I love cinnamon. Anything cinnamon. Cinnamon buns, cinnamon cookies, cinnamon cake, cinnamon bread, cinnamon donuts - actually, I prefer chocolate when it comes to donuts. Well, not a chocolate donut, but a regular store-bought vanilla donut with chocolate icing. You know, the delicious, deep-fried kind.

But then I saw this recipe for baked cinnamon crumb donuts. And baked donuts are really just a cake batter, baked in a donut pan. Which basically means that this is a recipe for a cinnamon crumb cake, baked in a donut pan. And I am DOWN for some cinnamon crumb cake. Baked in a donut pan. Because refer back to my second sentence, where I mention that I love cinnamon cake.

Somehow, donut pans make everything you bake 100x cuter and tastier and better. Like, why pour this cake into a pan, bake it, and cut out boring 'ole squares, when you could simply portion it into a donut mold, bake it, remove it from the mold, and then proceed to eat a DONUT. Because it just became a donut. Without all the work, time, and oil of a donut. Magic.

These baked donuts are actually double cinnamon donuts. They don't just have a cinnamon crumb topping. Each donut also has a cinnamon swirl tucked into it.

Let me explain:

You're going to be making three easy mixtures for this recipe:
1 - the moist, airy vanilla donut batter that serves as the base for each donut
2 - the cinnamon-sugar mixture that's sprinkled into the center of each donut
3 - the cinnamon-brown sugar crumb topping that covers the top of each donut

The process will look something like this:

Don't worry - although there's three different components here, this recipe is still an easy one. All the mixtures are really simple and it will take you minutes to mix together each one. 

These donuts are actually the first baked donut recipe I've ever tried, the reason simply being that I just never had a donut pan before (I know, bad excuse). But a few weeks ago, I was in a home goods store, passed the donut pans, and thought: "how is it I've never tried one of these donut pans??" So I decided to purchase two pans (each one has 6 donut molds). Let's just say I'm very pleased with my decision. 

After I bought the molds, I began searching for baked donut recipes. And I spotted this one. And, after seeing the ingredient list, I had this funny, little feeling that these donuts were going to be perfect. I was right. They were. They are. They're amazing. 

Just imagine eating one of these donuts with a steaming mug of coffee for breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. Aside from cheesecake, I can't think of a more perfect pairing for coffee than these cinnamon donuts. I don't have to imagine it, because I had one of these with my coffee this morning. And everything came up smelling like roses. It was a "the stars finally aligned" type of moment for me.  

Stop imagining, and get baking. These baked cinnamon crumb donuts will rock your world. And probably align the stars for you, too. I know, I'm not really making sense here. But these donuts will do that to you. 

baked cinnamon crumb donuts

Adapted from Alessprocessedlife

Yield: 12 donuts

Donut Batter:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (for non-dairy option: 1 cup soy/almond milk + 1 tablespoon vinegar)
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Cinnamon Swirl:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Cinnamon Crumb:
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teasoon nutmeg
4-5 tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 12 donut molds.

Cinnamon Swirl: Mix together the ingredients in a small bowl.

Cinnamon Crumb: In another small bowl, mix together all the ingredients except the oil. Pour in the oil and work mixture with hands till it clumps and resembles large crumbs. 

Donut Batter: Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients and whisk till no lumps remain.

Spoon batter (or pour it with a spouted cup) into each mold, filling them halfway. Sprinkle the cinnamon swirl evenly over the batter. Top each mold with the remaining donut batter (the molds will be filled almost, or till, the top). Sprinkle the cinnamon crumb evenly over the donuts.

Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until the donuts spring back slightly when touched.

Let cool a minute, and then use a knife to ease the donuts from the molds. 

On a completely unrelated note, another reason to make these donuts: