These baked strawberry donuts use a surprising secret weapon (a box of cake mix!) for a ridiculously easy sweet treat. Skip the complicated recipes with long lists of ingredients, yeast, and pans of oil, and make the easiest homemade donuts ever!
Homemade donuts seem complicated, but using a cake mix makes them effortless. This recipe is perfect for a fun family activity, letting the little ones help with mixing and decorating. In no time, you’ll have a batch of delicious strawberry donuts bursting with fresh strawberry flavor!
In this post, we’ll walk through the simple steps to transform that box of cake mix into donuts so good they’ll make your morning coffee blush. I’ll include my best tips and tricks so you can become a master donut maker.
Are you looking for more donut recipes? Try chocolate cake mix donuts, green velvet donuts, or air-fried jelly donuts.
🥘Ingredient Notes
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
- Strawberry cake mix
- Baking powder: Adding a little baking powder to the cake mix makes the donuts rise better.
- Oil: I use olive oil, but vegetable or canola oil works too.
- Butter
- Eggs
When it comes to the frosting, you can make a simple icing from powdered sugar and milk or just use store-bought frosting.
🥣How to Make Strawberry Donuts
- In a large mixing bowl, combine that strawberry cake mix with a teaspoon of baking powder.
- Whisk together the oil, unsalted butter, and eggs in another bowl. The butter should not be melted, but it should be softened to room temperature so it squishes into the other ingredients.
- Then, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth and slightly sticky.
- Pop the bowl of potential deliciousness into the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. Letting the donut batter rest helps the doughnuts rise.
- When you are ready to cook, grease a donut pan and use a piping bag or a Ziploc to fill the pan with batter. Don’t overfill; only fill it up about halfway.
- Bake the donuts in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 10-11 minutes.
- Let the donuts cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
🍓Decorating Your Strawberry Donuts
To make a simple frosting, combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Add food coloring to make a pretty pink glaze. You can also use a can of store-bought frosting.
Dip the cooled donuts in the frosting and add some of your favorite sprinkles. The frosting sets fast, so work quickly.
🍴Serving Ideas
Picture this: a lazy Sunday morning, the family’s finally sleeping in, and you’ve got the kitchen to yourself. You whip up these baked strawberry donuts, and just like that, you’re the weekend hero.
For a brunch that will have your neighbors peeking through the windows, serve these donuts with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Hosting a kid’s birthday party? Stack these delicious strawberry donuts on a tiered tray and watch them disappear faster than your sanity.
💭How to Store
If you made more donuts than you can handle in one sitting, that’s no problem! They can hang out on your counter for up to five days. Just keep them in an airtight container, and they’ll stay fresh.
Or you can tuck them into the freezer. When you’re ready to eat them, thaw them at room temperature. I prefer to freeze them unfrosted and add the frosting when they’re thawed.
⭐Tips
Be sure to check out the step by step instructions
- Don’t skip the resting time for your batter. Although it is tempting to rush, chilling the batter will improve the texture of your donuts.
- Make sure not to overfill your donut pan. In this case, less is more. Filling the pan halfway ensures that your donuts have that classic shape and the perfect hole in the middle.
- Bake these just until the edges look crisp. They might look a little undercooked, but they will keep cooking as they cool.
- Fold some finely chopped fresh strawberries into the batter to add more strawberry flavor. Just make sure to pat them dry after chopping; otherwise, you’ll have soggy donuts.
📝Reader Questions
Absolutely! Feel free to experiment with other cake mix flavors.
Make sure your baking powder is fresh. Also, be gentle when mixing; overworking the batter can lead to dense donuts.
You can try! If you don’t have a donut pan, use a muffin tin and roll up small aluminum foil balls to create a makeshift donut hole. They won’t be as perfectly shaped, but they will disappear just the same.
⭐Did You Make This? Leave a Star Rating!
Strawberry Donuts Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box strawberry cake mix 15.25-ounces
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 eggs room temperature
Optional Icing ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Make Batter
- In a medium bowl, combine cake mix and baking powder.1 box strawberry cake mix, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Combine the oil, butter, and eggs (wet ingredients) in a smaller mixing bowl.⅓ cup oil, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 eggs
- Add the wet ingredients to the cake mixture and stir until combined. The batter will be smooth and slightly sticky.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes – up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a donut pan with nonstick spray when ready to bake.
- Use a piping bag or ziplock back with the corner cut out to pipe into the donut pan. Fill ⅓ to ½ full to keep the donut hole in the center.
- Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until the edges look crisp. They may appear to be undercooked.
- Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Decorate
- Combine the milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla and stir with a whisk until smooth.2 tablespoons milk, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- If the frosting is too thin, add powdered sugar to thicken it.
- If the frosting is too thick, add milk to thin it.
- Decorate the cooled donuts by dipping one side in the frosting and place on the cooling rack. Coat with sprinkles.Sprinkles
Notes
- Don’t skip the resting time for your batter. Chilling it will give your donuts a better texture.
- Make sure not to overfill your donut pan. Filling the pan halfway ensures that your donuts have that classic shape and the perfect hole in the middle.
- Bake these just until the edges look crisp. They might look a little undercooked, but they will keep cooking as they cool.
- You can use store-bought frosting to make the recipe even simpler.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
