Bursting with the goodness of cinnamon and sugar, these soft and tender snickerdoodle donut holes are made healthier by being baked instead of fried!
You’ll never guess what I was doing at 7 AM on Sunday (read: yesterday) morning.
Nope! I wasn’t sleeping (although that would have been nice).
Nuh uh. Wasn’t making pancakes or waffles either.
And newp… I wasn’t in the gym getting my sweat on.
I was actually in the kitchen licking cinnamon and sugar off my fingers. Err… that is… I was dusting donuts.
Snickerdoodle donut holes to be more precise. And would that be considered coating since there was no powdered sugar involved? Either way… I was adding even more cinnamon sugary goodness to what were already cinnamon sugary donut holes to begin with, and enjoying the fruits of my labour in the process.
Don’t worry — I only ate the lumpy/misshapen ones 😉
I’ve been obsessed with the combination of cinnamon and sugar for as long as I can remember. As a kid, I could polish off a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch like it was nobody’s business (1.5 days is my record), and one of my favourite meals growing up was actually a combination of rice and yogurt sprinkled with buried under mounds of cinnamon and sugar. I don’t mess around.
I also don’t hate the fact that the cinnamon sugar combo reminds me of Christmas, which I have to admit that I’ve been slooooowly transitioning to over the past week or so… as evidenced by the fact that my home is currently devoid of anything/everything pumpkin related. I know it’s still technically fall, and that all of my American friends haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but:
a) Thanksgiving was so October for us Canadian folk,
b) it doesn’t look like fall around here (read: we’re buried under a nice blanket of snow), and
c) I really just want an excuse to eat more snickerdoodle donut holes while listening to Mr. Buble tell me that he’ll be home for Christmas…
Focus, Amanda. Focus. Donut holes. Right.
I guess these should technically be called mini muffins since they’re baked in a mini muffin pan and all, but when you taste this good, names don’t really matter all that much. You could bake them in a regular donut pan if you felt so inclined, or even in a regular muffin pan — it matters not.
The only thing that matters is that soft and tender doughiness…
These guys are like little pillows of cinnamon sugar goodness. The donuts themselves are spiked with an extra dose of cinnamon, and the cinnamon sugar coating not only adds even more flavour and sweetness, but helps keep the donuts moist while adding the subtlest little crunch as well. So dreamy.
Because they’re baked and not fried, you won’t feel weighed down and heavy after enjoying one four. And yes, I speak from personal experience — I think I mentioned a slight obsession with the cinnamon sugar thing?
The recipe calls for buttermilk for added moisture, but I made a second batch using a milk + yogurt combination (read recipe notes) and it was just as good. Other than that, there’s only one thing left to say.
You need these in your life, stat…
I’d love to know if you make this (or any!) recipe! Tag @runwithspoons on Instagram and Twitter, and be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive more healthy and delicious recipes straight to your inbox!
Print
Baked Snickerdoodle Donut Holes
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 24 donut holes 1x
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk*
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp. butter
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and lightly grease a 24-count mini muffin pan**. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using either a hand-held or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl when necessary.
- Add flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, mixing on a low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Use a tablespoon to divide the batter evenly among the 24 muffin cavities, filling each cavity about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until donuts holes begin to turn brown on the edges and spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool before applying the cinnamon sugar coating.
- Prepare the coating: Place butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for until fully melted, about 30 seconds. In a separate bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Quickly dip each donut hole into the melted butter and then roll it in the cinnamon-sugar, shaking off any excess. Set on wire rack to set. Donuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Notes
* If you do not have buttermilk, you can add 2 Tbsp. of plain yogurt to 1/2 cup of milk and use that instead.
** If you do not have a mini muffin pan, these can easily be made into regular sized donuts or muffins. Simply adjust baking times accordingly (12 minutes for donuts, 18 minutes for muffins).
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Looking for more donut & muffin recipes? Try one of these!
Healthier Chocolate Glazed Donuts
Flourless Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Banana Oat Greek Yogurt Muffins
You are right I do need these in my life stat. By the way, I could probably give your Cinnamon French Toast record a run for it’s money. Cinnamon Sugar is also one of my favorite combos. In fact, those candied almonds I made were coated with cinnamon and sugar. I love these, and I will definitely be making them. I even have buttermilk in my fridge right now!!
Too bad I am already meeting friends for ice cream – these look amazing!
I love me some cereal. Fruity pebbles was one of my favs. I actaully made fruity pebble pancakes a few years ago for my son’s bday and it brought back all kinds of memories and week long relapse. Oops.
So I just made these and they are pretty much perfect except I ran out of cinnamon sugar and had to make more for the last few. Whoops! Thanks for the recipe.
You can never have too much cinnamon and sugar 😀 Glad that you liked them, Shannon!
Donuts at 7am makes perfect sense to me! The things we’ll do for perfect light, right? Pinned!
These photos…I’m drooling. For some reason I always feel better eating 5 donut holes vs. 1 donut. Makes no sense, but whatevs.
These look so good! And I don’t even like donuts! I’ve been eyeing your Banana Oat Flour less Muffins though! I want to try those 🙂
Those are definitely a good pick!
Oh my word you have outdone yourself! I’m going to wait until after the holiday to try this (because I’m afraid I will be addicted). There is something so magical about snickerdoodle. MMMM! Snow and Mr. Buble sound amazing right now. Have a great day my dear!
My favorite cereal as a kid was definitely Reeses Puffs. Chocolate + Peanut Butter (sorry) for life! <3
These look REALLY good and since they are baked, I might actually like them. For my whole life, I have never CRAVED a donut. I don't like the filmy aftertaste of the donut itself which (I think) is from the frying? I'm not really sure, but ew. I don't like it at all. Lol
These look delicious. My mom used to make actual cinnamon sugar toast for us as a kid, and this is so reminiscent of that.
I’ll have to try it soon!
Holy donut holes lady. It goes without saying, these are SO being made for the holiday season! I’m thinking they would make the perfect Christmas morning breakfast addition!
Oh my goodness! You know how I feel about snickerdoodle and after reading my donut post, you know how I LOVE donuts. The little cinnamon sugar ones remind me of when I was a kid… they were my faves!! Definitely putting these on my to make list!
These look and sound amazing – I may have to make them! When I was a kid I loved buttered toast with cinnamon and sugar. Who am I kidding – I am sure I would still love it!
One of my favourite childhood snacks was actually buttered toast with honey and cinnamon. So simple. So good.
So you’re going to bring these to the Christmas party in Decemeber, right?! 🙂
Cinnamon Toast Crunch is still my favorite cereal. Why didn’t we eat any together while you were here?!
Because you were totally unprepared for my arrival and didn’t stock your cupboards properly 😛
HOLY YUM! I’ve always loved donut holes… because we always got them from Dunkin Donuts we called all donut holes..munchkins. These munchkins are adorable.. chocolate glazed by far my FAVE!
Cereal = Captain Crunch 🙂
I wish in the states Thanksgiving was in October. It’s too close to Christmas and the two holidays get mushed together. I like things spread out so they can be enjoyed more. These donuts look dangerously good. I don’t think I could make them. I would eat all of them.
Aww but you guys are lucky because Thanksgiving kicks off the whole holiday vibe down there! Up here it seems to be over and done with before anyone even realizes it happened…
These are perfect!!! And I’m right there with you, anything cinnamon and sugar, and I will be wanting it all day!
I have a record like that with Lucky Charms. Although I don’t know that I was a kid when that record happened. Maybe more like “kid at heart?”
These look so good! I need to get rid of my job just so I can stay home and bake all the recipes on your site! 🙂
Heehee! I was a pro at picking out the marshmallows from Lucky Charms when I was a little kid, then I’d only be left with the wheaty bits and my mom would make me finish those off before she bought another box. Le boo.
Yeah, I’ll take 10.
Amanda. You are actually killing me right now with all these recipes! I think it’s entirely unfair that you haven’t thought to send me any of these… borderline rude if ya ask me ;).
Also, Mr. Buble completely has my heart. ARGH. His voice is like honey!
!! gimme right now! Seeing all these photos is making me crave dessert…I’m about to beeline for my cabinet and dig through for candy! At least until I have the spare time this evening to whip up this recipe 🙂
Ohmargarrrrd. I am dying here. No time to bake before I leave home and I NEED these in my life ASAP.
I’m right there with you on your love for the cinnamon-sugar combo. Cinnamon Toast Crunch was (and continues to be) one of my favorite sugary cereals. Needless to say, I’m totally drooling over these donut holes! YUM!
I have 100% been craving donuts for WAY too long! You just saved me from a trip to Tim Horton’s, girl. Now, to just hold out until December 4….
Genius idea – googey donut holes! Your right I do need these in my life – I just need to concoct a gluten free version for my crazy tummy:)
mmm.. perfect for a snow day! today is a snow day…. 🙂
Yum! You are a baking genius I think 🙂 my kids would eat the batch in minutes!
Oh my! I need to make these immediately. Though I can guarantee they won’t look as pretty as yours. And I probably could challenge you on your record of cinnamon toast crunch eating. I seriously can’t have that stuff in the house, its like cat nip to me! ha ha
I’m not the biggest donut fan but I really cannot turn down a fresh blueberry cake donut <3
However, I might change my tune after trying one of these bad boys! They look incredible.
No snow yet, thank god… but I'm sure that won't last long.
These looks like quite a dangerous recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Chocolate crème filled from Dunkin Donuts is my fave With a cup of hot chocolate. I had so many favorite cereals as a kid – Life, Cocoa Pebbles, Waffle Crisp, Cookie Crisp…
Oh my those look delish! My favorite childhood cereal was Frosted Flakes, and may fav donut would be the classic glazed although there are not many donuts that I would turn down! 🙂
Oh WOW- I feel like these were made for me….at least I’d like to think so! I am not much of a fan of donuts but snickerdoodle donut holes? Heck that alone is enough to change my opinion around. Favorite cereal growing up was also Cinnamon Toast Crunch, especially the sweetened milk at the end…mmm part of kinda wants to try using it in coffee! No snow in my hood now or ever so please enjoy it for both of us!
PS you are killing with the dessert recipes lately!!!
Did you know that you can buy one single munchkin from dunkin donuts? I don’t know if they have dunkin near you, but I thought I’d share that chunk of wisdom. When I found out, it totally made my day and blew my mind. Anyway, back to the recipe – looks fantastic! I love that you don’t need a special pan to make them.
I’m pretty sure we don’t have Dunkin in Canada. We do have Tim Horton’s, and I used to love their donuts until they slapped a nasty allergy warning on them 😥
These sound incredibly dangerous! I LOVVVVEE donut holes! Oh Amanda, you are just on fire with your recipes! YUM!
Oh my gosh, yuuum! I actually have all these ingredients in my kitchen too. When I was a kid, cocoa puffs were my ultimate favorite cereal. The best part was when it turned the milk all chocolatey!
So you just officially made my day. I adore snickerdoodles, I love donut holes, and cinnamon toast crunch? HELL YES. I bet these would be incredible with some melted chocolate to dip into. JUST SAYING.
Uhh drooooooool. I already love these.
I’m holding off on the Christmas music and festivities until after Thanksgiving, but you just made me so much more excited to hear Mr. Buble’s voice. He does Christmas music right.
My favorite cereal as a child was probably Honey Bunches of Oats OR Lucky Charms (still my guilty pleasure cereal).
Well, it’s technically after Thanksgiving here 😛 And I used to love Lucky Charms as a little kid as well. Or, at least the marshmallows in them anyways 😆
I am craving donut holes now. Wow these look really good and thanks for sharing.
Oh my gosh, I used to be a cinnamon toast crunch fanatic as well. It was amazing how 12 year old me could polish off a box so quickly!
Donut holes are one of my favorites! This would be such a perfect holiday recipe!