These fluffy baked banana bread donuts taste just like a thick slice of homemade banana bread. It’s the perfect donut recipe for a healthy breakfast or snack!
The best banana bread donuts
Moist, soft, sweet, and irresistibly delicious, the classic donut shop recipe will delight banana lovers of all ages.
The donuts are also very easy to customize.
Stir in a handful of shredded coconut, toasted pecans, or mini chocolate chips, and serve the donuts hot from the oven to your family or overnight guests.
Then watch as every donut on the tray disappears in an instant!
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Banana donut frosting ideas
These soft baked donuts are great on their own or topped with any of the following.
Try coating them in cinnamon sugar. Mix two tablespoons of ground cinnamon into half a cup of white sugar, coconut sugar, or granulated erythritol for sugar free.
For a healthy breakfast option, spread each donut with peanut butter or almond butter.
One of my favorite ways to eat the donuts is with Homemade Nutella.
You can also make a simple two ingredient doughnut glaze by whisking one cup of powdered sugar, two tablespoons milk of choice or water, and an optional tablespoon of melted butter. Add more liquid if a thinner glaze is desired.
Other banana donut topping ideas include browned butter icing, vanilla frosting, chocolate frosting, brown sugar buttercream, or melted coconut butter.
I opted to whip up a quick cream cheese frosting for the donuts in the photos. This frosting recipe is included directly below.
Still craving banana? Make Vegan Banana Pudding
Cinnamon cream cheese icing
Bring eight ounces of cream cheese and four ounces of butter to room temperature. The recipe works with plant based butter and cream cheese too.
Using hand beaters or a stand mixer, whip up the cream cheese and butter with two cups of powdered sugar or a no sugar sweetener and an optional teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
I highly recommend whipping in two teaspoons of ground cinnamon, although the icing is still tasty without it.
If the donut frosting is too thick, slowly beat in milk or water, a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches your desired thickness and creamy texture.
Because of the perishable ingredients, it is best to store frosted donuts and any extra cream cheese frosting in the refrigerator.
Use leftover icing on these Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Ingredients for the recipe
You will need banana, flour, salt, baking powder, sweetener, and oil or water.
Optional ingredients you can add include a half teaspoon of cinnamon or pure vanilla extract, a handful of finely chopped walnuts, or a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips.
The recipe works well with white flour, whole grain spelt flour, oat flour, or loosely packed Bob’s Red Mill gluten free all purpose flour.
We have not tried whole wheat flour, pastry flour, or self rising flour. And we do not recommend coconut flour or almond flour here.
Pure maple syrup, agave, or honey are great choices. If you prefer to use regular sugar or a granulated sugar free substitute, increase the amount of sweetener to a fourth cup. Add three tablespoons milk of choice to make up for the difference in liquid.
Vegan banana bread donuts
This donut recipe is easily vegan as long as you choose pure maple syrup or agave instead of honey.
They are naturally egg free and dairy free, with banana standing in for eggs. And the recipe calls for melted coconut oil or vegetable oil instead of butter.
To make donuts with no oil whatsoever, simply swap in an equal measurement of water or additional mashed banana. Fat free donuts have a bit more of a gummy and dense texture than traditional ones but are still quite tasty.
You can also substitute an equal amount of peanut butter, cashew butter, or almond butter for the oil if you prefer. This will add protein and healthy fats to the recipe.
Banana bread donut recipe video
Watch the step by step recipe video above.
How to make healthy banana bread donuts
Gather all ingredients, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease a donut pan well. This will ensure the donuts do not stick to the pan after baking. Set this pan aside while you make the batter.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the banana, sweetener, water or oil, and optional vanilla.
After the oven reaches the correct temperature, stir all dry ingredients into the mixing bowl until just evenly mixed.
Divide the dough into the prepared donut pan. Bake on the center rack of the oven for eight minutes or until the banana donuts have risen and are golden in color. A toothpick inserted into a donut’s center should come out mostly clean.
Let the pan cool. Then loosen the baked banana pastries by carefully going around the sides with a knife. Pop out onto a large plate or cooling rack.
Once cooled, frost or glaze the donuts as desired. Or dip in a bowl of cinnamon sugar.
The recipe makes six large donuts. Feel free to use two or three donut pans and double or triple the batch to feed a family or overnight guests.
A few readers mentioned turning the batter into air fryer donuts instead of oven baked goods. If you wish to try this method as well, be sure to report back with your results.
Baked banana donuts without a donut pan
To make donuts with no donut pan, you have multiple options.
If you own a mini muffin pan, you can bake the donut batter in this pan instead, creating munchkins banana donut holes. The cooking time should be the same.
Or you can also get a new Donut Hole Baking Pan.
I do not own a cake pop machine but believe it should work for the recipe as well.
If you wish to experiment, this Babycakes Cake Pop Machine receives high reviews.
Gram measurements
For those who would like to measure the recipe with a food scale instead of the cup measurements below, here are the gram amounts to use.
160 grams banana (after peeling), 45 grams pure maple syrup or honey, 30 grams water or oil, 3 grams optional pure vanilla extract, and 120 grams flour.
Also remember to add in the salt and baking powder.
The recipe was adapted from my Healthy Banana Bread and Banana Muffins.
- 2/3 cup mashed banana
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup or honey
- 2 tbsp oil or water
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
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The recipe works with white, spelt, oat, or Bob’s gluten free all purpose flour. I have not tried almond flour or or whole wheat flour so cannot recommend those here.To make banana bread donuts, whisk all liquid ingredients in a large bowl. Grease a donut pan or mini muffin tin. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet form a donut batter. Smooth into the pan. Bake for eight minutes or until the donuts rise and a toothpick inserted into the middle of a donut comes out mostly clean. Let cool, then pop out of the pan. Icing options, and a recipe for cinnamon cream cheese frosting, are included above.View Nutrition Facts
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