Strawberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze

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These strawberry donuts are full of fresh strawberries and smothered with a sweet lemon glaze. Sweet and summery, these donuts are perfectly acceptable for breakfast!

Strawberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze stacked on a baking sheet

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Strawberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze

This strawberry donut recipe has become a favorite weekend breakfast treat.  When you hear homemade donut you may automatically assume they are complicated. However, surprisingly enough they are one of the simplest things to make. They only take about 20 minutes from start to finish.

Like my strawberry cake donuts, these strawberry donuts are baked instead of fried. The clean up after frying something is the thing I dread the most, so I avoid it if I can.

You’ll need a 6-cavity donut pan to make these and you can usually find one for less than $10. I would highly recommend grabbing two though. This recipe yields 18 donuts and it will take forever to make them all with just one pan.

Strawberry donut batter in glass bowl
Strawberry donut batter in donut pan

The strawberry donut is soft, moist, and cake-like. I used butter, oil, and buttermilk to keep the donuts moist. And they are definitely not lacking in the flavor department. Every bite contains bits of fresh, ripe strawberries.

The baked donuts are dipped into a homemade lemon glaze. The lemon glaze recipe consists of butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, and confectioners’ sugar. You can literally toss everything into the bowl at once and stir it with a whisk.

Lemon glaze in glass bowl

Dip the strawberry donuts in the glaze while they are still slightly warm. Doing this will allow the glaze to sort of melt over the donuts and form a thin layer. I prefer it this way so the lemon doesn’t overpower the strawberries.

This recipe yields only about 18 donuts. They are so good, you will be reaching for seconds and thirds.

Strawberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze on a baking sheet

More baked donut recipe

Tips for baking strawberry donuts with lemon glaze

  • When measuring the flour, it’s best to weigh it. But if you don’t have a scale, stir the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
  • Chop the strawberries super fine. This will give you more bits of strawberry in each bite.
  • The easiest way to get the batter into the pan is by using a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off.
  • If the glaze begins to stiffen while dipping the donuts, try warming it in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen it back up.

Strawberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze

4.53 from 21 votes
Strawberry Donuts with Lemon Glaze stacked on a baking sheet
These strawberry donuts are full of fresh strawberries and smothered with a sweet lemon glaze. Sweet and summery, these donuts are perfectly acceptable for breakfast!
Jen Sobjack
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 18

Ingredients

For the donuts

  • ¼ cup (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ¼ cup (54 g) vegetable oil
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour
  • cup (86 g) whole wheat flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
  • 1 cup (144 g) finely chopped strawberries

For the glaze

  • 2 cups (240 g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Make the donuts

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F. Light spray a 3 6-cavity donut pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a large bowl, whisk the butter, oil, and sugar together until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
  • In a separate bowl, add the flours, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir with a whisk. Stir half the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, followed by the buttermilk, and the remaining flour. Stir just until combined after each addition. The batter will the thick. Gently fold in the strawberries.
  • Transfer the batter into a disposable piping bag or zip-top bag with a small corner cut off. Pipe the batter into the prepared donut pans filling each cavity ⅔ full.
  • Bake for 7-9 minutes or until donuts spring back when pressed lightly with your fingertip. Cool on a wire rack. Dip the donuts in the lemon glaze. 

Make the glaze

  • In a medium bowl combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt. Whisk in enough lemon juice to create a smooth glaze.

Notes

Make ahead tip
  1. Donuts are best served immediately. Keep leftovers covered tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
  2. Donuts can be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Warm in the microwave if desired.

Nutrition

Serving: 1donut | Calories: 210kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 148IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 1mg

The nutrition information provided is for convenience and as a courtesy only. It is not guaranteed to be accurate because nutrition information can vary for a variety of reasons. For precise nutritional data use your preferred nutrition calculator and input the exact ingredients and brands you used in the recipe.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Recipe and photo updated March 12, 2018.

4.53 from 21 votes (19 ratings without comment)

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8 Comments

  1. Ellen E Wright says:

    Can these lovely sounding donuts be made with all-purpose flour as opposed to whole-wheat flour? I am not whole-wheat flour’s biggest fan. Thanks for responding. I love your recipes.

    1. Jen Sobjack says:

      The donuts will be much softer since all-purpose flour absorbs less liquid than whole wheat.

  2. Could you replace the oil with applesauce?

    1. Jen Sobjack says:

      I haven’t tried this myself but it should be okay to do.

  3. Can you use a flavoring instead of fresh strawberries?
    F-i-L loves strawberry and lemon dessert but is allergic to fresh strawberries.

    1. Jen Sobjack says:

      I’ve never made them with strawberry flavoring but it’s worth a try!

  4. 5 stars
    I adore lemon anything!

  5. 5 stars
    I adore lemon anything!