisks and Spatulas for Smooth Batter
Lumpy batter means lumpy donuts. Learned that the hard way when my first batch came out looking like the surface of the moon.
Try this whisk if your current one bends under thick batter — the wires on this thing are sturdy enough to break up flour pockets without flexing. Comfortable grip matters when you're whisking for three minutes straight, and the soft handle doesn't d...
Good Grips 11-Inch Balloon Whisk
Use this to scrape every last drop of batter out of the bowl — the silicone edge hugs the curve of the bowl so nothing gets wasted. Before this spatula, I was leaving behind enough batter for a whole extra donut. Heat resistant too, which comes in ha...
GIR: Get It Right Silicone Kitchen Spatula Turner
Keep this around as your backup whisk for glazes and lighter batters. Silicone won't scratch non-stick bowls or pans, which matters if you mix batter directly in coated cookware. Dishwasher safe and under five bucks — no reason not to have one in the...
Mainstays 3-Piece Silicone Whisk Set, 10.5 in/10.4 in/9.6
Cooling Racks That Prevent Soggy Bottoms
Baked donuts sitting on a flat surface steam from the bottom and get gummy. A wire rack fixes that instantly — air circulates and they cool evenly in minutes.
Grab this rack before your first batch — laying donuts flat on a plate was my biggest rookie mistake. Steam gets trapped underneath and the bottom turns mushy. This grid lets air flow everywhere and the non-stick coating means glaze drips don't cemen...
Wilton Perfect Results Cooling Rack, 3 Tier, Non-Stick
Switch to stackable racks when you're doing multiple batches. Vertical space is free real estate in a small kitchen. I fit three dozen donuts cooling at once without covering every inch of counter space.
Baker's Secret Nonstick Carbon Steel Rectangular Cooling
Toss this one in the dishwasher without worrying — it's simple, sturdy, and fits inside a standard sheet pan for glazing over it. Drips fall onto the pan instead of your counter. For anyone tired of wiping dried sugar glaze off granite at midnight.
Mainstays Cooling Rack, Nonstick Carbon Steel, 16" x 10"
Sheet Pans for Catching Glaze Drips
Glazing donuts without something underneath is a guaranteed sticky counter. Ask me how I know. A sheet pan underneath the cooling rack catches everything.
Use this under your cooling rack when glazing — it catches every drip and you just soak it after. The aluminum heats evenly too, so it doubles as your go-to baking sheet for everything else. Heavy gauge means it won't warp in a hot oven, which happen...
Nordic Ware, Half Sheet, 18"x13" Aluminum, Rectangular Baking Pan
Pair this with a wire rack for a glazing station that cleans up in seconds. The dark non-stick surface hides stains from chocolate glaze that would haunt a lighter pan forever. Sturdy edges keep it from bending when you pick it up one-handed.
Wilton Premium Non-Stick Large Cookie Sheet 16"x12
Keep this around specifically for glazing duty — it's big enough to hold a full cooling rack with room to spare. The non-stick surface means hardened sugar glaze peels right off instead of requiring twenty minutes of soaking. Under ten bucks, so dedi...
Mainstays 11.2 in x 17.2 in Nonstick Cookie & Baking Sheet
Recipe Books and Inspiration for Baked Donuts
Ran out of ideas after vanilla and chocolate. These gave me dozens of flavor combinations I never would have thought of on my own — maple bacon, lavender lemon, brown butter pecan.
Grab this if you want recipes that actually work the first time without guessing. Sally explains the why behind each step, which helped me understand what was going wrong with my dense early batches. The baked donut section alone justified the price ...
Sally's Baking 101 by Sally McKenney
Try this for straightforward recipes when you don't want to read three pages of backstory before getting to the ingredients. Fifty recipes covering baked, fried, and glazed — but the baked section is where it shines. Perfect for weeknight batches whe...
Sara Mellas, The Easy Baked Donut Cookbook, 60 Recipes
Keep this on the shelf for when you want to branch out beyond donuts — the baking fundamentals section taught me more about leavening and ratios than four years of casual baking did. Donut recipes plus muffins, cakes, and breads all in one book. For ...
Taste of Home Ultimate Baking Cookbook (Hardcover)