frosting Archives - girl. Inspired.

Baking Instructions

Step 1: Pour 15 oz. of applesauce into a mixing bowl. Stir in one package of chocolate cake mix until batter is evenly mixed.

photo collage: applesauce in glass bowl, bag of cake mix, donut pan, cake mix being mixed into applesauce, spatula and aqua linen

Step 2: Grease the donut pan. You can use any size donut pan you like. I prefer metal donut pans. These are the donut pans I have the best luck with (affil).

Step 3: Fill each cavity of donut pan halfway full of batter. It is easiest to pipe the batter into the pan. If you don’t have a piping bag, just fill a gallon size ziplock bag and snip the corner off to make a piping bag.

Step 4: Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Gently press your finger against the baked donut. If it springs back, the donuts are done baking. If the indent stays in the donuts, bake them a few minutes longer until they’re done.

4 photo collage showing the steps to grease and fill donut pan with batter using ziploc bag, baked donuts in pan, aqua linen

Step 5: Allow the baked donuts to cool in the pan. Gently remove them from the pan onto a cooling rack. They should just tip right out of the pan. If they stick at all, scoot a spatula underneath to loosen them.

Step 6: Time to frost these delicious treats! Obviously, you can use any kind of frosting or toppings that your little heart desires, but since we’re going for SUPER FAST AND EASY, there is nothing faster than a can of pre-made frosting. Choose a nice chocolatey flavor and here’s the secret….pop the can into the microwave for 30 second increments until the frosting is perfectly pourable. A full can will probably take 1 minute total – so super fast!

Once the frosting is pourable, you can top the donuts in one of two ways. Either pour the frosting into a bowl and dunk the top of the donuts in. Or pour the frosting straight from the tub over the top of the donuts. The cooling rack underneath the donuts gives the extra drips a place to go.

Step 7: Once the donuts are frosted, you can sprinkle on any topping you’d like! Coconut is great, as are sprinkles or chocolate chips! Give them some color or stick with a death by chocolate theme. Whatever you choose, get ready to sink your teeth in!

4 photo collage dipping donut into bowl of frosting, pouring chocolate frosting over donuts, frosted donuts on cooling rack, and donuts with toppings

Oh yeah! Those donuts are ready to eat! So good! No one will know they’re made from applesauce unless you tell them.

chocolate baked donuts on cooling rack with chocolate frosting dripping over the tops and coconut, chocolate chips, or sprinkles on top, aqua linen in background

These baked donuts will stay fresh for 2-3 days in an airtight container. Do not frost until ready to serve!

You can freeze the baked donuts as well. Freeze on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Once frozen, place the donuts in an airtight container and keep frozen. The donuts will defrost at room temperature within several hours.

Chocolate Baked Donut Recipe

stack of chocolate baked donuts with chocolate frosting and toppings: coconut, sprinkles, and mini chocolate chips, on white plate

Chocolate Baked Donut Recipe

The easiest, yummiest chocolate donut recipe – it takes just two ingredients and a donut pan!

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Course: Dessert

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Servings:

Calories: 169kcal

Author: girlinspired

Equipment

donut pan

Ingredients

1 box chocolate cake mix
15 oz. applesauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Grease donut pan.
Stir together applesauce and cake mix.
Fill each donut cavity half full.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until donuts spring back to the touch.

Tried this recipe?Follow me on Pinterest @girlinspired!

Nutrition

You know how sometimes you just need a really rich frosting to satisfy your sweet craving? This chocolate frosting recipe makes the most decadent dark chocolate buttercream – you will love it! Not only does it taste like a chocolate lover’s dream, it also pipes beautifully and has a sheen that makes it look irresistible, too. It’s a great go-to for decorating a cake for just that special someone.

This frosting is pretty much just chocolate and butter – which means that it’s fairly basic to make and you will probably have all the needed ingredients on hand, but it does take a little time since you have to melt and cool your chocolate chips (for about an hour) prior to mixing them into the frosting.

You will also need to plan ahead and set out your butter so that it can soften. Not too soft, though – if you joined me on Facebook while I made this frosting LIVE (yes, live!!) you got to experience the unfortunate, yet common experience of working with a frosting that is too soft – which will happen if your butter is too soft. It had taken me longer than I anticipated to get everything together for the live demo and my butter sat out a tad too long. HOWEVER, even with soft frosting, I still ended up with a beautiful cake! There’s always a fix, so don’t give up even if you meet disaster like I did.

Watch this video working with Dark Chocolate Buttercream:

You can see me face to face with drippy frosting by clicking over here to the Girl. Inspired. Facebook page.

How to Fix Frosting that is Too Soft

How did we turn this mess around? Well – the rosettes on the top of the cake were fine. A little softer than I’d like, but they still looked pretty. The sides of the cake were especially drippy, so I just took my little spatula and smoothed all the way around the side of the cake. I put the cake into the fridge to harden up. I put the rest of the runny frosting back into the mixing bowl and put that in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Then, I re-beat the frosting smooth, refilled the piping bag, and used the same tip (1M) to pipe a border around the top and bottom edges of the cake. I think it turned out great!

Dark Chocolate Frosting Ingredients

1 lb. (16 oz.) Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1.5 cups (3 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder whisked into 1/4 cup + 2 Tbs. boiling water, let cool before adding

How to Make this Dark Chocolate Frosting

Fill bottom pan of double boiler with water and bring to a simmer. Place 1 pound of chocolate chips in the top pan of the double boiler and heat over the simmering water. Stir with a silicone spatula until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Remove top pan from heat and place on a towel or hot pad to cool. Cool for approximately one hour, stirring occasionally.
Set out butter to soften approximately 20-30 minutes ahead of mixing up frosting. The softened butter should indent just slightly when pressed with your finger, but should not completely cave under your finger. If butter becomes too soft before using, you can place it back into the refrigerator to firm up. Do not soften butter in the microwave.
Whisk together cocoa powder and hot water until the cocoa powder melts into the water. Allow to cool slightly before using.
In a mixing bowl, combine butter, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla and beat on high until pale and fluffy.
Add melted and cooled chocolate chips and mix on low until smooth.
Add cocoa powder/water mixture to the frosting and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Yields: approximately 5 cups

Decadent Dark Chocolate Buttercream Recipe –>>> Print this Recipe!

Dark Chocolate Buttercream

Not only does this dark chocolate frosting taste like a chocolate lover's dream, it also pipes beautifully and has a sheen that makes it look irresistible, too.