Birthday Cake Doughnuts are fun and festive baked doughnut recipe with a sweet glaze and colorful sprinkles. Who wouldn’t want to wake up to these on their birthday?
Say happy birthday with birthday cake doughnuts!
Birthdays are on my mind lately. My youngest daughter is turning 21 next month, but she won’t be home to celebrate it with us. She goes straight from the end of her semester abroad to a summer internship. I admire her determination and drive, but I also feel a little bit sorry for her, and for us. There doesn’t seem to be any time to just hang out anymore. Everything is a scramble for her generation.
Wouldn’t she have just squealed if I’d served her these when she was 7. Or 12. And I’m pretty certain she wouldn’t turn up her nose at them even now.
I’m a closet sprinkle fiend. I buy them whenever I see a new variety, and since they last forever, I have a little collection going. I even made my own a couple of months ago.
These doughnuts gave me a change to use up some of my stash.
I highly recommend making a batch of these for someone you love. Birthdays come and go so quickly…
Birthday Cake Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg, don't leave this out!
- 1 cup buttermilk, you can use whole milk
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sprinkles plus more for topping
- for the glaze
- 1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk or cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
- Add the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Fold in the 1/3 cup sprinkles.
- Spray your non-stick doughnut pan and fill the holes about 3/4 of the way full. An easy way to do this is to transfer the batter into a large baggie and cut a small hole in the corner. Pipe the batter into the holes.
- Bake for about 12-14 minutes until the doughnuts are dry on top and spring back when lightly touched.
- Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.
- Make the glaze by mixing the sifted sugar with the milk and vanilla. Add a little more milk if the glaze seems too thick. Add more sugar if it seems too thin.
- When the doughnuts are completely cool, dip them, top down, into the glaze. Add sprinkles before the glaze sets up.
First of all I couldn’t agree with you more about everything being a scramble with our kids generation. Somehow in a world that’s so tech savvy you’d think it would be less hectic but now you can’t even escape to peace and quiet with cell phones everywhere. Even I’ve fallen victim.
We live in the Midwest and both of my kids went to school up east and both planned to stay there. However they both made it back home and live in town with great jobs and come by all the time, so I’m sure she will be back for many birthdays.
You can bet she loves her birthdays at home as much as you love baking for her. My daughter would flip over these funfetti donuts. I’m so glad I popped by – I will definitely make these for her.
One last thing – if she can’t be there for her bday you could always fly out there to celebrate. I’m sure shed love that.
Thanks for stopping by, Vicki—how lucky that your kids live nearby, that’s a real luxury these days!
Wow, these are amazing at any age Sue, and your pics are fantastic! Happy birthday to your girl!
Cute idea, Sue! My daughter’s generation was the same…she’ll be 56 this year! (I can’t believe it!) It was all rush, rush, school and then work. But it pays off for them and after all, didn’t we raise them to be independent? However, if I put those donuts in front of her right now, she’d laugh and appreciate, but eat them? I don’t think so. You’re right…they’re for the very young, and for us to have the pure pleasure of making them! ๐
Well, I don’t think we ever outgrow the wonder of sprinkles, whether we’re on the cooking side or the eating side ๐
I am bedazzled by these! Thank you for sprinkling my day with sunshine, Sue.
That is the perfect word for these doughnuts…bedazzled! I’m going to have to remember that for a future recipe title!
Sue I love this post. First, I love sprinkles, too. I hoard new colors and Target often has seasonal ones in their $1 bins. Supremely cheap and you get a BIG container usually. Way more cost effective than Wilton, etc.
I love that you’re into donuts lately! I need to blog about donuts again!
Does this recipe make 12 donuts? Or 6?
And what you said about your daughter squealing when she was 7…well, mine is 6 and I need to make these while I can still get some squeals out of her ๐ Touching post, too!
This makes 12, I just updated, thanks. It makes 12 full sized doughnuts. And you have to make them for your daughter, although, I have a feeling she’s not wanting in the treat department ๐
that looks so amazing! i have always wanted to make my own donuts and yours are inspirational.
SO fun and SO pretty Sue! My son went through a stage for quite a few years when he didn’t want cake, just a big plate of homemade doughnuts!
Thanks, Chris!
I finally bought my donut pan and I’m making them this weekend. Mine won’t be this pretty – with homemade sprinkles and everything. Sorry you will all miss her birthday. It does seem to get harder to vacation together, or even have a nice long visit. This world has gotten in a great big hurry. Thinking of you ๐
Thanks Tricia, I can’t wait to see what you do with your pan.
I remember your sprinkles:) Jacques might even say you are my patience twin:)
I think a need a donut tin:)
I always grate my nutmeg fresh too and it makes sense what you said about it being a key ingredient..NOW I know:)
I love Cardamom too:)
One of mine is approaching 40..
I thought I was still forty 2 yrs ago..
Time FLIES..too quickly..:(
I used to have a really cool nutmeg grater, it had a crank handle and the nutmegs were stored right inside it, but it broke after many years of hard use. Now I just use a fine zester and it works fine, but I do miss my old gadget!
Time does fly…which is why we should make sprinkly treats to commemorate every darn bit of it that we possibly can.
Love the post, Happy Birthday to your youngest and what awesome pictures! I totally want one of those pans now. I swear a doughnut pan is going to be the next thing I buy, darn you.
Seriously? 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg adds that much? You know that means I need to bake a cake with nutmeg asap, right? I need to know what I’m missing!
The reason the nutmeg is so important is that, even though most people don’t realize it, nutmeg is the classic flavor in doughnuts, so it gives these that unmistakable ‘doughnut’ taste. I always grate my nutmeg fresh, because it’s one of my favorite spices.