King Cake Donuts Mardi Gras (Printable version)

Soft baked donuts with vanilla glaze and bright Mardi Gras sprinkles, inspired by New Orleans flavors.

# What You'll Need:

→ For the Donuts

01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
03 - 2 teaspoons baking powder
04 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
05 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
06 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
07 - 2 large eggs
08 - 3/4 cup whole milk
09 - 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
10 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
11 - Zest of 1 lemon

→ For the Glaze

12 - 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
13 - 2 to 3 tablespoons whole milk
14 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ For Decoration

15 - Green, purple, and gold sanding sugar or sprinkles

# Directions:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease donut pan with nonstick spray.
02 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
03 - In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract, and lemon zest until fully combined.
04 - Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Avoid overmixing.
05 - Spoon or pipe batter evenly into donut pan cavities, filling each approximately 2/3 full.
06 - Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until donuts spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
07 - Allow donuts to cool in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
08 - Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth and pourable.
09 - Dip cooled donuts into glaze, allowing excess to drip off.
10 - Immediately sprinkle green, purple, and gold sanding sugar in sections to create King Cake appearance.
11 - Allow glaze to set before serving.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • They taste like a celebration without requiring you to wake up at dawn or deep-fry anything in your good clothes.
  • The lemon zest sneaks in a brightness that keeps these from feeling heavy, even with all that pretty glaze.
  • You can make them on a random Tuesday and suddenly your whole kitchen smells like New Orleans.
02 -
  • Do not overmix your batter once the wet and dry ingredients meet—I learned this the hard way with a batch that turned out dense and tough, and I've never made that mistake twice.
  • The donut pan matters more than you'd think; a quality non-stick pan means you won't spend ten minutes coaxing battered donuts out of the cavities.
  • Lemon zest makes all the difference between a good donut and one people will actually remember.
03 -
  • A pinch of ground cardamom added to the batter will take these from festive to seriously sophisticated, and nobody will be able to identify what makes them taste so special.
  • If you want to fill them, let them cool completely, then use a small serrated knife to carefully split each donut and pipe in cinnamon cream cheese—it's an extra step that feels genuinely gourmet.
  • Don't use diet or artificial sweeteners in the batter; they behave unpredictably in baking and can leave a chemical aftertaste that ruins the whole thing.
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