Weeknights in our house are a whirlwind of homework, laundry, and the eternal question of what to put on the table. That is precisely why these baked cinnamon sugar donut holes have become my secret weapon. They come together in one bowl, bake in under fifteen minutes, and vanish even faster than that.

Recipe Overview

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 12 minutes
• Total time: 22 minutes
• Servings: Makes 24 donut holes (serves 4–6)
• Difficulty: Easy

Why You’ll Love This Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

• One bowl, one pan: The batter mixes up in a single bowl and bakes in a standard muffin tin, so cleanup takes minutes rather than the rest of your evening.
• No deep frying: You get that tender, cake-like interior and cinnamon-sugar coating without a vat of hot oil spitting at you while you try to help with spelling homework.
• Ready before the pasta water boils: From cracking the first egg to pulling the tin from the oven, the whole process fits into the gap between arriving home and sitting down to eat.
• Make-ahead friendly: The batter can rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours, and the baked holes freeze beautifully for weeks.
• Kid-approved and adult-approved: My children think they are getting a treat, and I know they are eating something I made from scratch with pantry staples.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

15 min prep  ·  12 min cook  ·  4 servings

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Ingredients You’ll Need

• 200 g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp fine salt
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 100 g caster sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 120 ml whole milk
• 60 g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• For the coating: 80 g caster sugar
• For the coating: 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• For the coating: 50 g unsalted butter, melted

Tip: Weigh your flour rather than scooping it with a cup, because a heavy hand here turns tender donut holes into dense little pucks. If you only have cups, spoon the flour in loosely and level it off with the back of a knife.

Equipment You’ll Need

• 9×13 inch baking dish
• Aluminium foil
• Mixing bowls
• Sharp knife

How to Make Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

1. Heat the oven and prepare your tin. Set the oven to 180°C fan or 200°C conventional and let it come fully up to temperature, which takes about fifteen minutes. Grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin generously with butter or a neutral oil, paying attention to the corners where the batter likes to cling. If you only own a standard muffin tin, you can still make this work — just fill the wells one-third full and add two minutes to the bake time.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and caster sugar. Whisk for a full thirty seconds until everything looks uniform, with no streaks of baking powder visible against the flour. This step feels fussy but it is the difference between an even rise and a bitter pocket in one unlucky donut hole.
3. Combine the wet ingredients. In a second, smaller bowl, whisk the egg with the milk, melted butter, and vanilla until the mixture is pale and slightly frothy at the edges. The butter should be warm but not hot — if you can hold your finger in it comfortably, it is ready. Hot butter will scramble the egg and leave you with little cooked flecks you cannot strain out.
4. Bring the two together gently. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula until just combined. Stop the moment you see the last dry patch disappear. The batter should look thick, glossy, and slightly lumpy — a few small flour streaks are far better than a smooth, overworked batter that bakes up tough.
5. Fill the tin. Spoon the batter into the prepared holes, filling each one about two-thirds full. A small cookie scoop or a teaspoon works well here, and a quick tap of the tin on the counter settles the batter evenly. You should hear a soft thud rather than a slosh, which tells you the batter is the right consistency.
6. Bake until golden and springy. Slide the tin into the centre of the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The donut holes are ready when the tops are domed, pale gold, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with only a crumb or two attached. You will smell a warm, nutty, vanilla-scented aroma just before they finish, which is your cue to start watching the oven door.
7. Rest briefly, then coat. Leave the donut holes in the tin for two minutes — no longer, or the bottoms steam and turn soggy. While they rest, melt the coating butter in one shallow bowl and stir together the caster sugar and cinnamon in another. Roll each warm donut hole first in butter, then in the cinnamon sugar, turning it so every surface is coated. The sugar should cling in a thick, even jacket rather than a thin dusting.
8. Serve immediately or hold warm. Pile the coated donut holes onto a plate and eat them while the coating is still slightly crisp against the tender crumb. If you need to hold them for later, keep them uncovered at room temperature rather than under foil, which traps steam and dissolves the sugar.

Tips From My Kitchen

• Measure your nutmeg with restraint. Nutmeg is the quiet backbone of a good cinnamon sugar donut, but too much turns the whole batch medicinal. Half a teaspoon is the sweet spot for this amount of batter; if you are grating it fresh, use a light hand and taste the batter before baking.
• Let the batter rest for ten minutes if you have time. A short rest hydrates the flour and gives you a noticeably more tender crumb. It is not essential on a frantic Tuesday, but on a calmer evening it is the easiest upgrade you can make.
• Coat while warm, not hot. If the donut holes are straight from the oven, the butter melts too fast and the sugar slides off. Two minutes of cooling is the window where the butter clings without turning the coating into a paste.
• Double the cinnamon sugar and keep the extra. Leftover cinnamon sugar keeps in a jar for months and is wonderful on buttered toast, porridge, or sliced apples. It also means you never have to scramble to mix a fresh batch when the first tray disappears.
• Freeze the uncoated holes. Baked donut holes freeze beautifully for up to two months in a sealed bag. Reheat them in a low oven for five minutes, then roll in butter and cinnamon sugar and they taste almost freshly made.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overcrowding the pan: If you pile batter into every well right to the brim, the donut holes rise into each other and merge into one lumpy sheet. Fill each well only two-thirds full and leave a little breathing room, even if it means baking a second small batch.
• Wrong temperature: An oven that runs cool gives you pale, dense donut holes that taste raw in the middle, while one that runs hot browns the tops before the centre sets. Use an oven thermometer if you have one, and stick to 180°C fan or 200°C conventional for the most reliable results.
• Skipping the rest time: Pulling the donut holes from the tin the second they come out of the oven makes them crumble in your hand. Two minutes of resting lets the structure firm up so they release cleanly and hold together through the butter-and-sugar coating.

What to Serve With Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

• A hot mug of tea or coffee for dunking
• A cold glass of milk for the children
• Fresh berries or sliced banana on the side
• A scoop of vanilla ice cream for a weekend treat
• A Mediterranean Pasta Salad Recipe Cold if you are serving them as part of a larger spread

Frequently Asked Questions

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donut Holes

Tender, bite-sized donut holes baked in a mini muffin tin, then rolled in melted butter and a thick cinnamon sugar coating while still warm.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 27 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 350

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 200 g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp fine salt
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 100 g caster sugar
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 120 ml whole milk
• 60 g unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the coating: 80 g caster sugar

For the coating: 2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the coating: 50 g unsalted butter, melted

Method

 

1. Heat the oven and prepare your tin. Set the oven to 180°C fan or 200°C conventional and let it come fully up to temperature, which takes about fifteen minutes. Grease a 24-hole mini muffin tin generously with butter or a neutral oil, paying attention to the corners where the batter likes to cling. If you only own a standard muffin tin, you can still make this work — just fill the wells one-third full and add two minutes to the bake time.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and caster sugar. Whisk for a full thirty seconds until everything looks uniform, with no streaks of baking powder visible against the flour. This step feels fussy but it is the difference between an even rise and a bitter pocket in one unlucky donut hole.
3. Combine the wet ingredients. In a second, smaller bowl, whisk the egg with the milk, melted butter, and vanilla until the mixture is pale and slightly frothy at the edges. The butter should be warm but not hot — if you can hold your finger in it comfortably, it is ready. Hot butter will scramble the egg and leave you with little cooked flecks you cannot strain out.
4. Bring the two together gently. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula until just combined. Stop the moment you see the last dry patch disappear. The batter should look thick, glossy, and slightly lumpy — a few small flour streaks are far better than a smooth, overworked batter that bakes up tough.
5. Fill the tin. Spoon the batter into the prepared holes, filling each one about two-thirds full. A small cookie scoop or a teaspoon works well here, and a quick tap of the tin on the counter settles the batter evenly. You should hear a soft thud rather than a slosh, which tells you the batter is the right consistency.
6. Bake until golden and springy. Slide the tin into the centre of the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The donut holes are ready when the tops are domed, pale gold, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with only a crumb or two attached. You will smell a warm, nutty, vanilla-scented aroma just before they finish, which is your cue to start watching the oven door.
7. Rest briefly, then coat. Leave the donut holes in the tin for two minutes — no longer, or the bottoms steam and turn soggy. While they rest, melt the coating butter in one shallow bowl and stir together the caster sugar and cinnamon in another. Roll each warm donut hole first in butter, then in the cinnamon sugar, turning it so every surface is coated. The sugar should cling in a thick, even jacket rather than a thin dusting.
8. Serve immediately or hold warm. Pile the coated donut holes onto a plate and eat them while the coating is still slightly crisp against the tender crumb. If you need to hold them for later, keep them uncovered at room temperature rather than under foil, which traps steam and dissolves the sugar.

Notes

If using a standard muffin tin, fill wells one-third full and add 2 minutes to the bake time. Coat while warm so the cinnamon sugar clings. Store uncovered at room temperature to keep the coating crisp.

These baked cinnamon sugar donut holes have earned a permanent spot in our weeknight rotation, and I suspect they will in yours too. If you make them, I would love to hear how they turned out — leave a comment below and tell me whether your family reached for seconds before the plates were even cleared. For another fuss-free dinner idea, try this Airline Chicken Recipe Pan Seared alongside them, or finish the meal with an Easter Poke Cake Recipe Dessert when you have a little more time on your hands.