Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts are sweet and delicious!
These Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts are light and cake-y, doused with a sweet powdered sugar glaze, and topped with chopped Oreos and chocolate sprinkles.
So... how do you spell it, anyway?
Donut... doughnut... How do you spell it? I'm partial to "donut" without any real justification for that preference. The spell check on this computer is flagging "donut" but not "doughnut" as not being a word but... I'm gonna stick to my guns.
Donut it is!!
Looking for other donut recipes?
I gotchu!
I've been getting my donut on lately (see chocolate peppermint cake donuts and pumpkin streusel donuts), and have plans to make more over the weekend. So stay tuned next week!
These particular donuts are especially easy to make, since they start out as a boxed cake mix! I tend to be a little snobby about making everything from scratch, so I had shied away from recipes that use boxed mixes. But, really, there's no need for pretentiousness when a shortcut like this can get donuts into your face hole more quickly. Come with me; Let us all embrace the boxed cake mix donut!
This recipe comes from Kleinworth & Co.
✨ Recipe
Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts
Ingredients
For the donuts
- 1 box chocolate cake mix
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
For the glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the toppings
- chopped Oreo cookies
- chocolate sprinkles
Instructions
To make the donuts
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a donut pan or two with cooking spray and set them aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the cake mix, egg, vegetable oil, and water. Mix until combined.
- Using a piping bag, or spoon, fill the donut pan(s) up about ½-3/4 of the way.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the donuts are done all the way through. Allow them to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
To make the glaze
- In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar a bit of the milk, and the vanilla extract. (see notes)
- Spoon the glaze liberally over the tops of the donuts. Add as many chopped Oreos and sprinkles as your heart desires.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
What gear should you have on hand to make these donuts?
- I have a couple of these donut pans from Wilton. 10/10
- Oreos! Double Stuff, please.
- Boxed chocolate cake mix (use whatever you prefer)
Pin this recipe for later!
Rebecca L Lear
I'm a pretty experienced baker and had some major issues with these. First, I had to bake them for close to 18 minutes (and yes, my oven holds temperature perfectly),. I waited 5 minutes, loosened the edges and they literally fell apart. I think I'll try King Arthur's cake donut recipe,
Rebecca L Lear
I'm a pretty experienced baker and had some major issues with these. First, I had to bake them for close to 18 minutes (and yes, my oven holds temperature perfectly),. I waited 5 minutes, loosened the edges and they literally fell apart. I think I'll try King Arthur's cake donut recipe,
laurenpacek
Sorry to hear that these didn't work out for you!
Darlene Graziano
Can you use a brownie mix in place of cake mix?
laurenpacek
Oo that's a great question! I've never tried it, so I can't say for sure (though now I'm really tempted to give it a go...). If you do try it, please let me know how it works out for you.
Shannon
I just made these using a DH devils food cake mix and they turned out way too soft and fluffy. They weren’t as dense as I was expecting. Delicious but not the texture I was expecting.
laurenpacek
Hey, Shannon! So sorry that they were a bit of a disappointment. I will agree that they're not super cakey and dense (that's how I prefer most of my donuts, too). But I think that's what we're stuck with when using cake mix as a base. If I ever perfect a box mix-based donut that is actually dense, I'll definitely update this recipe!!
Ludi Martin
Just recieved a donut pan for Christmas and can't wait to use it. However I never made donuts but love it. I need simple receipts and using cake mixes would but just what I needed. Do I use one box for 12 donuts?
laurenpacek
Hey, Ludi! Sounds like a great Christmas gift to me. Yup, I used 1 box of cake mix and that yielded 12 donuts. Happy donut-ing!
Liza Sklar
These look really good! But...I want my donuts to be more like a cake donut and less like a boxed cake texture. What can I add to the mix to make them more dense?
Liza Sklar
These look really good! But...I want my donuts to be more like a cake donut and less like a boxed cake texture. What can I add to the mix to make them more dense?
laurenpacek
Tbh, that's how I prefer my donuts, too. I think you might be better off making them from scratch rather than using a boxed cake mix.
Hina Ahmad
How strong do these donuts turn out? Are they too fragile to be stacked or hung on a donut wall? Thanks!
laurenpacek
Hi there! I think that they can be stacked pretty safely (within reason... I think the highest stack I've ever tried has been like, 5 donuts). However, I wouldn't trust them on a donut wall. They're not terribly fragile, but I think that gravity might do a number on them if you try to hang them up.
M
What is a donoughnut wall?
laurenpacek
Check out some examples here: https://www.google.com/search?q=doughnut+wall&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz9svEhIrhAhUjtnEKHVjaBwkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1247&bih=686
Christine @ Happy Veggie Kitchen
The cakey donuts are the best donuts! I love this idea, you just can't argue with a method for quick and easy home made donuts. Your photos are so beautiful too!
Christine @ Happy Veggie Kitchen
The cakey donuts are the best donuts! I love this idea, you just can't argue with a method for quick and easy home made donuts. Your photos are so beautiful too!
laurenpacek
Thank you so much!! I'm a big fan of cakey donuts, too. And if you can get cakey donuts into my mouth quickly without me having to leave the house? Even better =)
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
These look like the perfect sidekick with my coffee right now! Nothing like enjoying them fresh out of the oven 🙂
Dawn - Girl Heart Food
These look like the perfect sidekick with my coffee right now! Nothing like enjoying them fresh out of the oven 🙂
laurenpacek
Thank you, Dawn! I do believe they'd go quite well with your coffee 😉
Ann Maldonado
They taste great but are too moist, they are just like a cupcake. What did i so wrong?
Thank you,
laurenpacek
I'm not sure that you did anything wrong. Since they're made from boxed cake mix, they have the same texture as a cake (or cupcake). They're most, light cakey donuts.
Rice N Dine
I call them donuts too instead of doughnuts!
Anyway, your donuts look so good I can practically taste them from my screen. Haha! I have no experience yet on baking so this might be a challenge but looking at pictures like these really inspires me. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
ANerdCooks
Thank you!! For a novice baker, these would be right up your alley. It's a mix, spoon, bake kind of deal. Just make sure to really grease the donut pans! Thanks =)