Easy Cake Mix Donuts

These shortcut donuts will change your life; homemade baked donuts made the easy way with a store-bought boxed cake mix and topped with the yummiest silky frosting glaze and sprinkles. (Including our favorite simple frosting hack!)

Have I ever got the perfect shortcut recipe for you; introducing the yummiest cake mix donuts! Yep, donuts made from boxed cake mix, baked (less mess) and ready in 15 minutes.

Let’s start with the obvious: donuts are always a crowd-pleaser. Super easy donuts that you can whip up using a boxed cake mix from the pantry = solid gold. And because they’re baked, mess and cleanup is minimal. Once you try these easy cake mix donuts, you’ll be making them again and again, because easy cake mix donuts – well not only are they yummy, but they’re super simple to make. 🙌🏻

Easy Cake Mix Donuts

These cake mix donuts in particular are light, fluffy, and totally delicious and are a great option when you want to bake up something sweet but are short on time.  Brunch, snack, dessert – these easy cake mix donuts are a great option! (If you’re looking for a donut recipe made from scratch – and yet still relatively easy – these are by far our favorite homemade donuts.)

See Also → Our Super Popular Vegan Vanilla Donuts

As for these cake mix donuts – they’re such a great and easy shortcut recipe for fluffy, mouthwatering donuts, made in a jiffy.

Customize Your Cake Mix Donuts

These donuts are also totally customizable. Choose your favorite cake mix and frosting to make your perfect easy donut. Yellow, white, funfetti, and chocolate cake mix all work well for these cake mix donuts!

Once we’ve decoded on our donut and frosting flavors, the kids and I love using different kinds and colors of sprinkles to celebrate various holidays throughout the year; i.e., rainbow sprinkles or Lucky Charms marshmallows (did you know you can buy the marshmallows in bulk on Amazon?!) for St. Patrick’s Day, red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July, pink and red hearts for Valentine’s Day, spring colors for Easter, orange for Halloween, blue and white for Hanukkah and red and green for Christmas, etc. 

You can actually see our holiday M&M donuts right here!

Our Favorite Simple Frosting Hack

Donut Frosting Hack: Did you know that you can make a quick and yummy silky glaze for donuts, cakes, and frosted cookies by melting frosting in the microwave?

Storebought Frosting works great for this trick. Just scoop the icing into a small microwave-safe bowl (like Pyrex) and microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring each time, until the frosting is melted. It should be nice and melted within 30 to 45 seconds.

After that, all you’ll need to do is pour your melted frosting over each donut (or cookie or cake; this is a great trick for frosting a Bundt cake as well).

If you prefer a dipped donut, you can also dip your donuts in the melted frosting by placing one side down, giving it a gentle spin in the icing, and then turning it right side up and setting it to dry on a wire rack.

And voilà – donuts frosted with ease! 

How to Make Easy Cake Mix Donuts

Makes about 14-16 donuts

INGREDIENTS

1 box of cake mix*
1 large egg
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of water
1 can of frosting
Sprinkles (to decorate)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray donut pan with cooking spray. (I’m a big fan of these nonstick donut pants.)
2. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, egg, oil, and water, and stir until combined.
3. Pour mixture into a large ziploc bag (or piping bag), and snip one corner of the bag. Pipe batter into donut pan (keep in mind that they will rise, so be careful not to overfill).
4. Bake in the oven for 14 minutes.
5. While donuts bake, scoop the icing into a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring each time, until the frosting is melted.
6. Remove donuts from the oven, and allow them to cool before removing them from the pan and setting on a cookie wire. Pour your melted frosting over each donut. Top with sprinkles and remove donuts to parchment paper to dry completely. (You can also dip your donuts in the melted frosting by placing one side down, giving it a gentle spin in the icing, and then turning it right side up and setting it to dry; though I actually love the pour-over look.) Allow icing to harden before storing in an airtight container.

**You can totally customize these donuts by having fun with what cake mix (and frosting) you choose. Yellow, white, funfetti, and chocolate cake mix all work well for these cake mix donuts!

Scroll down for the full printable recipe. 🍩

These donuts are cake-like, delicate, sweet, and such a fun and easy treat. 

Melting store-bought frosting is such an easy hack for any kind of cake or donut glaze! 🙌🏻

And of course, adding pretty sprinkles always makes donuts feel more festive and fun and doubles as a fun activity to do with the kids!

Yield: 14 - 16 donuts

Easy Cake Mix Donuts

Print

Ingredients

• 1 box of cake mix*
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 cup of water
• 1 can of frosting
• Sprinkles (to decorate)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray donut pan with cooking spray. (I’m a big fan of these nonstick donut pants.)
2. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, egg, oil, and water, and stir until well combined.
3. Pour mixture into a large ziploc bag (or piping bag), and snip one corner of the bag. Pipe batter into donut pan (keep in mind that they will rise, so be careful not to overfill).
4. Bake in the oven for 14 minutes.
5. While donuts bake, scoop the icing into a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring each time, until the frosting is melted.
6. Remove donuts from the oven, and allow them to cool before removing them from the pan and setting on a cookie wire. Pour your melted frosting over each donut. Top with sprinkles and remove donuts to parchment paper to dry completely. (You can also dip your donuts in the melted frosting by placing one side down, giving it a gentle spin in the icing, and then turning it right side up and setting it to dry; though I actually love the pour-over look.) Allow icing to harden before storing in an airtight container.

Notes

*You can totally customize these donuts by having fun with what cake mix (and frosting) you choose. Yellow, white, funfetti, and chocolate cake mix all work well for these cake mix donuts!

So there you have it: super easy, customizable cake mix donuts!

SHOP THE CAKE MIX DONUTS POST | CLICK LEFT & RIGHT ARROWS TO EXPLORE

If you make your own cake mix donuts, tag me on social media (@glitterinclexi) so I can live vicariously through all of your sweet treats! Send those pictures my way!!

Photos by Annie Watts Photography

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