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!
Baked Pecan Praline Donuts
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 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!