Homemade Crumb Donuts
Leave the Entenmann’s on the shelf, and try these homemade crumb donuts instead! Once you’ve tasted the rich, tender cake, the sweet cinnamon glaze, and the buttery crumb topping, you’ll never go back to store-bought!
I think I cracked the code!
I’m talking about those soft, yet slightly crunchy, buttery, cinnamon-sugary streusel on the top of those melt-in-your-mouth crumb donuts you pick up at the local convenience store.
Yes, I eat them too. And I enjoy every last morsel. And so do my kids. Which kind of freaks me out a little. Because how can something sit on a convenience store shelf for weeks on end without getting moldy or stale? Unless it’s loaded with chemicals.
I prefer my crumb donuts to be loaded with farm fresh eggs. And nutmeg. And tangy sour cream. And drowned in a cinnamon-vanilla glaze. And totally encrusted with buttery brown sugar crumbly-crumbs.
The fact that you’re even here at all tells me that you need little convincing that homemade is better than store-bought, so let’s just talk about how fabulous these babies are. The cake is so tender it’s almost creamy. They’re subtly sweet with the barest whisper of freshly grated nutmeg.
They’re totally immersed in this sweet glaze that forms a thin crust all around. The outside is dry, but it shatters and gives way to a moist interior. The cinnamon and vanilla hit you like whoa.
And the crumbs. Those crumbs! A little crunch, a little tender, almost granular quality between your teeth. Butter, brown sugar, a little flour, and a lot of warm, spicy cinnamon.
It took me a few tries but I think I totally nailed it. At first, I was thinking the streusel should be baked on a sheet pan, but that made it really crunchy, like a cinnamon tuile or something. The key is to cook it on the stovetop! It only takes 5 minutes or so. Just melt the butter and stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook the “raw” taste out of the flour for a few minutes and you’ll have what resembles wet sand. As it cools, it firms up and it can be crumbled and pressed into the wet glaze. A flurry of powdered sugar and you’re in crumb donut heaven!
Do you guys know about Fasnacht Day? It happens to be tomorrow. Here in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, it’s a pseudo-holiday that we very much look forward to. In other parts of the world, you may know it as Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, or Carnivale. It’s basically an extravaganza of sugar, butter, and fat consumption, in preparation for Lent, which begins the following day. During Lent, these types of indulgences are typically abstained from, as an act of devotion. These homemade crumb donuts are not exactly authentic fasnachts, since they are baked and not fried, but they are a super yummy and fun treat! And there’s no going back to the convenience store after you’ve had one of these!
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Homemade Crumb Donuts
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (55 g) light brown sugar,, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (93.75 g) all-purpose flour
For the Donuts:
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg,, or a few scratches of whole nutmeg (on a microplane)
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (115 g) sour cream
- 1/3 cup (66.67 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg, (large)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Glaze:
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (59.15 ml) milk
- additional powdered sugar, for garnish
Instructions
Make the Crumb Topping:
- Melt the butter in a small pot, over low heat.
- Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Add the flour, and continue to cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat to cool, and set aside.
Make the Donuts:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Lightly mist a donut pan with nonstick spray.
- Place the flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Place the oil in a large liquid measuring cup, and add the sour cream, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Whisk until well-combined.
- Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry, and stir just until combined. (Overmixing will result in tough donuts. Batter should be lumpy.)
- Pipe or spoon the batter equally into the wells of the donut pan, and bake for 14 minutes or until just barely beginning to brown around the edges.
Make the Glaze:
- Place the powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and milk in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
- When the donuts have completely cooled, dunk them in the glaze, turning to coat.
- Press crumbs onto the tops of the donuts while the glaze is still wet.
- Turn them onto a wire rack to allow the glaze to harden and the crumbs to fully adhere.
- Dust with powdered sugar to garnish.
We have guests coming over on Friday morning so I was going to make them breakfast and now I know these donuts will be on the menu as well. These look amazing and totally better than Entenmann’s or any other store-bough treats! Can’t wait to give these a try, thanks for sharing Allie 🙂
My pleasure, Kelly, without a doubt! I hope you and your guests enjoy this recipe- it was a huge hit here at my house! <3
I’m curious to read from someone who actually made them rather than just commenting on the photos. I have tried a few recipes that LOOK great but then afterwards…. they were soo plain and bland. Can you reply your thoughts after you made them? Thanks! 🙂
Hey Lia! Thanks so much for reading! This recipe is relatively new to the site so unfortunately you won’t find a whole lot of those kind of comments just yet. But I have made them a couple of times and really loved the flavor. One of my biggest pet peeves is chocolate desserts that don’t taste very chocolate-y, so I totally get what you mean! I don’t think you’d be disappointed if you gave this recipe a go. Hope that’s somewhat helpful!
These do actually look store-bought, Allie … in a good way! Meaning that they look so good that I’d think they must be store-bought if you offered me one (oh I wish you could!) The lovely vanilla glaze and crumbs sound amazing! I totally know what you mean about some store-bought stuff being scary because of how long it lasts … I find that with supermarket bread over here. That’s one of the (many) reasons I’m enjoying making more and more of my own food from scratch.
Me too! I try to make as much from scratch as I can. I wish I was better at bread baking because that is one area where I fall down on the job. As a matter of fact, I just tried a bread recipe today and it was a total flop. Oops! No post for tomorrow, I guess! Such a bummer when that happens. Anyway, thanks for the awesome compliments, girl! Ps- I’m making your sausage sweet potato bake for tomorrow night’s dinner 😉
Ooh, I’m finding myself getting ridiculously excited when someone makes one of my recipes! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I loved it! Perfect easy weeknight meal 😉
I’ll takes these any day over Entenmanns! These look perfect! And where did you learn to take such amazing photos?
Thanks, Melanie, you’re awful sweet 😉 I’ve just been practicing my head off, lol! You should see how bad my pics were when I started out. Actually, you shouldn’t. You’d run away screaming, lol! Good thing there’s lots of great info online, and I love learning! Thanks for the kind words <3
These look delicious as always on your blog….great descriptions and convincing pictures…or is it the other way around? Anyway…what about someone without a donut pan? Think I need to pick one up next time I am in the states, but for now….can I use a muffin pan and make crumb muffins?
Totally remember these as a kid.
Totally! They’d be great as muffins too, Julie! You just might have to increase the baking time by a few minutes. Test them with a toothpick, and if the toothpick comes out with batter, give them a few more minutes. When it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, you’re good to go! Good luck and thanks for the great question! <3
Allie, this is wonderful! Who didn’t eat these kind of doughnuts as a kid? Pretty sure I prefer mine without chemicals as well 😉 Isn’t it creepy that “food” can sit on the shelf for that long without turning moldy or spoiled. Strange….Hope you had a fabulous Monday 🙂
I did! I hope you too! And yes, those ‘shelf-stable’ foods definitely weird me out. I’d much rather eat something fresh from the oven! Thanks for stopping by 😀 😀 😀
I used to love those entenmen’s crumb donuts, and homemade is ALWAYS better so I know that these ones must be phenomenal! They looks soooooooooooooooooooo delicious!!
Thanks, Kayle! Those Entenmann’s are so addictive, but these were definitely better! 😉
These donuts are absolutely fantastic! I can’t get enough!!
Me either, Jocelyn! I think I need to bake another batch, lol!
Oh my gosh I would love to have homemade crumb donuts! Like right now. haha These look SO delicious! I love your technique… I will need to be trying these ASAP.
Thanks Ally! The technique was pretty simple! For having three components, this recipe came together really quick and easy. And they were SO delish! I hope you do get a chance to try! 😀
OMGOSH!!!
Talk about a truly deelish donut, you are a true genius Ms. Allie!!
Not about to mention anything concerning my waistline here, but I could eat 6 of these beauties all by myself! LOL!!
It’s a good thing that I have two donut pans, one will not do me any good.
I will definitely be making these soon, very soon.
Your pictures are wonderful, I can almost reach into my screen and grab them all. 😀
Thank you for another “sweet” recipe.
Pinned!
Dude. I seriously almost did eat all 6! They are definitely one of the best things I’ve ever made. Thanks so much for the sweet compliments, Dalila, and thanks for pinning too!
Absolutely! Homemade is always better girl! These donuts look incredible, I could eat a dozen of them right now… or three dozens, mind you.
Have a lovely week! xx
You too, Consuelo! These were so incredible, warm from the oven and with that fresh coat of cinnamon glaze… I’m craving some more now! 😛
Oh my goodness. I am sold. Say no more! Your pictures alone are enough to make me salivate. And then the description just kills me.
Thanks Meriem! These were completely gone within a matter of days, and that NEVER happens around here, with all the sugary treats I crank out. Definitely one of the better things I’ve ever made! Thanks for the great feedback!
This crumb technique is so intriguing. I can’t wait to give these a try 🙂
The crumbs are insane, Megan! I <3 them so much. They're so cinnamon-brown sugary! You've got to try! Thanks for reading, dear!
You make me want to take a 3 week vacation and bake all of your recipes! 😀 I totally need one of these 😀 So many crumples <3
http://love-your-ego.blogspot.de
Haha, thanks, LoveYourEgo! The crumbs are so super yummy! Definitely worth at least a long weekend 😉
Allie, these donuts look heavenly! I’m literally going nuts over all that crumb topping and that glaze! OMG. I also love that they are baked rather than fried—Zero guilt, right? I so want a few of these donuts this morning with my coffee. 😉 pinned!
Zero guilt and zero calories! 😀 J/k. They are super delicious though and worth every extra minute on the treadmill. Thanks for pinning!
Saved! We don’t have those kind of doughnuts over here, in fact all we get in the shops are either the caster sugar coated ones or glazed, both of which don’t taste that good. I’m definitely going to give these a go, I’m planning on doing a doughnut month at some point this year so these may be wedged in there. Gorgeous photo’s Allie as usual 🙂
Oh, Laura, if you ever make it to this side of the pond you’ve got to try the doughnuts here in PA Dutch Country. They’ve elevated them to an art form! They are sooooooo good! Thanks so much for saving and I’ll look forward to your doughnut month!
Allie, these donuts look sooooooo good! My friend is borrowing my donut pan but I think I’m going to have to get it back ASAP!
I hope you do, Alice! This recipe is a winner I think, and I’ve tried a lot of donut recipes, lol! Thanks for the great feedback, gf 😉
Have you tried frying them? I don’t have a donut pan:(
No, I’m afraid I haven’t! Sorry about that!
What if u don’t have a do it pan? Can u make them muffins?
Sure! Just watch the bake time, it may need a little longer. Good luck Carrie!