Baked Strawberry Shortcake Donuts

Baked Strawberry Shortcake Donuts are prepared with homemade strawberry shortcake crumbs! Baked to perfection in only 10 minutes, glazed and topped with more shortcake crumbs, these donuts are super soft and moist and very cake-like inside. Share these with your favourite valentine or save them all for yourself!

If there is one thing in life that one should never live without, it has to be donuts! Am I right? This is precisely why I have opted to prepare donuts using one of my all-time favourite flavours! I’ve baked my homemade strawberry shortcake crumbs right into these Baked Strawberry Shortcake Donuts. And, if that wasn’t enough, I went ahead and glazed them and then topped them with more shortcake crumbs!

When we are in Toronto, it is so easy to go grab a donut whenever I feel like it. In fact, we live literally steps away from both a Tim Horton’s and a Starbucks. My go-to donut at Tim Horton’s is the apple fritter. And, if I’m at Starbucks, I always go for a cream cheese danish.

Now that the nearest Tim Horton’s and Starbucks are about a 35-minute drive from our house, it just makes more sense to bake donuts at home. To drive there and back would take over an hour. I can bake 18 donuts in much less time, so that’s what I often do. Before you ask, no, we did not eat 18 donuts! We kept two each for ourselves and gave the rest away.

BAKED, NOT FRIED!

Now, for some of you, making donuts at home might seem daunting. But, it shouldn’t be. These donuts are baked, not fried, so there’s much less mess. And, the recipe is quite easy too. The only thing you might need is donut pans.

Baking the donuts makes them super healthy, right?  Oh, if only that were true!  In fact, baked is better than fried in terms of health-conscious eating. So, these Baked Strawberry Shortcake Donuts are indeed healthier, so at least we have that going for us!

DONUT PANS – A GOOD INVESTMENT FOR THE AVID BAKER

When I first thought about the possibility of making donuts at home, I thought long and hard about purchasing donut pans. After all, how often will one make donuts at home?  Did I really need to spend money on a set of donut-baking pans? Would I use them more than just twice a year?  Then, I’d convince myself that I didn’t have much storage room and eventually, I’d leave the store without them.

Ever since I broke down and purchased a set of donut baking pans, I can’t stop thinking about making donuts.  Truthfully, Dear Reader, I will try to find any excuse I can to whip up a batch. I try not to do that, though. If I can limit them to special occasions only, I won’t feel so guilty for eating so many of them.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

You might have guessed by now that you need a batch of Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs. Go ahead, and click on the link. It will open and new page so you won’t lose this one. The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

For the Crumbs:

• Vanilla Pudding – Just a plain box of the powdered mix is all you need. There’s no need to mix it according to the instructions on the package.
• Strawberry Jello – Again, this is just the powder. You will use the powder as it is – no need to mix it and let it set.
• Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is good.
• Butter – I used salted butter to offset some of the sweetness. Unsalted butter is certainly okay too.
• Golden Oreos – These are the vanilla flavoured Oreos. You’ll use one full package of Golden Oreos.

For the Donuts:

• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Baking Powder – This is used to increase the volume of the batter and to add texture as well.
• Baking Soda – Commonly known as sodium bicarbonate, or just bicarb, it is a baking ingredient that helps with leavening or rising. 
• Salt – This is a common ingredient in baking and cooking.  In baking it helps to enhance and balance sweetness. 
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown the batter as it bakes.
• Milk – When a baking recipe requires milk, I always use whole milk, unless otherwise stated. 
• Sour Cream – Baking with sour cream is a great way to keep baked goods moist while adding texture and richness.
• Eggs – Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! To be perfectly honest, I have made these with both salted and unsalted butter and there’s no difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Vegetable Oil
• Strawberry Extract – If you don’t have strawberry extract, you can use vanilla instead.  
• Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs

For the Glaze:

• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often.  When dusted lightly onto cakes and cookies, it adds just a touch of sweetness, but more importantly, it looks very visually appealing!
• Milk – When a baking recipe requires milk, I always use whole milk, unless otherwise stated. 
• Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBS

Remember those pink and white ice cream bars with the strawberry-flavoured crumb coating? I do! In fact, they were my favourite ice cream bar when I was growing up. Now that I’m older, I don’t care much for ice cream, because it doesn’t seem to agree with me. I’m not lactose intolerant, but ice cream makes me feel bloated and blah, so I stay away from it as much as possible.

Now, in the instance that the ice cream in question is strawberry, I can’t pass it up. Because of the fact that I’m not a fan of ice cream, it is safe to assume that I am not an ice cream connoisseur. So, go easy on me when I tell you that my favourite ice cream is cheap ice cream, and the more artificial the strawberry flavour, the more I love it! I won’t name the brands that I like, but they package their ice cream in boxes. That’s all I’m going to say!

The number of Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars I ate when I was a kid are too high to count. I can’t tell you what the brand was, but the closest I can find are these by Good Humor. (I had to re-type ‘humor’ about five times before I could get my brain to let go of the O that should be in there – humour – it’s the Canadian in me!) Something tells me that in the 80s, the go-to brand was Nestle. Anyway, I digress!

HOW TO MAKE BAKED STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE DONUTS

Begin by preheating your oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly spray a donut pan with cooking spray and set aside. (This recipe makes 18 donuts. You can buy donut pans with six or twelve cavities, so you may need to bake the donuts in batches.) In a large bowl, beat together the milk, sour cream and eggs. Next, beat in the butter, vegetable oil, and strawberry extract. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Beat into the wet ingredients. Finally, fold in one cup of strawberry shortcake crumbs.

Dump the entire batter into a large Ziploc bag. Cut one of the lower corners off the bag, and in a circular pattern, fill the donut pan about 3/4 way full. Tap the pan firmly on the kitchen counter to get the batter to settle into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool. Repeat until all batter is used.

When the donuts have fully cooled, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and milk until the icing is smooth and consistent. Dip the cooled donut completely into the icing. Lightly shake the excess icing off the donut and let it drip back into the bowl. Place the donut onto a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack. Sprinkle some of the remaining strawberry shortcake crumbs over top and allow the glaze to fully harden before storing.

GETTING THAT PERFECT GLAZE

I have found that when it comes to the glaze on a donut, there’s just no way to do it that will please everyone. So, I say, please yourself. If you like a thick glaze, then go for it! If a thin glaze is more your thing, then go for that instead!

The glaze is very easy to make. All you need to do is put the confectioner’s sugar into a bowl. Add a scant amount of milk, and use a fork to mix it. Mix it until there are no visible lumps.

Use less milk for a thicker glaze or more milk for a thin glaze. As you can see from the photos, I used a glaze that was thick enough to stick to the donut. But, I wanted a glaze that was also thin enough to smooth itself out on the surface of the donut, while allowing the strawberry shortcake crumbs to settle into and stick to it.

STORING, PACKAGING, AND FREEZING

These donuts will stay fresh for about 3 days in a covered container. I like to pile them all onto a cake stand with a domed cover. They look great on your countertop! But, if you plan to freeze these donuts, use a food-safe container that can be frozen. You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. (I use these quite often when freezing baked goods.) I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that donut freshness locked in!

You can freeze these donuts for up to three months. They will come out of the freezer looking just like they did when you put them in there. Once you thaw them, they will taste just as fresh, and be just as soft, as the day you first baked them! If you don’t finish all of the donuts in the first 3 days they will become a little stale. To breathe new life back into them, wrap one in a paper towel and microwave on medium power for 10 seconds!