Published: Sep 23, 2022 · Updated: Oct 9, 2022 by Carole Jones · 79 Comments

Old Fashioned Donut Muffins

Old Fashioned Donut Muffins are those famous dense, rich doughnuts but in muffin form. The glaze over the top makes them perfectly sweet and an easy breakfast muffin recipe. If you are looking for an amazing weekend or holiday breakfast idea, these donut muffins are perfect. Just don’t rush the 3rd step or you will be sorry….

Why I Love This Donut Muffins Recipe

Ever since my Dad became a Papa, Saturdays became Donut Day….aka, a day to use his grandchildren as an excuse to buy donuts. Don’t get me wrong, his grandkids adore Donut Day but he isn’t fooling anyone. My Dad loves donuts and will eat them with or without his grandchildren. He just feels less guilty about it with them around 🙂

One of my favorite types of donuts are old fashioned donuts. They are dense and moist, which is what I prefer. I’ve never been a huge fan of raised donuts because I feel like I am eating nothing but sweet air that still adds inches to my rear end. If I’m going to indulge, I want to feel like I actually ate something.

These donut muffins look and taste just like their namesake, especially with their crinkly tops and thick glaze. With the cinnamon and nutmeg, they make a great fall muffin too. I think next time, I will even try adding a cup of diced apple to them to make them even more fall-themed. However, that would require me to rename them “Apple Fritter Donut Muffins” instead!

What is a Donut Muffin?

A donut muffin uses a sweet cake batter, just like a cake donut, but instead of being fried, it is baked in the oven as a muffin inside a cupcake liner. For an Old Fashioned Donut Muffins, the batter uses sour cream to recreate that signature dense texture of its doughnut counterpart, then gets dipped in a powdered sugar glaze while still warm. That glaze is truly what makes these muffins just like a doughnut.

Besides the old fashion variety, there are also other donut muffin recipes that recreate other classic cake donut flavors. Cinnamon sugar donut muffins are finished off by rolling the warm muffin in cinnamon sugar until it sticks. Or, a chocolate glazed donut muffin takes a dip in chocolate ganache before topping them with sprinkles. Donut muffin varieties are as endless as the types of donuts.

overhead shot of donut muffins on a cutting board

Old Fashion Donut Muffin Ingredients

All-purpose flour
Granulate sugar
Brown sugar
Butter
Canola oil
Baking powder
Baking soda
Large eggs
Sour cream
Milk
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Vanilla
Kosher salt
Powdered sugar

How to Make Old Fashioned Donut Muffins

Mix the fats and sugars together in a large bowl and whisk them together. The bowl should be large enough to give plenty of room for the other ingredients, and for a large rubber spatula to make large, gentle folds.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the seasonings and leaveners.
Whisk the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Be sure to incorporate all the eggs completely.
Gently fold in the milk and flour beginning and ending with the flour. Use a large rubber spatula in big scooping motions: down one side of the bowl, scraping along the bottom, coming up the other side, then up and over the top. Don’t use a whisk or wooden spoon. The goal is to still have a few streaks of flour and lumps in the batter when you scoop the batter into the cupcake liners. Over-mixing creates tough and crumbly muffins.
Scoop the batter into cupcake liners with an ice cream scoop.
Bake the donut muffins just until the tops spring back when gently touched in the middle. Do not over-bake.
Glaze the donut muffins while still warm so the glaze soaks into the tops. Once that glaze sets, dip them a second time for a thicker coating.

Donut Muffin Recipe Variations

The beauty of being a home baker is the freedom to experiment with recipes and find ones that are perfect for you. Don’t hesitate to try any of the following suggestions on these donut muffins, or come up with a list of your own.

Add diced apple or pear to the dry ingredients and toss to coat them before you add the wet. Peel the fruit before dicing it into small pieces and use 1 cup of diced fruit.
Include toasted nuts such as chopped pecans, almonds, or walnuts into the dry ingredients before you add the the wet. You can also sprinkle the donut muffins on top before the frosting dries. Using toasted nuts will add to both the texture and the flavor compared to using un-toasted. Toast nuts on a sheet pan in the oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Add toasted coconut to the top of the donut muffins once you have frosted them. Toast the coconut on a sheet pan in the oven at 350 for 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Mix in dried fruit such as raisins, cranberries, cherries, or blueberries,. Add the dried fruit with the dry ingredients and toss to coat them before the wet is added.

Donut Muffins FAQs

Why does the recipe use both butter and oil?

While both are necessary fats in this old fashion donut muffin recipe, each plays a different role in how they turn out. The butter adds to the flavor and the oil keeps the donut muffins very tender. Be sure the butter is at room temperature so it will mix in easily, but do not melt it.

How do I know when the donut muffins are done baking?

For any muffin recipe, start checking the doneness about 5-8 minutes before the listed bake time is over. Do this by gently pressing on the center of the muffin. If it springs right back, it is done, no matter the color of the muffin. Pull them out and remove them from the pan so they will stop baking. Leaving them in the pan will lead to dry muffins because they will continue to bake. Use this same technique with all muffin, cake, and quick bread recipes.

Old Fashioned Donut Muffins - easy breakfast muffin recipe

Help! My donut muffins turned out dry and tough.

Usually, when this happens to muffins or any quick bread, there are two main culprits. First, you mixed the batter for too long and not gently enough. Don’t use a whisk or wooden spoon to mix the flour and milk into the batter. Instead, grab a large rubber spatula and gently fold them together. Stop mixing the muffins when there are still a few streaks of flour and lumps in the batter. It will be hard, but put down the spatula and step away!

Second, you baked the donut muffins for too long or at too high a temperature. Your oven might be running hotter than it actually says on the display, so grab an oven thermometer to be sure 350 on the control is creating 350 inside the oven. Also, start checking the doneness of the donut muffins about 5-8 minutes before the listed bake time says. Do this by gently pushing on the center of a muffin. If it bounces back, it is done…no matter the color of the muffin. Also, don’t let the donut muffins cool in the pan. Remove them as soon as they finish baking.

Do I have to use cupcake liners with donut muffins?

Feel free to skip the cupcake liners. They are not required for this recipe. They do help with the easy removal of the donut muffins from muffin tins and the liners provide something to hold onto while dipping the warm muffins in the glaze. If you don’t use cupcake liners, be sure to grease the muffin pan well and know that the muffins might finish baking a few minutes earlier than stated in the recipe since the batter will have direct contact with the metal pan.