These soft baked Carrot Cake Donuts are the perfect way to enjoy cake for breakfast. They bake up light and fluffy and are topped with a cream cheese frosting. Perfect recipe for Easter brunch or for anyone who loves carrot cake.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Carrot cake is one of my favorite cakes of all time. It makes me feel like I am eating a healthy dessert because: A. there are carrots in it and B. there is pineapple in it.
The last time I checked, carrots and pineapple were still healthy fruits and veggies. So, that makes these carrot cake donuts perfectly acceptable for breakfast, right? Kind of like these orange donuts are full of oranges!
I love that this carrot cake donut recipe because it has fruits and veggies in it, AND the donuts are baked not fried.
They bake up light and fluffy, are perfectly spiced, and have cream cheese frosting. Best way to eat "cake" for breakfast!
Key Ingredients
These easy carrot donuts come together in no time using simple ingredients you have in your pantry.
- Butter - Unsalted butter gives you the opportunity to adjust the amount of salt in the recipe.
- Brown Sugar - Sweetens the donuts and keeps them soft.
- Greek Yogurt - Adds moisture and reacts with the other ingredients to make the donuts light and fluffy. You can also use sour cream if you like.
- Crushed Pineapple - Make sure to drain the pineapple well and save the juice for the cream cheese frosting.
- Carrots - Use the small side of a grater to shred the peeled carrots into small pieces.
- Spices - Adds a great homemade spice flavor. Use this cake spice recipe to make your own spice blend.
- Flour - Use the fluff and spoon method to make sure you are adding the right amount. See how to measure flour correctly.
How to Make Carrot Cake Donuts
Get ready to enjoy carrot cake for breakfast with these easy baked carrot cake donuts.
- Preheat the oven and spray a regular donut pan with nonstick spray with flour in it. This will keep the donuts from sticking to the pan.
- Beat the butter, salt, vanilla, and brown sugar until light and creamy. Add the yogurt, drained crushed pineapple, and grated carrots and mix again.
- Add the flour, spices, and baking powder and soda and mix in gently until everything is combined. Do not over mix the batter.
- Spoon the batter into a large ziplock bag and cut one corner off. Make sure it is large enough that the carrots and pineapple can squeeze through too.
- Fill the donut pans with batter and bake for 10 minutes. Let the donuts cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them and letting them cool completely on a wire rack.
- Mix together the frosting ingredients until creamy. Dip the tops of the carrot cake donuts in the cream cheese glaze and sprinkle with chopped walnuts and orange sprinkles.
Storage
Because these donuts have cream cheese frosting on them, you need to keep them in an air tight container in the refrigerator. They should keep for 2-3 days. Let them sit out for a few minutes before serving to remove the chill and to let them soften up slightly.
If you do not frost the donuts, you can keep them in a container on the counter for a few days.
Recipe Tips
- Do NOT use the already shredded carrots from the grocery store because they do not have enough water content in them for baked goods. Freshly grated or shredded carrots are the best in baked goods.
- Fill a large ziplock bag with the donut batter and cut one corner off. This makes filling the pans much easier.
- Do not fill the donut cavities more than half full or they will be too big and take longer to bake.
- Let the donuts cool completely before dipping them in frosting. If the donuts are warm, the icing will melt and slide right off.
More Carrot Cake Recipes
Coconut, pineapple, raisins, and carrots make this Loaded Carrot Cake recipe the best Easter dessert! Add a pan of this easy cake to your holiday plans!
These sweet Cream Cheese Carrot Cake Muffins are soft and delicious and will make you think you are eating carrot cake for breakfast.
This sweet Homemade Coconut Bread is loaded with veggies making it acceptable to eat “carrot cake” for breakfast.
This spiced Carrot Bundt Cake is loaded with carrots, nuts, and raisins. It is a soft, dense cake that is great for Easter parties or dinners.
Prefer Chocolate? Try this homemade chocolate donut or this chocolate zucchini donut!
"Veggies are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie" Jim Davis
I love this quote! It is now my life motto! LOL! Power to the VEGGIES!!!
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Recipe
Carrot Cake Donuts
These soft baked Carrot Cake Donuts are the perfect way to enjoy cake for breakfast. They bake up light and fluffy and are topped with a cream cheese frosting. Perfect recipe to make for Easter brunch or for anyone who loves carrot cake.
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ⅔ cup Greek yogurt
- ⅔ cup crushed pineapple, drained well (save the juice)
- ⅔ cup freshly shredded carrots
- 2 teaspoons cake spice
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups all purpose flour
For the Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup finely diced walnuts
- orange sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a donut pan with nonstick spray that has flour in it.
- Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until creamy. Add the egg, yogurt, pineapple, and carrots and beat again.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder and slowly mix it in.
- Fill a large ziplock bag with the donut batter and cut one corner off.
- Squeeze into donut pan cavities filling them ½ full. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Cool a few minutes in the pan and remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- Beat the cream cheese, butter and pineapple juice. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- Dip the cooled donuts in frosting and sprinkle with chopped walnuts and sprinkles.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 226Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 237mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 4g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you need special diet advice, please see a registered dietician.
*The post for these Carrot Cake Donuts was first published on January 29, 2012. The photos were updated and the post was republished April 12, 2019.
Alicia Henson
These donuts were downright delicious! I'm going to share this link with my followers because they absolutely have to try these! Thanks for sharing!
Janet
Could I leave out the pineapple? my family doesn't like pineapple in carrot cake. Thanks!
Jocelyn
You can definitely leave the pineapple out, but I think you are going to need another liquid in place of it. I would try adding 1/3 cup buttermilk instead and see how that works.
stephanie
Are these best the same day they are made? I would like to make them the night before to bring to work. They look so amazing!!
Crystal
haha I like that quote! The donuts sound yummy. 🙂
Linda
I featured this as on of my favorite pins this week. Love carrot cake anyrpthing, but donuts would be great. Hope you can drop by and take a look. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.tumbleweedcontessa.com/blog/weekly-rays-of-sunshine-17/
We have a party on Mondays - What'd You Do This Weekend. Love for you to bring something over then.
Have a great weekend. Linda
Mackenzie
What a fun recipe; I love that you used carrot cake to make donuts! That is awesome! Do you have a donut baking pan that you make them in?
Mackenzie 🙂
Jocelyn Brubaker
Thanks, Mackenzie. Yes, I have two different sized donut pans that I bought at Michaels.
Ginger@gingersnapcrafts.com
Those look so good!!! Annnnd of course, they are healthy. 😉
Jocelyn Brubaker
I like the way you think 🙂
Liz Fourez
Looks delish, Jocelyn! I love your vegetables quote... I'd definitely get my veggie intake that way!
Liz
Hani(haniela's)
These look amazing.
Jess
Just wanted to let you know I made your Carrot Cake Donuts and they were devoured within 10 minutes at work! Thanks for the great recipe, I included my link if you wanted to check them out!
http://lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com/2012/03/baked-carrot-cake-donuts.html
Jenn Erickson
Absolutely a must-make for me! Best of both worlds for sure!
Pinning and featuring on my FB page today!
Jenn
Sarah E.
Those look incredible!! Yum 🙂
Stopping by from TTT
Crystal @MrsHappyHomemaker.com
Hello my mistaken identity friend 🙂 These looks fantastic!! Like really fantastic! It has been featured in this week's edition of Makin' You Crave Monday. I'd love it if you popped it to say hi! 🙂
Jill @ KitchenFunWithMy3Sons.com
We are hosting our first Kitchen Fun and Crafty link party next Friday and would love for you to share this! Feel free to stop by and grab a party button! http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com/
Trish - Mom On Timeout
Just pinned this and can't wait to give it a try! And of course it's healthy! Any food that starts with carrot is healthy (it doesn't matter that it ends with donut!) I'd love for you to share with my readers if you get a chance. Have a great weekend! http://www.momontimeout.com/2012/02/taking-timeout-thursday-no-15.html
Lady Behind The Curtain
I love your recipe! These donuts sound delicious! Would you come over to Cast Party Wednesday and share it?
http://www.ladybehindthecurtain.com/?p=23692
Thanks,
I hope to see you there!
---Sheryl---
My Crowded Kitchen
Just came over from Mandy's Recipe Box. Excuse me, while I salivate all over your blog.:) These look to die for! I'm crazy for anything carrot cake related. I'm so thankful that gaining weight doesn't happen by looking at pictures,because if it did, I'd be 10 pounds heavier! Thanks for sharing. Glad I found you!
Carolina HeartStrings
This looks so yummy. My family would love them. Come visit. We have a wonderful molten cocoa cake and a fat free sweet potato souffle.
Lisa
Any dessert with fruits and veggies is automatically healthy, right? That means you can eat double what you normally would! YUM!
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more
LOL I so count this as healthy, if there is fruit or veggies in it, it is not a real desert;p