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Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe

Today’s Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe have a delicate crumb, the flavor of banana bread, and the brown butter frosting gives the perfect finish! Our baked banana donuts are one of our most popular posts–our Banana Donut was an original creation back in 2014. We love that our banana donuts have been a part of your baking over the years. 

Today's Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe have a delicate crumb, the flavor of banana bread, and the brown butter frosting gives the perfect finish! by cookingwithruthie.com

Why we love our Banana Donuts

We love this banana bread recipe so much because the original recipe came from my Gram (the inspiration for our blog), over the years I’ve made a few changes to make them healthier.

Like reducing the fat by adding applesauce and replacing whole eggs with egg whites to reduce fat and cholesterol. I promise you’ll never be able to tell the difference at all!

Skinny Pumpkin Donuts 3

Give our Skinny Baked Pumpkin Donuts a try!

How to make Baked Banana Bread Donuts 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Coat donut pan with spray cooking spray; set aside. (if you prefer muffins prep muffin tin)
  • In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar; mix 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  • Add eggs one at a time; mixing and scraping with each addition.
  • Add applesauce, banana’s, lemon juice; mix until smooth.
  • Add flour and baking soda; mix until 80% incorporated (do not over mix- a few lumps are fine)
  • Place half the batter into a gallon ziplock baggie, snip the end off, fill donut pan 2/3 the way full or pour into lined muffin tins. (I recommend working with half of the batter at a time.)
  • Donuts 7-9 minutes, muffins 18-20 minutes.
  • Donuts are done when spring back with a light touch and lightly browned.
  • Muffins are done when an inserted toothpick removes clean.
  • Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out on rack to finish cooling.

 

Today's Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe have a delicate crumb, the flavor of banana bread, and the brown butter frosting gives the perfect finish! by cookingwithruthie.com

How to make Browned Butter Glaze 

  • In a small sauce pan on melt butter over medium high heat, watch carefully when it reaches a medium brown color and nutty aroma remove from heat.
  • Whisk in 1 cup powdered sugar at a time, adding 1 tablespoon milk as it thickens; adjust milk as necessary– make sure it’s thick enough to coat top of donuts.
  • Add vanilla; whisk until smooth.
  • Drizzle hot glaze over the tops of donuts or muffins.
  • Sets up as cools so work quickly.
  • Allow to cool and enjoy your Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe!

Helpful baking tips for higher elevations

  • If you live 3,000 feet above sea level or more it is considered high elevation and may take longer to cook/bake. 
  • Adjustments are needed for 5000+ feet and above:
  • Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.
  • Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 2 tablespoons.
  • Increase liquid: for each cup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons.
  • Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees F.
  • Check if it is done a little early.
  • This takes some trial and error to get it right for you.

Learn more HERE

Yield: 24

Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe

Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze by www.whatscookingwithruthie.com

Today's Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe have a delicate crumb, the flavor of banana bread, and the brown butter frosting gives the perfect finish!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 whole eggs and 4 egg whites for reduced fat/cholesterol (or 4 eggs), room temperature
  • 2 2/3 cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 4 overripe bananas, mashed
  • Browned Butter Glaze:
  • 1/4 cup butter, browned on stove
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2-3 tablespoons lowfat milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Coat donut pan with spray cooking spray; set aside. (if you prefer muffins prep muffin tin)
  3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar; mix 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time; mixing and scraping with each addition.
  5. Add applesauce, banana's, lemon juice; mix until smooth.
  6. Add flour and baking soda; mix until 80% incorporated (do not over mix- a few lumps are fine)
  7. Place half the batter into a gallon ziplock baggie, snip the end off, fill donut pan 2/3 the way full or pour into lined muffin tins. (I recommend working with half of the batter at a time.)
  8. Donuts 7-9 minutes, muffins 18-20 minutes.
  9. Donuts are done when spring back with a light touch and lightly browned.
  10. Muffins are done when an inserted toothpick removes clean.
  11. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out on rack to finish cooling.
  12. Browned Butter Glaze:
  13. In a small sauce pan on melt butter over medium high heat, watch carefully when it reaches a medium brown color and nutty aroma remove from heat.
  14. Whisk in 1 cup powdered sugar at a time, adding 1 tablespoon milk as it thickens; adjust milk as necessary-- make sure it's thick enough to coat top of donuts.
  15. Add vanilla; whisk until smooth.
  16. Drizzle hot glaze over the tops of donuts or muffins.
  17. Sets up as cools so work quickly.
  18. Allow to cool and enjoy your Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze Recipe!
    **this recipe can be made as muffins if a donut pan is not available--it will yield 18 large muffins filled 3/4 the way full.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 197Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 171mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 19gProtein: 3g

More Baked Donuts

Enjoy some Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze this week! 

One more thing before you go…

We love creating recipes and sharing our adventures with you, so if you can do us a huge favor it’d really support us! It’s easier to stay motivated to share our best with you when we hear from you! We adore our readers and it really makes our day to get comments, social tags/shares, or pins that you save for later to share with your family and friends. 

Our hearts sing when you do.

We SEE you and we do our very best to respond to all the love! It also amps up our mo-jo so we get lots of awesome things done around here. Please reach out if you have questions or comments via our email: ruthie@cookingwithruthie.com. We’re excited to see you again soon! 

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Thanks for sharing in the CWR blog-love!

Love Always,

Ruthie & Madeliene 

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  1. Janet says:

    Your instructions say: Place half the batter into a gallon ziplock baggie etc. etc.

    I don’t see anywhere what you do with the rest of the batter.
    Can you clear this up for me? Thanks

    • Hi Janet, Thank you for letting me know that’s confusing–I will clarify the instructions. I’m meaning to say to work with the batter in batches; half at a time otherwise it is too much for the baggie. We hope you’ll love this recipe as much as we do! xoxo~Ruthie

  2. Megan Milloy says:

    Anyone have any luck with storing these overnight? Have to make quit a few (40-60) for a work event but need to prepare them night before.

    • Hello Megan– I think the best way would be to place them on sheets of parchment paper on baking sheets, in a single layer, lightly covered with sheets of plastic wrap (do not make air tight be sure to allow some air to breath.) In the morning they’ll transport easily on the sheets and look and taste amazing! I hope everyone loves them! ~Ruthie

  3. Kendall T says:

    This recipe is delicious as muffins. I subbed about 1/4 cup ww flour for ap flour and used five small bananas. Didn’t do the glaze as we didn’t want something super sweet. My only recommendation would be to include in the instructions how many muffins this makes. I assumed a dozen. I had so much batter that I filled the muffin cups to the top and ended up with super tall muffins and some batter left over – but not enough for another dozen. More detailed instructions would’ve helped. Thanks!

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Kendall… we’re so glad that you loved them and your adaptations sound amazing! I’ll update the recipe with more details for muffins–thank you for the feedback. Happy Spring! xoxo~Ruthie

  4. Reynan Henry says:

    where is the banana?

    • Ruthie says:

      Hello… there are 4 overripe bananas needed for this recipe. Please refer to the recipe card for full instructions. We hope you love them! 🙂 Ruthie

  5. Majo says:

    These donuts are delicious! lots of eggs and bananas, but they taste very good. I used gluten free flour the first time I made the,( Bobs all in one gf flour). Today I am using regular flour. I might do the brown butter icing and try a cream cheese icing for some of the donuts .

    • Ruthie says:

      Thank you for the fun comment! We’re so glad you’re enjoying them… I will have to try them with GF flour too! Cream cheese icing would be amazing!! Good idea. WE hope you love them just as much with the regular flour!! Have a wonderful autumn 🙂 Ruthie

  6. Jackie says:

    I tried this recipe last nite and W.O.W ! The donuts are absolutely fantastic ! This also had to be about the best icing I have ever tasted! It drizzled perfectly over the donuts and set great within 30 min. My probem was that I put them in a sealed tin overnite and left them on my counter. The next morning, the icing completely melted right off of the donut onto the waxed paper they were on and seeped into the donut itself. They looked terrible !! What is the best way to store them if room temperature in a sealed tin obviously doesnt work !??

    • Ruthie says:

      I’m so happy to hear you loved them… I’d recommend storing them in a glass cake stand with a lid or something that will allow air to circulate and not touch them. They’re probably best eaten same day or frozen for longer storage. 🙂

  7. Bonnie says:

    Would love to make these. But could you tell me if the butter used is, softened, melted, chilled?
    Thanks!

  8. Briana Jamshidi says:

    I was really excited to try these out with my new donut pan, until I realized it yields 24 donuts! My pan only holds 6…any idea how I can scale this down by 4?? Seems a little difficult :/ Thanks!

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Briana. . . I had the same issue so I just baked them off in batches. It worked great that way 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe- it’s one of our favorites!! xoxo~ Ruthie

  9. Kara says:

    If I wanted to add cocoa powder to this what would the recommended changes be?

    • Ruthie says:

      HI Kara! I would replace 2/3 cup of the flour with a 2/3 cup cocoa powder to start adding more cocoa if a richer flavor is desired. I think that will be delicious!! Let me know how it turns out 🙂 xoxo~ Ruthie

  10. Jordan says:

    Does this make 24 donuts?? or 24 muffins? There is inly 2 of us so I am wondering if I should cut everything in half! Thanks 🙂

    • Ruthie says:

      It makes closer to 18 muffins- depending on how full they are filled. They freeze really well so saving some for later in always an option too. You’ll love them! xoxo~ Ruthie

  11. Biyanka Chambers says:

    Hi, these look delicious! I was wondering, do you think this recipe could be used to make a layered banana bread cake, with the brown butter icing as filling?!

  12. Lynn says:

    These donuts are absolutely amazing!! I need to make sure I’m not alone the next time I make them so I don’t eat half the pan myself… 🙂

    I cut the recipe in half as I only had 2 bananas. I substituted Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour and added about 1 tsp. of Xantham Gum. They turned out perfect! I opted to roll them in cinnamon and sugar instead of using the glaze, too.

    These are now my go-to recipe! These will be THE thing I take to potlucks and friends’ houses. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂

  13. maria says:

    Hi. What can I use instead of the applesauce? Or can I leave it out?

    • Ruthie says:

      Thank you for the question… the applesauce can be replaced with butter. I like to reduce the fat and calories by substituting a portion of the butter with applesauce or fat free greek yogurt. Either way tastes amazing and I’m sure you will love this recipe 🙂 Hope you come back again soon! xoxo~ Ruthie

  14. […] Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze – What’s Cooking With Ruthie […]

  15. michelle says:

    i made these tonight using 1/2 ww and 1/2 white. I skipped the icing and coated them in sugar and cinnamon. Delicious!

    • Ruthie says:

      That’s so great to know… I will half to try them with half and half flour mix! The topping sounds delicious that way too… awesome! I love to hear about new twists on recipes so thank you for the nice comment. I hope you have a great day and come back to visit again soon! xoxo~ Ruthie

  16. […] These banana bread donuts […]

  17. […] found this recipe here and only changed a couple of […]

  18. Kylie says:

    any idea the calorie count on these?

    • Cora says:

      I just plugged everything into the MyFitnessPal app. I used Splenda instead of sugar and used about a 1/4 cup milk for my glaze. I got 24 muffins out of this (I don’t have a donut pan…yet!). Per muffin: 161 calories; 6.1 grams of fat; 3.3 g saturated fat; 36.8mg cholesterol; 9.6mg sodium; 73.0 potassium; 25.4g total carbs; 12.0g sugars; 2.3g protein

  19. […] onion is right up my alley. 3. Breakfast Taquitos by Damn Delicious. Damn is right. 4. These Banana Bread Donuts by What’s Cooking with Ruthie are my ideal breakfast twofer. 5. I try not to read too […]

  20. […] Baked Banana Bread Donuts with Browned Butter Glaze from What’s Cooking with Ruthie […]

  21. ChristineM says:

    Just made these tonight, and I added peanut butter extract instead of vanilla for the glaze, WOW.
    The donut is so moist and yummy like banana bread, and what a treat this was!

    • Ruthie says:

      Hi Christine! Thanks so much for the sweet comment… they are SO yummy! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed them and what a fun twist on the glaze… I’m going to have to try that out 🙂 Have a great weekend. xoxo~ Ruthie

      • ChristineM says:

        no, thank you for the recipe, came across it on Pinterest and I had donut pans and ripe bananas. This was perfect.

  22. […] We had 2 bananas that were going brown that we needed to use last night.  I didn’t want to make banana bread partly because I have made it many times before, and partly because we would need more than 2 bananas.  Instead, Bade and I chose to make these banana muffins with brown butter glaze. They turned out really yummy.  Here is the recipe we used from whatscookingwithruthie.com. […]

  23. Hannah McKenzie says:

    I tried making these as muffins and something went terribly wrong. The batter was really runny and then when I baked them they never set. Some of the muffin cups look like they were filled with melted butter! I followed the recipe exactly and cannot figure out what happened. Are you sure this recipe is correct?

    • Hannah McKenzie says:

      Please disregard! We just realized we used powdered sugar instead of flour…HAHA! Nothing wrong with your recipe…just something wrong with the cooks! Sorry!

      • Ruthie says:

        Oh my goodness… that is too funny and tragic at the same time 🙂 I hope the next batch with flour is successful! They’re super yummy. xoxo~ Ruthie

  24. […] Baked Banana Bread Donuts With Browned Butter Glaze —> From What’s Cooking With Ruthi… […]

  25. Lynna says:

    I love banana bread & donuts! What a delicious way to have them both!

  26. Holy smokes!! THESE LOOK AMAZING! A must try! Thank you for sharing!

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