Easy Baked Funfetti Donuts with Vanilla Glaze
These Easy Baked Funfetti Donuts with Vanilla Glaze are a fun twist on the classic donut. Bursting with colorful sprinkles and topped with a sweet vanilla glaze, these homemade treats bring the joy of funfetti cake to your breakfast table. You won’t believe how simple it is to create these irresistible donuts in your own kitchen!
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When I ran my cake decorating business the most popular cake was always funfetti. Adding rainbow sprinkles to a dessert instantly adds to the fun {like these Sprinkle Sugar Cookies}.
One summer I made a funfetti wedding cake for some friends. I remember leveling the cakes and my children would sit at the counter and eat the scraps just as fast as I could cut them.
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Why You’ll Love this Funfetti Donut Recipe
- You get to start your day with sprinkles! What could be better than that?!
- Using vanilla cake mix makes them super soft and fluffy, while those colorful sprinkles add a fun little crunch to the vanilla donuts.
- And don’t even get me started on that vanilla glaze – it’s the perfect sweet topping that brings it all together.
- The best part is you can whip these up for pretty much any occasion. Kid’s birthday party celebration? Funfetti donuts. Saturday morning treat? Funfetti donuts. No reason at all? You guessed it – colorful funfetti happiest donuts.
They’re so much fun and so easy to make, you might find yourself coming up with excuses to bake a batch.
What Goes Into This Recipe
- Vanilla Cake Mix – The base of our funfetti cake mix donuts is white cake mix, giving them that perfect fluffy texture and saving you from having to measure out a bunch of dry ingredients.
- Buttermilk- Helps to balance the sweetness of these baked treats. I love using it in these lemon poppy seed donuts and crumb cake donuts.
- Rainbow Sprinkles – These little bursts of color are what make our donuts funfetti! You can use any kind of sprinkles you like for this easy recipe. They also work great in this sprinkle cheesecake.
- Powdered Sugar- Using confectioners sugar in the glaze gives it just the right consistency.
- Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract- Helps to enhance the flavor of the glaze and vanilla donut.
See recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make Funfetti Donuts
- In a large bowl, add your vanilla cake mix and wet ingredients, including egg, melted butter, and buttermilk. Mix it all together with a spoon until it’s well combined.
- Now for the fun part – add in those rainbow sprinkles to the donut batter!
- Gently fold them into the batter until they’re evenly distributed. You want every bite to have that funfetti magic.
- Transfer your colorful batter into a large piping bag or a zipper bag. If you’re using a Ziploc bag, just snip off one bottom corner. This makes filling the donut cavities so much easier and less messy. Pipe the donut batter into your prepared donut pans. Fill each donut cavity about 2/3 full – the funfetti cake donuts will puff up as they bake.
- Pop the pans in the oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The tops should be lightly golden brown and springy to the touch. Once they’re out of the oven, let the donuts cool in the pan and on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Then, flip the pan over onto a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely.
- Combine the glaze ingredients and whisk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the top of each donut and top with additional sprinkles.
Expert Tips
- Get creative with the sprinkles. There are so many color combinations, try using a Christmas or Halloween sprinkle mixture and serve them at holiday celebrations.
- Carefully stir the sprinkles into the donut batter. If you over mix after adding them to the batter the sprinkles could color the dough.
- If you don’t have a piping bag–no problem. A large zipped-top bag works great for piping the batter into the pan.
- Add the vanilla glaze after they have cooled. Doing this step too soon will result in the vanilla frosting absorbing into the rainbow sprinkle donut.
- Use a small donut pan for mini donuts. Fill as directed and bake for 8-9 minutes or until cooked through.
Storage and Freezing
Store: Each funfetti cake doughnut is best enjoyed fresh, but if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The glaze might soften a bit, but they’ll still be delicious!
If you want them to last a little longer, you can refrigerate the donuts in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Just let them come to room temperature before serving for the best texture.
Freeze: For longer storage, these donuts freeze well! Place unglazed donuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid, about 1-2 hours. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. They’ll keep for up to 3 months.
To thaw, leave them at room temperature for a couple of hours. Once thawed, you can add the glaze if you freeze them unglazed. Keep in mind that the texture might be slightly different after freezing, but they’ll still be tasty!
Recipe FAQs
Sure! While vanilla cake mix gives that classic funfetti flavor, you can experiment with other flavors like chocolate or strawberry. Just remember to keep those rainbow sprinkles for the true funfetti experience.
No donut pan? No problem! You can use a muffin tin to make funfetti muffin tops instead of funfetti donuts. Just adjust the baking time accordingly.
Any rainbow sprinkles will work, but I prefer the longer “jimmies” type for the best texture and color distribution. Avoid using nonpareils (the tiny round sprinkles) as they tend to bleed their color into the batter.
It’s best to make the glaze right before you’re ready to use it. If it starts to harden, you can always pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again.
Do you love sprinkles? Try these colorful recipes…
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Easy Baked Funfetti Donuts with Vanilla Glaze
Ingredients
Funfetti Donuts
- 1 box vanilla cake mix {13.25 ounces}
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup butter {melted}- I used salted butter
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles
Vanilla Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk – I used 1%
- 2 Tablespoons butter {melted} – I used salted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste {or vanilla extract}
Topping
- 3 Tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Funfetti Donuts
- In a large bowl mix together the cake mix, egg, melted butter, and buttermilk with a spoon. Add in the rainbow sprinkles and gently fold them into the batter until they are evenly distributed. When the batter is well mixed, transfer the mixture to a large piping bag or a zipper bag {remember to cut a hole large enough for the blueberries to pass through it}. Spray the donut pans liberally with nonstick cooking spray and pipe the mixture into the donut pans.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the donuts to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip the pan over onto a wire cooling rack and allow the donuts to cool completely.
Vanilla Glaze
- Once the donuts are cooled, whisk the powdered sugar, milk and melted butter until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the top of each donut. Note: To adjust the consistency of the glaze add more powdered sugar to thicken or milk to thin. Sprinkle with additional sprinkles and serve. Store leftover donuts in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature for up to 3 days.
