These delicious lemon blueberry baked donuts are both tart and sweet. A true reflection of this delicious flavor combination! A great baked donut recipe for spring and summer.
I love the combination of lemon and blueberry, but I feel like you usually see this in a muffin, loaf, or coffee cake. Since I’ve been having so much fun making baked donuts during quarantine, I decided to give this flavor combination a shot and it was awesome. I topped these lemon blueberry baked donuts with a zesty lemon glaze…ooooh buddy. Let’s just say that we’ve made several batches.
This is an easy baked donut recipe without yeast. This recipe uses standard ingredients we always have in our fridge or pantry, making these lemon blueberry donuts an easy treat to whip up on a whim.
One of the reasons I love making baked donuts is that it creates a small batch of treats. This is great for a few reasons: 1) baked donuts are generally best eaten day-of, especially if they are glazed (day two still tastes yummy but the donuts tend to get a bit soggy). 2) having a small batch donut recipe that yields 6-7 donuts is better for our small family size, meaning we aren’t devouring a large quantity of goodies all by ourselves.
Lemon blueberry baked donuts are a perfect breakfast treat for the whole family!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Level of difficulty: Easy. Mix, scoop into your tins, and bake!
Flavor: Zingy lemon accented by sweet blueberry.
Texture: These lemon blueberry baked donuts are super moist and a little cake like.
Time: Including prep and cook time, plan for about 35 minutes to make lemon blueberry baked donuts. The bake time on these donuts is a little longer than other baked donuts because they’re packed with fresh fruit – but don’t worry, I promise they’re worth the wait.
Ingredients Needed
Fresh lemon: This baked donut recipe uses both lemon juice and lemon zest to create that perfect, lemony tang. To get the juice and zest quantities needed for both the donut base and the lemon glaze, you need the juice and zest of 1 medium lemon.
Blueberries (fresh or frozen): Since we’re not in peak berry season here in the upper Midwest, I’ve been using frozen wild blueberries (also known as high-bush blueberries) when making this lemon blueberry baked donut recipe. I like using the wild blueberries because they’re smaller in size and generally have a more intense blueberry flavor.
Greek Yogurt: I love baking with Greek yogurt because we always have it in our fridge, and it adds more protein to my baked goods. This donut recipe can be made with plain or vanilla Greek yogurt!
BAKING TIP: Using room temperature eggs is often suggested for baking because the eggs will incorporate into the softened butter easier. This results in a smooth, uniform batter. If you’re setting your eggs out on the counter to bring them up to room temperature, the standard rule of thumb is to set them out for at least 30 minutes prior to using them.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Use sour cream in place of the Greek yogurt. You can replace the Greek yogurt 1-to-1 with full-fat sour cream if you would like to.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Preheat oven & prep your pan: Preheat to 350°F, then spray your donut pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside
- Prep your ingredients: Whisk together your dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, yogurt, and egg until well combined. Stir the lemon juice and zest into your wet ingredients. Gently fold in your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients (note: dough will be very thick). Once just combined, gently fold in your blueberries.
- Spoon dough into donut pan: While I generally like to pipe my donut batter into the donut pans, I recommend spooning this batter into your pans to avoid squishing the blueberries! If desired, gently smooth out the tops after all batter has been placed.
- Bake: Bake approximately 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean
- Cool: Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Glaze your donuts: While the donuts finish cooling, make your glaze in a small bowl. When cooled, dip the top half of each donut into the glaze and set up-right on your cooling rack to set. Note: if I have additional glaze left, I often double-dip my donuts!
- Store leftovers: This recipe is recommended to be eaten the same day, however, if you have leftovers, store cooled remaining donuts in an air-tight container in the fridge for a day or two.
Expert Tips
Do not overmix your batter: Doing so can create tough baked donuts (and you don’t want that!). Gently fold your wet and dry ingredients together until just combined.
Equipment Needed
A donut pan. Homemade baked donuts are one of those treats that do need a special piece of equipment to get that classic donut shape: a donut pan. You can either get metal donut pans or silicone donut pans, selection is based on personal preference.
- I love and use this 2-Pack of Non-Stick Metal Donut Pans
- I have friends who love and use this 2-Pack of Silicone Donut Pans
Recipe FAQs
Is the dough supposed to be this thick? Yes, baked donut batter is much thicker than you think it will be! If you are having issues getting all of your dry ingredients incorporated into your wet ingredients, you could add more lemon juice (more zing!), a dab of yogurt, or even a little water. Do so in 1 teaspoon increments so you don’t make your dough too moist or runny.
What blueberries should I use in this recipe, fresh or frozen? You can use either! I have been using frozen wild blueberries because it is not currently peak-berry season where I live. To defrost frozen berries, measure out the amount needed for the recipe and soak them in room temperature water while you get the rest of your ingredients together. When ready to fold into the batter, drain the blueberries and gently fold them into your batter.
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Lemon Blueberry Baked Donuts
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Donuts
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- ½ C brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ C plain greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 1 large egg
- ½-3/4 C blueberries fresh, or frozen that have been thawed*
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Lemon Glaze
- 1 C powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F, spray donut pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside
- Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside
- In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter, yogurt, and egg until well combined. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest
- Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until a dough forms (do not overmix, the dough will be very thick)
- Gently fold in the blueberries into the dough until well distributed throughout
- Spoon the dough into the donut pan(s) and smooth out gently
- Bake 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean
- Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely
- While the donuts cool, make your glaze. In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until a thick liquid forms.
- When the donuts are cooled, dip the top half of each donut into the glaze and place back on the rack to allow the glaze to set*
David says
Made ’em. Love ’em. Will make ’em again.
ourlovelanguageisfood says
So glad you enjoyed these!!
Sarah Thornton says
This looks so good, Meredith!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
Thank you so much Sarah!!!
Amy says
Tart yet delicious! I made 6 large so I didn’t have to make 2 pans, so I added a few extra minutes to the cook time. Pretty easy to do though! Won’t be a problem to eat in one day
ourlovelanguageisfood says
So glad you enjoyed them! 6 large donuts is a great choice to avoid using 2 pans. Thanks for making my recipe!