These 2-Ingredient Baked Cake Donuts are too good to be true! Just two ingredients for the donuts, a container of frosting for the glaze and in less than 30 minutes you’ll have great cake donuts ready to enjoy!
Do or Donut, There is No Try
Today’s the day, my friends! It’s National Donut Day!!! Yes, a day to celebrate our love for donuts & devour as many as we want without being judged. Wait, who would ever judge someone for eating donuts?! 😉 It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with donuts. I mean I wear donut shoes, donut shirts, a donut necklace and all the donut shops in town know me by name. Absolutely no shame in my donut loving game!
In honor of my love for donuts, I’m not just sharing one yummy donut recipe today, but two! Woo-hoo!
Watch Me Make Baked Cake Donuts
Join me in the kitchen as I make a batch of these amazing 2-Ingredient Baked Cake Donuts!
Two Ingredients, One Delicious Donut
First up are these incredibly easy and delicious 2-Ingredient Baked Cake Donuts with a 1-Ingredient Glaze. They’re too good to be true! This recipe is for my semi-homemade, fear of frying, need something quick & easy but still want them to taste amazing, donut lovers out there. You’re gonna love these donuts!
Okay, back to these 2-Ingredient baked cake donuts! “How can that be??” you might be asking. What about the flour! The yeast! The powdered sugar! The salt! Surely there are egg! Well, they’re actually made with a cake mix and one other ingredient mixed in. I don’t use cake mixes often because I love baking from scratch, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using a cake mix every once in a while to make life easier & to mix things up.
So when I got this idea in my head to bake donuts with a cake mix and just one other ingredient mixed in, I ran with it and I love how they turned out! The options are plentiful when it comes to picking a flavor for these cake donuts. Just take your favorite cake mix and stir in either 2 cups mashed banana, 2 cups cinnamon applesauce or a 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin to the dough.
And you’ll never believe it, but the glaze is just store-bought frosting that’s been microwaved for about 10 seconds. It works so perfectly as a donut glaze. I was literally doing the happy dance when this little idea of mine worked so well.
The donuts are soft and cakey and the sweet glaze coats and compliments them perfectly. Oh my yum!
How to Make 2-Ingredient Donuts
To make cake mix donuts, take 1 cake mix, 1 mix-in and 1 container of frosting. Sprinkles are technically optional, but come on! Sprinkles are given when it comes to donuts, am I right?! 😉
Here we go…
You like chocolate cake donuts? For chocolate cake donuts: Use a chocolate cake mix and stir in any of the 3 mix-ins and use any frosting glaze you so desire!
For vanilla cake donuts: Use vanilla cake mix and any of the 3 mix-ins would work great and the same goes for the frosting glaze!
For Strawberry cake donuts: Use mashed bananas or applesauce for the mix-in and a strawberry frosting glaze! You like spice cake mix, go with applesauce or pumpkin and a cream cheese or plain vanilla frosting glaze!
So many yummy options! The process for making these donuts is so quick and easy it’s ridiculous. You’ll be baking these bad boys (I mean that in a good way) every chance you get.
Donuts Three Ways
I made them three different ways to show you how: Strawberry banana with a strawberry frosting glaze and sprinkles, of course! Oh la la!!
Apple Spice with a vanilla frosting glaze…sweet & simply delicious! Might be my fave!
Chocolate pumpkin with a chocolate frosting glaze and chocolate sprinkles! Party!
So what are you waiting for? Grab a cake mix, a mix-in, and a container of frosting and you’re less than 30 minutes away from baked cake donut deliciousness!
Even More Donut Deliciousness
Stay tuned for some scratch-made, home-fried Blueberry Donuts that are still super easy and can be ready to enjoy in just 30 minutes. Once again, too good to be true!
Oh, and don’t forget about the Easy Old-Fashioned Donuts, Whole Wheat Baked Banana Donuts with a Peanut Butter Glaze, and Baked Banana Donuts with a Maple Glaze recipes that I’ve posted in the past. They might be oldies on the blog, but they’re still goody good good!
I’m so excited about these donuts! They’re so easy to make, they taste great, the flavor options are endless and everyone will go crazy over them. If you make these 2-Ingredient Donuts, be sure to snap a picture and share it with me or tag me on Instagram @thebakermama so I can see. 
I love seeing how inspired and creative y’all get with the recipes I share. Enjoy!
xoxo,
2-Ingredient Baked Cake Donuts
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 7 mins
- Total Time: 22 mins
- Yield: 12
- Category: Breakfast
Description
These 2-Ingredient Baked Cake Donuts are too good to be true! Just two ingredients for the donuts and a container of frosting for the glaze and in less than 30 minutes you’ll have great cake donuts ready to enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 cake mix, any flavor (just the dry mix)
- 1 mix-in (2 cups mashed banana OR 2 cups cinnamon applesauce OR 1 (15 ounce) can pure pumpkin)
- 1 container frosting, any flavor
- Sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray one (or two) 6 cavity donut pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cake mix (just the dry mix, no other ingredients listed on the box) with one of the mix-in options until well combined. Transfer the batter to a gallon-size resealable baggie and seal shut. Cut a small piece off one corner off the bottom of the baggie and fill each donut ring almost completely full with batter. You can also use a piping bag, if you have one. (Should make 12 donuts)
- Bake for 7-8 minutes or until donuts are set and spring back up when touched. Let donuts cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack set over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to collect glaze drippings. Repeat process with remaining batter if you don’t have two donut pans.
- Heat frosting in a microwave safe bowl for 10-15 seconds until of drizzling consistency. Dip one donut at a time into the frosting glaze and place upright back on the wire rack. If sprinkling with sprinkles, do so immediately after glazing each donut. Repeat with remaining donuts. Allow glaze to set for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
If using a mini donut pan, bake for about 5 minutes before testing doneness.
PRODUCTS USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE:
Can I mix in some canned pie filling to this.
Hi Maej! Yes, just be sure to use 2 cups and if it’s a chunkier pie filling with big cherry or apple chunks in it, you might want to cut the big chunks up a bit so they don’t overwhelm or weigh down the texture of the donuts. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Thank you! I made your 2 ingredient Doughnuts and was the hit of the bake sale! We had one gentleman that bought out all that were left. I macerated blueberries and strawberries and made each into doughnuts. Two customers said that if I did not frost them they were good for diabetics. Your ingenious recipes made this possible and my Ladies Shriners are looking forward to the next opportunity to have a Bake Sale! Have a Wonderful Day!
Hi, Ginny! This is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing. I am so happy that they were enjoyed and that your bake sale was such a success.
I have made these twice and I don’t think that they bake long enough and seem to be gooey and fall apart. I just used a chocolate cake cake mix and a can of pumpkin purée and baked for the recommended time and they are gooey inside. I don’t know how to correct this without baking them longer and I’m still not sure that they will be manageable to pick up and eat like a doughnut
Hi Kandis! It sounds like your oven needs to bake them longer. I always suggest baking the recommended time for the recipe or until baked all the way through. With baking, it’s important to check your baked goods often towards the end and let them continue baking until baked all the way through. Oven temperatures certainly vary. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Could you make the donuts ahead of time and freeze them. Take them out when needed then ice them after they are i thawed.
Hi, Carole! Yes, absolutely! I recommend wrapping them individually and then placing in a freezer-safe baggie until ready to enjoy. Defrost overnight and then ice them once thawed. Hope this helps! Enjoy! ❤️
This recipe was so easy! My 5 year old loves donuts. These taste better than buying them at Dunkin’ Donuts. Thank you for sharing!
Hi, Angela! So glad y’all enjoyed it!
What would you recommend as add in for red velvet cake mix?
Hi Krystal! I think it would be great to mix a red velvet cake mix with prepared chocolate pudding or vanilla yogurt. You could also use pure pumpkin which would give it a great texture without adding flavor. I hope this helps. Enjoy!
Yes, thank you.
What would you recommend as add in for blueberry cake mix?
Hi Krystal! For a blueberry cake mix, I would recommend mashed banana, applesauce or a blueberry flavored yogurt. Enjoy!
We tried this method using a Devil’s Food cake mix and 2 c. applesauce. For round, doughnut-shaped cake, this was fine but definitely not cake doughnuts. No complaints; just a caution to temper your expectations.
I’ve made these twice with my 4 year old assistant. They turned delicious both times. strawberry cake mix and mashed banana, I halved the cake mix and used 1 cup mashed banana, bc we only needed six donuts. I used a simple powdered sugar glaze and added sprinkles. These are beautiful, easy, so much easier than frying donuts, and cheaper than going out to the bakery. now I think I need to find a donut hole tin to make my Sundays better.
Yay! I’m so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing with us. I hope y’all continue to enjoy for years to come!