Chocolate Frosted Baked Donuts (Entenmann’s Copycat)
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Published Feb 07, 2022, Updated Jun 12, 2023
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These chocolate frosted donuts taste just like the Entenmann’s donuts, but are baked instead of fried and made with healthier ingredients like whole wheat flour, coconut sugar, Greek yogurt, and coconut oil.
Fun fact: I am a total donut lover and one of my favorite treats as a kid was Entenmann’s chocolate frosted donuts. In true EBF fashion, I took it upon myself to make a healthier homemade version of this childhood fave. And if you’ve never made homemade donuts before, don’t be intimidated! They’re super easy to make.
The Entenmann donuts are delicious, but they’re loaded with sugar (that’s the first ingredient in the list!), white flour, palm oil, corn syrup, artificial flavors and preservatives… no thank you! This recipe I’m sharing today is baked instead of fried and made with healthier ingredients like whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, coconut sugar and coconut oil.
Why You’ll Love These Donuts
- Homemade donuts are actually super simple to make! If you can make muffins, you can make donuts. Promise!
- They’re made with healthier ingredients like whole wheat flour, coconut sugar, Greek yogurt and coconut oil.
- They’re healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast, but decadent enough for dessert!
- Can easily be made in advance for an upcoming brunch or celebration.
Ingredients Needed
- whole wheat pastry flour or cake flour – whole wheat pastry flour is great for light and fluffy donuts while still getting nutrients from the whole wheat! My go-to brand is Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour. Cake flour also works.
- baking powder and baking soda – helps the donuts rise.
- sea salt – brings all of the flavors together.
- coconut sugar – to keep things refined sugar-free we’re using coconut sugar instead of white sugar. White sugar also works in a pinch!
- full fat plain Greek yogurt – Greek yogurt keeps these donuts moist without a lot of added oil. I recommend using plain whole milk (full fat) yogurt for the best results. If you need this recipe to be dairy-free, a vegan yogurt should work just fine!
- unsweetened almond milk – I used unsweetened almond milk, but any type of milk will work, including cow’s milk.
- egg – helps bind the ingredients together and provide structure for the donuts. I haven’t tested this recipe with a flax egg, but I bet it would work. Let me know if you try it in the comments below!
- vanilla extract – a flavor enhancer.
- coconut oil – instead of butter, we’re using coconut oil. You want the oil to be in a liquid state so warm a bit if necessary. Melted butter, ghee or another oil like avocado oil will work as well.
- chocolate frosting – you’ll make your own chocolate frosting by melting chocolate chips (I like Lily’s chocolate chips because they are low in sugar and calories) and coconut oil.
How to Make Homemade Donuts
Combine dry ingredients – start by mixing the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.
Whisk together wet ingredients – in a separate bowl, whisk the coconut sugar, Greek yogurt, almond milk, egg, vanilla and coconut oil. Reminder to make sure the yogurt and egg are at room temperature! Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
Bake – spray donut pans with cooking spray and spoon or pipe the batter into the cavities. Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes or until the donuts spring back when lightly pressed. Let cool in the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make frosting – while the donuts cool, make the chocolate frosting by melting the chocolate chips and coconut oil. You can do this in the microwave in 15 second increments or in a double boiler on the stove top.
Coat donuts – Once the donuts are completely cooled, dip or coat each donut in the melted chocolate. Use a spoon to completely cover the donut. Place the chocolate covered donuts on a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator or freezer until the chocolate has set.
Frequently Asked Questions
I haven’t tested a gluten-free version of these donuts, but I would imagine using a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour would work just fine in place of the whole wheat pastry flour. My favorite brand is Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose flour. I don’t recommend using almond, oat or coconut flour as I haven’t tested it and it will likely change the texture of these donuts.
I haven’t tested a vegan version of these donuts, but I bet using a dairy-free yogurt and a flax egg would work just fine! And just make sure that you’re using vegan chocolate chips! Let me know if you try it in the comments below.
It’s super important to make sure you’re using a room temperature egg, milk and yogurt! If any of these ingredients are too cold, the coconut oil will solidify and create clumps. If you notice this happening, you can set the mixing bowl on the warm part of your stovetop as the oven preheats or set the mixing bowl in a larger bowl of hot water until the coconut oil melts again. You just want to make sure you don’t get the batter too hot or the eggs will start cooking. Here’s a guide for how to bring things like butter, eggs and yogurt to room temp.
I prefer to pipe my batter into my donut pans by scooping the batter into a plastic baggie and cutting the corner to make a piping bag. It can also be handy to have a large icing piping tip for adding the donut batter into the pan, but it’s not 100% necessary. You can also always spoon the batter into the pan and then shake it to make sure the batter is even.
Luckily, donut pans are really inexpensive! You can get a set of 2 non-stick, six cavity Wilton donut pans on Amazon for less than $15.
How to Store Homemade Donuts
Store any leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days or in the freezer for up to three months. You can store them frosted or if you’re making in advance, I recommend storing unfrosted donuts in the freezer until you’re ready to serve and making fresh frosting to go with them!
More Donut Recipes to Try
- Coconut Crunch Donuts (Hostess Copycat)
- Baked Apple Cider Donuts
- Protein Donuts
- Baked Almond Flour Donuts
- Healthy Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes
- No Bake Blueberry Muffin Donut Holes
- Pumpkin Spice Donuts
More Healthier Desserts to Try
- Chocolate Covered Snickers Stuffed Dates
- Easy Healthier Butterfingers
- Healthy Cookie Dough Bites
- Homemade Thin Mints
- Homemade Samoas Cookies
- Healthier Peanut Butter Cups
- Homemade Tagalongs
- Almond Flour Cupcakes
- Healthy Almond Joy Bars
Be sure to check out all of the dessert recipes on EBF!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Chocolate Frosted Baked Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- ½ cup full fat Greek yogurt, or dairy-free yogurt, at room temperature
- ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
Chocolate Frosting
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips (I like Lily's)
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and stir until combined.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together coconut sugar, Greek yogurt, almond milk, egg, vanilla and coconut oil.
- Add wet mixture to dry mixture, and stir until just combined.
- Spray two (6-cavity) donut pans with cooking spray. Spoon or pipe batter evenly into the 12 cavities.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until donuts spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan for 2 minutes. Invert donuts onto a wire rack.
- While donuts are cooling, combine chocolate chips and coconut oil in a heat-safe bowl and melt in the microwave in 15 second increments, stirring between each. It should take about 2-3 minutes total for the chocolate to melt.
- Once donuts have cooled completely, dip/coat each donut into the melted chocolate, one at a time. Use a spoon to coat until completely covered. Place chocolate covered donuts on a plate or baking tray lined with parchment. Repeat until all donuts are coated.
- Place donuts in the fridge or freezer until chocolate has set. Enjoy immediately. store in the fridge for 4-5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Yogurt: I’ve only tested this recipe with Greek yogurt, but you could try with your favorite non-dairy yogurt instead to make these dairy-free or vegan.
- Egg: I haven’t tried this recipe with a flaxseed egg, but I bet it would work well as a substitute. To make a flaxseed egg, mix 1 Tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 Tablespoons of water and let sit for a few minutes to create a gel-like consistency.
- Coconut sugar: Cane or granulated sugar will work as a substitute here.
- Flour: If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour or cake flour you can use regular all-purpose flour if that’s what you have on hand! It should also work to sub in 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour to make these donuts gluten-free.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Have you ever tried oat flour? Or an almond/coconut flour combo?
Hi Suzy, I don’t recommend using almond, oat, or coconut flour as I haven’t tested it and it will likely change the texture. Whole wheat pastry flour or cake flour are my recommendations. I hope this helps!
excellent post thank you for sharing
I made these donuts today. The chocolate coating was very rich. It hit the spot for me without the fried, heavy donut feeling. Thanks for the recipe.
Yay! So glad you loved this recipe, Wendy. Thanks so much for making it and for coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it.