Cinnamon Roll Doughnuts

These cinnamon roll doughnuts are soft, stuffed with brown sugar & cinnamon and dunked into cream cheese frosting just like you would like your cinnamon rolls to be. They’re the ideal busy Christmas morning breakfast and are so easy to make. You require only a few ingredients which you’ll probably already have in your pantry and only 30 minutes to get them ready. This easy and delicious dessert will be loved and cherished by your friends and family to the very last bite. 

Ingredients you’ll need:

• All purpose flour: I highly recommend weighing all your ingredients using a kitchen scale for accurate recipe results. If you’re using cups, don’t scoop your cup into the flour. Spoon the flour into your cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
• Leaveners: You will only need both baking soda and baking powder to make this recipe. 
• Kosher Salt: Adding a pinch of salt helps to balance out the flavours in the doughnuts. I have added sea salt for a little extra flavour however you can use normal iodised salt too.
• Ground Cinnamon: You will need ground cinnamon to add to the donuts. Spices help to add a warm flavour to baked goods making them perfect for the cozy weather.
• Ground Nutmeg: A small amount of nutmeg along with cinnamon helps to bring out its flavours even more and add depth to them. I don’t recommend leaving this out.
• Eggs: Use large eggs and bring them to room temperature before mixing in. Eggs strengthen the binding of your batter and also add moisture. Having your eggs at room temperature makes it easier to incorporate them and allow them to mix thoroughly in your batter. A good way of doing this is by letting them sit in a bowl filled with room temperature water for around 10 minutes or until they come down to room temperature.
• Dark Brown Sugar: Adding brown sugar as compared to granulated sugar adds a richer texture, chewiness and moistness to your cookies. I highly recommend using dark brown sugar as it has a higher content of molasses and thus give a more well rounded and cinnamon roll like flavour to these donuts.
• Yogurt: Using plain yogurt in your donuts helps to add moisture and softness to them. You can also use greek yogurt or sour cream instead. If using plain yogurt, make sure to let it set on a sieve for around 15 minutes to help drain out any excess water.
• Buttermilk: Buttermilk helps to cut through the sweetness of the donuts, giving it a better flavour overall. It also helps to add moisture, softness & fluffiness to them.
• Unsalted Butter: You will need melted butter for making these doughnuts. It is very important to cool the butter once melted. I also prefer to use unsalted butter because salted butters have varying amounts of salt content in them and it is always a good idea to add it on your own and avoid your bakes from being too salty.
• Vanilla: I highly recommend that you use a high quality, pure vanilla extract. This helps in giving a rich flavor to your baked goods. Pure vanilla extracts are typically dark brown in color. This enhances the flavor of all ingredients and you should never leave this out.
• Cream Cheese: Having your cream cheese at room temperature helps to make a smooth glaze without and lumps. I recommend using block cream cheese to make this frosting.
• Powdered Sugar: You will need powdered of confectioners’ sugar to add to your cream cheese frosting. It mixes in it like a breeze and leaves no grainy lumps at all! 
• Heavy Cream: You will need high-fat heavy cream or heavy whipping cream to make a smooth and silky frosting. If you’re using low-fat cream, make sure to drain out the water content from it before starting. 

FAQ

Tips to make the best cinnamon roll donuts:

• Do not over mix. Only mix until a few streaks of flour remain and then give the bowl a couple of quick turns with a large spatula to finish it off. Less is more when it comes to mixing your donut batter. Over mixing can lead to a dense & dry crumb which will in turn not give you a fluffy and soft donut.
• Take time to grease your pan. There’s nothing worse than spending time and energy prepping, mixing, and baking your new favourite dessert only to find out that your donuts are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Been there, done that and it’s not at all fun. They almost always tastes great but they’re obviously not as pretty. So for the best results, be sure to generously grease a non-stick donut pan with non-stick baking spray. I like to use sprays which also have flour in them to grease my pans. If your spray doesn’t, then I’d suggest doing a second round of greasing with some amount of flour. You also want to take care that you don’t want to get pools of oil at the bottom of your donut pan while piping the batter into it.
• Cool completely. It’s tempting to glaze these beautiful donuts right away, I know. But don’t even think about it until they are cool to the touch or the cream cheese glaze will slide right off and not stay on top of the doughnuts. Patience at this moment is key to getting a pretty donut!

HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULTS FROM THIS RECIPE?

All of the recipes on the blog are thoroughly tested multiple times and carefully designed so that anyone can reproduce these delicious baked good in their own kitchen and enjoy them to the fullest. The only way to make this possible is when anyone can exactly replicate the measurements and temperatures.

• In order to standardise the way ingredients are measured, I highly recommend that you weigh them in grams. Volume measurements are nearly not as accurate and have a lot of scope for errors. To precisely be able to replicate the recipes, all you will need is a kitchen scale!
• Every oven heats up differently. Your oven might be over heating or under heating by around 50 degrees or more and you might not even know. In order to ensure that you are baking at the right temperatures, I highly recommend investing in an oven thermometer!

If you would still like to bake using volume measurements, I mentioned those below. However, I primarily test my recipes in grams and cannot promise the best results if you do so. Trust me, once you’ll start using these tools you’d never want to go back!

I hope you’ll enjoy these Cinnamon Roll Doughnuts this Christmas and don’t forget to bookmark this recipe for the holidays. These cute cookies are my favorite and perfect to celebrate any occasion with friends and family!

Happy Christmas baking! x

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