Banana Bread Donuts (Printable version)
Soft, spiced donuts made with mashed ripe bananas and warm spices.
# What you need:
→ Wet Ingredients
01 - 2 ripe bananas, mashed
02 - 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
03 - 2/3 cup granulated sugar
04 - 2 large eggs
05 - 1/4 cup whole milk
06 - 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
→ Dry Ingredients
07 - 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
08 - 1 teaspoon baking powder
09 - 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10 - 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
11 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
→ Optional Vanilla Glaze
13 - 1/2 cup powdered sugar
14 - 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
15 - 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
# How To:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-cavity donut pan with butter or nonstick spray.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, melted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
03 - In a separate medium bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg until evenly distributed.
04 - Pour the dry ingredient mixture into the wet ingredients. Fold gently with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this can produce a tough texture.
05 - Transfer the batter to a piping bag or use a spoon to fill each donut cavity approximately three-quarters full, ensuring even distribution.
06 - Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a donut comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly when touched.
07 - Allow the donuts to rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then carefully invert onto a wire cooling rack. Let cool completely before glazing.
08 - In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add additional milk as needed to reach a dippable consistency. Dip each cooled donut top-down into the glaze, then return to the wire rack and let set for 10 to 15 minutes.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- These donuts capture everything comforting about banana bread but cook in a fraction of the time, which means you can go from craving to biting in under thirty minutes.
- The batter comes together in one bowl with no mixer required, making this the kind of recipe you can half sleep through on a lazy weekend.
02 -
- Overmixing the batter activates the gluten in the flour and turns your donuts dense and chewy instead of soft and cakey, so stop stirring the moment the flour disappears.
- Resist the urge to dig into them straight from the oven for the glaze, because the heat will melt the sugar right off and leave you with a sticky mess instead of a clean white shell.
03 -
- Use bananas that are so ripe the peel is nearly black, because at that stage the starches have converted to sugar and the flavor is far deeper than with yellow bananas.
- Tap the filled donut pan firmly on the counter a couple of times before baking to release trapped air bubbles that can cause uneven surfaces.