Recipe for orange donuts with glaze from the oven
Fat Thursday is the perfect occasion to reach for homemade sweets, but who said they have to be heavy and deep-fried? Baked orange doughnuts are a lighter, yet equally delicious alternative to classic paczki. They smell of fresh orange, have a soft, fluffy interior and are topped with a velvety orange glaze, which gives them a unique character. This simple recipe for donuts from the oven will work not only for Fat Thursday, but also for a lazy weekend breakfast or a sweet afternoon snack. If you dream of homemade baked goods that delight with the taste and aroma of citrus, be sure to try this recipe – I guarantee that these baked orange donuts will quickly disappear from the plate.
Why is it worth preparing baked donuts instead of fried ones?
Fat Thursday is fast approaching, so I’m sharing various delicious and inspiring recipes perfect to try during carnival and on Fat Thursday. Recently there were delicious fried mini donuts with ricotta, and today I invite you to try the baked version. Baked orange paczki, or donuts, have one advantage over fried ones: they have fewer calories. Fried paczki always absorb some oil during frying, and unfortunately, oil has a lot of calories, thus increasing the calorie content of the paczki. If you are looking for a delicious substitute for fried paczki, then these baked orange donuts will be perfect! The donuts are very soft and light, and Greek yogurt and orange juice make them moist at the same time. Be sure to try this recipe and save it for later (for example, on my Instagram, Pinterest, or install my app and add this recipe to your favorites).
What ingredients are needed for baked orange donuts?
Below is a condensed list of products I used and possible substitutes. All products are very easily available in any store.
- oranges – for the donut dough, I added zest from one large orange and juice squeezed from half an orange; I used the juice from the other half to prepare the orange glaze. You can also use orange juice from a carton (if you don’t have the fruit), and instead of zest, you can add a little orange extract to enhance the flavor.
- Greek yogurt – I used thick Greek yogurt (full-fat), you can use any Greek yogurt, as well as natural skyr, or thick natural yogurt.
- oil – I used rapeseed oil, but you can use any other mild-flavored oil, it can also be melted coconut oil, or melted and cooled butter.
How to make baked orange donuts?
Preparing the dough for orange donuts is extremely simple and doesn’t even require a mixer! Just mix the dry ingredients, separately mix the wet ingredients until smooth, and then combine them. The dough will be thick, but if it turns out too thick and the ingredients don’t combine well, you can add a little more yogurt.
If you don’t have a special donut baking pan, you can bake donuts, or rather mini bundt cakes, in mini bundt cake pans (with a chimney) – I have silicone ones and they work great. You’ll get charming mini cupcakes – more of them than donuts. However, if you don’t have such molds either, put the dough into regular cupcake liners and bake them as orange cupcakes – then extend the baking time to about 20-25 minutes – check with a skewer to see if they are well baked.
How many calories do orange donuts have without glaze?
If you don’t drizzle the donuts with glaze, then for 13 pieces, one donut will have about 170kcal (carbohydrates – 20 g, proteins – 3 g, fats – 9g). So this is a very interesting low-calorie suggestion for donuts for Fat Thursday :)
How to serve orange donuts?
After cooling, I spread my donuts with orange glaze (it adds calories, but donuts with glaze taste exquisite and it also protects them from excessive drying. If you don’t want to use glaze (because you want to reduce calories), just sprinkle them with a little powdered sugar. You can also cover the donuts with white chocolate icing. Decoration with candied orange peel or plain freshly grated orange zest would also work well.
How to store baked orange donuts?
It is worth placing any donuts that are not eaten on the first day into an airtight container with a lid. This will allow the donuts to retain their moisture and stay soft and perfect to eat for longer. You can also freeze the orange donuts for about 3 months – but it is best to freeze them without any glaze on top.
I hope this detailed step-by-step recipe for baked orange donuts will be useful to you and that you will enjoy coming back to it. I would be very pleased if you could share your thoughts in a comment under the recipe.
Recommended recipes for Fat Thursday
Be sure to also check out my other recipes perfect for Fat Thursday and the carnival season. On the blog, you will find recipes for delicious donuts, homemade angel wings, and various baked and fried donuts. Here, I recommend three such recipes, with many more available on the blog.
