These easy cinnamon baked donuts start with cake mix and sour cream, then get a ribbon of sweet brown sugar and cinnamon baked right through the middle. Roll them in cinnamon sugar while they're warm and you've got soft, tender donuts with all the cozy bakery flavor and absolutely none of the frying, yeast, or early-morning, before coffee chaos. Thank God.
Table of Contents
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🥰 Is this cinnamon baked donuts recipe for you?
- You want soft, tender baked donuts without hauling out a vat of hot oil.
- Cake mix shortcuts make you happy because breakfast does not need to become a character-building exercise.
- You believe cinnamon sugar should be applied with enthusiasm, not restraint.
- That gooey brown sugar-cinnamon swirl in the middle sounds like an excellent reason to make donuts before noon.
- You need something easy enough for a lazy weekend morning but good enough to make the kitchen smell like you've been accomplishing things.
🧾 Ingredients
We're building the cinnamon flavor inside the donut, not dusting some sugar on top and calling it a day. That brown sugar swirl in the middle takes its responsibilities seriously.
- Yellow cake mix - Our shortcut to soft, fluffy donuts without measuring six different dry ingredients before coffee.
- Sour cream - Makes the donuts exceptionally moist and tender with just enough tang to keep them from tasting overly sweet.
- Brown sugar - Melts into that cinnamon ribbon in the center and gives it a deeper, almost caramel flavor.
- Cinnamon - Goes in the swirl and the coating because subtlety has no authority here.
- Granulated sugar - Combines with cinnamon for that classic sparkly, slightly crunchy donut coating.
- Chipotle - Just a pinch. You're not making spicy donuts; it adds a tiny flicker of warmth behind all that cinnamon and brown sugar.
📖 Recipe
Baked Cinnamon Donuts
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Donuts
- 15.25 ounces yellow cake mix
- 1 ½ cups sour cream, do not use low fat or fat free
Cinnamon Center
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 pinch chipotle, optional
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 pinch chipotle, optional
- melted butter, if needed to make sugar stick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Spray a donut pan with no-stick spray and set aside.
- Mix the cake mix and sour cream until all of the sour cream is mixed in and it creates a thick dough. The dough will be thick like a quick bread dough.
- Spoon the dough into the prepared donut pans, filling them about ⅓ of the way up.
- Smooth the dough with wet fingers.
- Sprinkle a layer of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture carefully over the dough in the donut pan.
- Top with another layer of the donut dough.
- Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until an instant read thermometer shows 195℉.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before turning out of the pan and gently rolling in the cinnamon sugar.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Center Mixture
- Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together.
- Add in chipotle if using. Set aside.
Cinnamon Sugar Mixture for Rolling
- Mix the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and chipotle together.
- Set aside.
Notes
- These do not pipe out of a decorating bag or a ziploc with the corner cut off. Just spoon the batter evenly into the pan.
- Don't overfill the donut cavities. About ¾ full gives the donuts room to rise without swallowing up the center hole.
- Roll the donuts in cinnamon sugar while they're still warm. It sticks much better, and you usually get that glorious sparkly coating without brushing them with butter first.
- If the cinnamon sugar doesn't stick brush lightly with melted butter and add the cinnamon sugar.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍩 The donuts are dry. Overbaking is usually the culprit. Pull them when the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. You should be right at 195F.
🍩 The cinnamon filling leaks out. Keep the brown sugar mixture away from the edges when you add it. You want that glorious little cinnamon vein trapped inside the donut, not caramelizing itself onto the pan. For me? I like seeing the uneven little stripes on the sides of the donuts.
🍩 The donuts stick to the pan. Grease the donut cavities well, including around the center posts. Let the donuts cool for a few minutes before gently loosening the edges and removing them.
🍩 The cinnamon sugar won't stick. Coat the donuts while they're still warm. That slight surface moisture helps the sugar cling without needing to dunk them in melted butter first. If the sugar mixture still won't stick then brush lightly with melted butter and gently cover in the sugar. Wait for a few minutes and cover in sugar one more time.
🍩 The donuts are tough or dense. Once the cake mix and sour cream are combined, stop mixing. This batter doesn't need to be interrogated.
🍽 More easy donut recipes
🏡 These cinnamon baked donuts are proof that a box of cake mix can get up to some very good things. Soft and tender with a brown sugar-cinnamon swirl tucked inside and plenty of cinnamon sugar outside, they're perfect with hot coffee, cold milk, or eaten directly over the kitchen sink before anyone realizes they're done. 🍩
Make a batch this weekend and see how long they last. I'm betting breakfast doesn't make it to lunch.
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