These baked brown butter maple pecan donuts have a moist, cake like texture and are dunked in a maple glaze for the perfect fall dessert!
You might also like these maple bacon donuts or these pumpkin donuts!
Jump to:
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these brown butter maple pecan donuts!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my baked goods because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter! But you can just use regular unsalted butter instead.
Pure Maple Syrup - Make sure you use pure dark maple syrup for the most robust flavor!
Pecans - This recipe works best with plain, unsalted, dry roasted pecans!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
Recipe Notes
I use this Nordic Ware donut pan and a little bit of Bakers Joy pan spray and the maple pecan donuts slide out perfectly every time! You can also use a cute mini donut pan!
This recipe makes 12 regular sized donuts or 24 mini donuts!
I also find it’s easiest to fill the donut pan by using a piping bag with the tip cut off. However, you can just as easily spoon the batter into your donut pan.
How to Make Baked Donuts
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray donut pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
Use a food processor to finely grind ¼ cup of toasted pecans.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and finely ground pecans.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until fully incorporated.
Mix half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, then add in the milk. Once incorporated, add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Transfer the batter to a piping bag, then cut off the tip and pipe into the donut pan, filling about halfway. You can also just spoon the batter into the pan if desired.
Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Invert the donut pan on a cooling rack, and the donuts should slide right out!
In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, melted brown butter, and salt. Slowly mix in milk a little at a time until your desired consistency is reached. The glaze should be thick but still pourable.
Dip the maple donuts into the glaze and place back on the cooling rack so the excess can drip off. Then sprinkle with chopped toasted pecans. The donuts are easy to glaze if they are cool, but they taste amazing when they're warm, so it's up to you!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Recipe FAQ's
These brown butter maple pecan donuts are best eaten the same day, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
No. This recipe is specifically designed for baked cake donuts, so if you prefer fried donuts I recommend using the base recipe from my maple bacon donuts instead!
Nope! You can use regular unsalted butter if you prefer!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Recipes You Might Like!
If you love this recipe, please leave a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers.
Also be sure to add us as a trusted site on Google so that our recipes show up more in your searches!
For more delicious, scratch-made recipes you can subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on social media!
Recipe Card
Brown Butter Maple Pecan Donuts
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Donuts
- ½ cup unsalted brown butter, melted
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup finely ground pecans
- ½ cup whole milk
Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted brown butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- pinch salt
- 2-4 tablespoons milk, as needed
Top With
- toasted pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray donut pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Use a food processor to finely grind ¼ cup of toasted pecans.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and finely ground pecans.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup until smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Mix half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, then add in the milk. Once incorporated, add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Transfer the batter to a piping bag, then cut off the tip and pipe into the donut pan, filling about halfway. You can also just spoon the batter into the pan if desired.
- Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Invert the donut pan on a cooling rack, and the donuts should slide right out!
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, melted brown butter, and salt. Slowly mix in milk a little at a time until your desired consistency is reached. The glaze should be thick but still pourable.
- Dip the maple donuts into the glaze and place back on the cooling rack so the excess can drip off. Then sprinkle with chopped toasted pecans. The donuts are easy to glaze if they are cool, but they taste amazing when they're warm, so it's up to you!
- These brown butter maple pecan donuts are best eaten the same day, but will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Becky says
Absolutely delicious!
Vivian says
I made these for my son-in-law's birthday, and they were enjoyed by all of us. My donut pans must be smaller than average, because I could have made 18 with this amount of batter. They still took 10 minutes to bake, though. Thanks for a great recipe!