Buttermilk Strawberry Donuts for the days you’re want something girly
With chunks of strawberries in a tender buttermilk donut flavored with cardamom, these strawberry donuts are what you make when you want a little pink in your day.
This is an easy one-bowl recipe topped with a fresh strawberry glaze you can be enjoying from mixing to done in about 30 minutes.
| Taste | Texture |
| Bright strawberry, cardamom | Like a strawberry scone |
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 10 min | 30 minutes | 12 donuts | Easy |
Every time I bake something with big pink color, I can’t stop singing “Think Pink” from Funny Face. Kay Thompson’s over the top infectious performance in that movie along with the technicolor visuals in all their glorious 50s beauty will never get out of my head. I have to think that Maggie Prescott herself would love these donuts.
Why you need pink strawberry donuts in your life
- No fake color: All this gorgeous pink is 100% from strawberries. There’s no cheating by adding a couple drops of pink color to boost the color. It’s just strawberries.
- Fresh or frozen: You can use fresh-picked strawberries, ones you find at the farmer’s market, or frozen strawberries. All choices bake up lovely here, so if it’s the middle of winter, and you’re looking for some fresh pink color you know you won’t see for a few months, you can still make these strawberry donuts!
- One bowl, no fuss: Like my other baked donuts recipes, you really only need one bowl to make these. Mix and go recipes are my favorite for easy breakfast baking recipes. Who wants to think too hard or make a big mess in the “before coffee” part of the day?
- Tender, fruity: The buttermilk in the donuts makes for a tender, cakey crumb, and the double hit of strawberries in the donuts and the glaze gives these donuts pure unadulterated fresh strawberry flavor.
Ingredients for Strawberry Buttermilk Donuts
Strawberry donuts batter
- 1/2 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
- Butter, melted
- Egg
- Buttermilk (preferably homemade)
- Vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Baking powder
- Ground cardamom
- Salt
Strawberry donut glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Strawberries, fresh or frozen
- Butter, melted
- Freeze dried strawberry powder (optional, for extra decoration)
Equipment needed
- Donut pans
- Small cookie scoop or a spoon
- Pastry brush (easiest way to prep the pans)
- Countertop blender or immersion blender
How to make strawberry donuts
- Chop: Chop the berries for the batter into chunks.
- Melt: Melt the butter in a coffee cup in the microwave. Brush 2 6-cavity donut pans with a little bit of the butter.
- Mix the dry ingredients: Mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cardamom, and salt, in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients: Pour the buttermilk, butter, and vanilla into the well. Crack in the egg and whisk it lightly to break up the egg. Gradually, stir the flour into the wet ingredients to create a thick batter. Fold the chopped up berries into the batter.
- Scoop the donuts: Use a small cookie scoop to scoop 2 scoops of batter into each well of your pans. Drop the batter into the edges of each well, and then use lightly damp hands to press the dough into the pan.
- Bake the donuts in a 350 F oven for 16-18 minutes until the tops spring back when you touch them. Turn out the donuts onto a wire rack.
- Blend: Load up a blender jar with all of the glaze ingredients and then blend until smooth.
- Glaze: Pour the glaze into a small bowl. Dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze. If you’d like, you can sprinkle on some freeze dried strawberry powder over the tops of the donuts for extra decoration. Set the donuts to drain and for the glaze to set on the wire rack.
Tips for making the prettiest strawberry donuts
- Dealing with frozen berries: If you make the glaze with slightly frozen berries, it could end up looking like a smoothie. You can still dip the donuts in this, though it will sit a little thick on the donuts. To thin out the cold glaze, zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. This should make it a better consistency for glazing. If you use fresh berries, you won’t have to worry about this. The glaze will always be a little grainy due to the higher water content of the strawberries. It’s a minor aesthetic point, but if you want a more concentrated glaze, you can cook the berries for about 5 minutes in a small pan on the stove to evaporate some of that water. I personally don’t think this is worth your time in this case.
- Don’t overfill the pans: The center spoke in each well in the donut pan is there so that you actually get a hole in the middle. If you fill up the pan past that hole, the donut probably won’t bake up without the hole. If this happens, you can simply cut a hole back in the middle with a paring knife or even an apple corer. If there’s tiny crispy bits hanging off the outer edge of the donuts, you can trim those away as well. Treats for the baker!
- Glaze when warm: Because these donuts are baked and not fried, they will be a little drier than a fried donut. That’s no problem here because if you glaze the donuts while they’re still warm, the added strawberry juices and butter will sink into the donut making for a lovely moist donut.
Buttermilk Strawberry Donuts
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 donuts 1x
Description
Pink donuts with tender buttermilk and chunks of bright strawberries will help you take on the morning looking through rose-colored lenses.
Ingredients
Scale
Strawberry Donuts batter
- 1/2 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted (57 g)
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (preferably homemade), (177 mL)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (260 g)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (53 g)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Strawberry donut glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 g)
- 1/2 cup frozen strawberries (70 g)
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted (57 g)
- Freeze dried strawberry powder (optional)
Instructions
Make the batter
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Chop the berries for the batter into chunks. If you’re starting with frozen berries, you might need to let them sit for a couple minutes or zap them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to make the chopping easier.
- Melt the butter in a coffee cup in the microwave. Brush 2 6-cavity donut pans with a little bit of the butter.
- Mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cardamom, and salt, in a bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients.
- Pour the buttermilk, butter, and vanilla into the well. Crack in the egg and whisk it lightly to break up the egg. Gradually, stir the flour into the wet ingredients to create a thick batter. Fold the chopped up berries into the batter.
- Use a small cookie scoop to scoop 2 scoops of batter into each well of your pans. Drop the batter into the edges of each well, and then use lightly damp hands to press the dough into the pan.
Baking and finishing the donuts
- Bake the donuts for 16-18 minutes until the tops spring back when you touch them. Turn out the donuts onto a wire rack.
- Load up a blender jar with all of the glaze ingredients and then blend until smooth.
- Pour the glaze into a small bowl. Dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze. If you’d like, you can sprinkle on some freeze dried strawberry powder over the tops of the donuts for extra decoration. Set the donuts to drain and for the glaze to set on the wire rack.
Storing donuts
Donuts are best eaten the same day that they’re made, though you can store them in the fridge in a lidded container for about 3 days. If you want to freeze the donuts, freeze them unglazed in a plastic bag with as much air removed as possible for up to 2 months. Warm the frozen donuts in a 300 degree oven for about 10 minutes and then glaze them from there.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Morning breads
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
