BAKED PECAN PRALINE DONUTS are simple, easy, and taste better than any donut you can get at the donut shop!
If I could eat donuts every morning for the rest of my life, I would be one happy camper. The thing is that I just love them too much that if I made a batch, I would just eat one that day, I would eat 12. And while I could run to my local donut shop, they just aren’t the same. I loved baked donuts because well they are healthier for you. So really any donut I make is baked. I enjoy eating it more, knowing I am not eating something drenched in grease.
And while the holiday season is knocking at the door, I decided to take one of our family’s favorite Pecan Praline Cinnamon Rolls and make them into a donut. My family has a crush on Maple Donuts too and these seemed like the next logical step. Really a stroke of genius if you ask me. My husband and dad loved them. Although I noticed my husband just ate the top of his donuts and now I know where my son, Cannon gets that from.
This recipe is SO easy.
Even though it calls for candied pecans. I have shared an easy 5-minute recipe that you will use over and over and over again. If you have 30 minutes, make these Baked Pecan Praline Donuts – you will be happy you did.
Looking for some more simple holiday treats be sure to check out my Peanut Butter Toffee Bark!
Ingredients
Easy “Candied” Pecans:
- 1 ½ cups chopped pecans
- 4 tablespoons butter salted
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
Donuts:
- ½ cup milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons instant vanilla pudding
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Frosting:
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Easy “Candied” Pecans:
- Over medium heat melt butter and brown sugar together until smooth & melted. Bring to a slow boil until it looks caramelized, 2-3 minutes. Stir in pecans and spread on wax paper and cool, set aside.
Donuts:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 2 donut pans using cooking spray.
- In a small cup, mix together milk and vinegar, allow this to sit until it starts to curdle about 5 minutes.
- Melt butter in a small bowl and set aside to cool.
- In a medium mixing bowl add together flours, instant pudding, white sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Whisk the honey into the curdle milk and beat until well combined, then add the egg. Whisk until combined.
- Mix together the wet with the dry ingredients until combined, make sure you don’t over mix, you want a fluffy donut not a dense one.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, cut the corner of a Ziploc bag, add batter and pipe the dough evenly into the prepared pans, about 2/3 full.
- Bake for 7 minutes, remove from oven and cool for 1 minute before you turn them over on to a cooling rack. Let the donuts cool on rack.
Frosting:
- Over medium heat add the brown sugar and butter into a small sauce pan, and stir until it is completely melted and well combined. Reduce the heat to low and simmer. Add the cream and honey. Gently boil for 5-6 minutes while constantly stirring.
- Turn off heat and stir in the vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth and there are no lumps. Allow frosting to cool for a minute. If the frosting becomes too thick stir in a tablespoon of milk.
- Dip the tops of the donuts into the warm icing and immediately sprinkled with “candied” pecans.
- Allow frosting to cool then serve.
Lupe says
These donuts look so yummy!! Can we just substitute buttermilk for the 1/2 cup of milk and vinegar?
Jennifer Kimmel says
Hey Lupe! Yes you can! Enjoy!