With bright colors and festive designs, these Christmas donuts are a delicious and fun way to add a little sweetness to your Christmas breakfast or brunch.

TABLE OF CONTENTS hide

1 A Sweet Treat for Christmas Breakfast or Brunch

2 Why I Love this Recipe:

3 How Do You Make Christmas Donuts at Home?

4 How to Store:

5 Variations:

6 Frequently Asked Questions:

7 Happy Holiday Baking!

8 Christmas Donuts

A Sweet Treat for Christmas Breakfast or Brunch

Let’s make some Christmas donuts!

I was recently putting together a list of unique holiday party ideas and I thought a donut decorating party could be fun! Everyone could gather in their PJs and decorate donuts over coffee, cocoa, or cocktails. Put on a Christmas movie or Christmas music in the background, and it’s a party.

I didn’t want to mention this idea without having a recipe to accompany it, so I created this Christmas donut recipe along with two delicious donut glazes.

christmas donuts on a plate and platter.

Why I Love this Recipe:

To make this recipe easy and approachable, we’re skipping the fried donut variety and we’re going with cake donuts. Don’t worry, they are equally as delicious and maybe a bit healthier. (This may be wishful thinking, but it’s Christmas, after all!)

They are the perfect Christmas breakfast or brunch treat. Don’t you think?

As you can see, I had SO MUCH FUN decorating these donuts. Some got a plaid pattern, and others were turned into wreaths, to some I added a “string of lights” with mini M&Ms, and for others, I took the easy route and added sprinkles.

close up of christmas donuts on a platter.

No matter how you decorate and serve them, these Christmas donuts make for a fun and merry holiday treat. I know you’re going to love them.

Let me walk you through the recipe here and then I’ll share a few tips and tricks to ensure that this recipe is a success!

How Do You Make Christmas Donuts at Home?

We are ready to bake! I’m going to walk you through the steps here to make these Christmas donuts. There’s also a printable recipe card with an ingredient list at the end of this post.

Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F.
Spray a donut baking pan with baking spray. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until smooth.
Add in the melted butter and the vanilla and almond extracts. Mix to combine.
Add half the flour mixture and begin to mix. Then add in the milk and mix a bit more. Finally, add the remaining flour mixture and mix just until smooth.
Add the batter to a pastry bag and pipe it into the prepared pan.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Let the donuts cool for five minutes in the pan, then remove them to finish cooling.
Mix up the white and chocolate glazes. Add the ingredients for each into separate bowls and whisk to combine. Add food coloring to the white glaze if desired.
Dip each donut into the desired glaze. Allow the excess glaze to drip off, then place the donuts on a cooling rack to let the glaze set. If using sprinkles, add them now before the glaze sets.

Leftover glaze can be used to decorate your donuts. If needed, mix in a touch more confectioners’ sugar to thicken the glaze to make decorating easier. Add the thickened glaze to a piping bag, then decorate the donuts.
Allow the decorative glaze to set, then enjoy the donuts or pack and store to enjoy later.

And that’s it, you’re ready to enjoy!

How to Store:

You can keep these donuts at room temperature in an air-tight container and out of direct sunlight for about five to six days.

You can also freeze these donuts for up to three months. I recommend an airtight container. If you plan to layer, use pieces of wax paper between the layers.

close up for christmas donuts on a platter.

Variations:

You may love these Christmas donuts as they are, but you can also make them your own. Here are a few ideas to mix up this recipe.

Try a different design. Make your Christmas donuts into a Santa, snowman, or reindeer. Use different sprinkles, candies, or glaze colors.
Add flavors. Use different extracts to flavor your donuts and/or glazes.
Create a filled donut. Use a different baking pan to create a donut that you can fill with frosting, jam, custard, etc.
Try a different cake base. Instead of vanilla do chocolate, red velvet, gingerbread, etc.

christmas donuts on a platter with a table.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Here are a couple of other questions you may have about this recipe:

Can you make fried Christmas donuts?

Of course! I don’t have a recipe for fried donuts, so you’ll have to search elsewhere, but you can certainly make a fried Christmas donut. Use my glaze recipe and design ideas to decorate.

Do I need a donut pan?

Yes. The recipe requires a donut pan to give you that classic ring shape. I recommend THIS donut pan. (This is different then the pans you’ll see in this post as I would not recommend them.)

Make it a Christmas Donut Party!

As I mentioned above, I’m always looking for unique ways to celebrate with friends and family during the holiday season. Why not host a Christmas Donut Decorating Party!? Bake up a bunch of donuts and invite folks to decorate them.

Have a variety of colorful glazes and sprinkles on hand and let your guests create their own festive donuts. Looking for more Christmas party ideas? Check out this post HERE.

Happy Holiday Baking!

And that’s a wrap on these fun and festive Christmas donuts. I think they would be the perfect sweet for your breakfast table this holiday season.

Enjoy!

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