These deep-fried Maple Donuts are old-fashioned, cake-style donuts flavored with warm spices and a pronounced maple taste. Finished with a silky brown butter maple glaze, they have crisp edges, a soft, tender interior, and are ideal for a cozy autumn breakfast or special weekend treat.
Maple Donuts: Recipe Highlights
- 🍁 Prep Time: 25 minutes
- 🍩 Cook Time: 20 minutes
- 🕛 Ready In: Approximately 2 hours 45 minutes, including chilling time
- 👥 Serves: About 9–10 donuts
- 🔥 Cook Method: Make and chill the cake-style donut dough, cut out rings, deep-fry until golden, then dip in a brown butter maple glaze.
- Flavor Profile: Buttery and maple-forward, with warm cinnamon and nutmeg and a rich brown-butter finish.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy to intermediate — the dough mixes in one bowl, but frying requires attention to oil temperature.
Why You’ll Love These Maple Donuts
- Old-fashioned cake texture. These donuts are crisp on the outside and tender and slightly dense in the center — the classic characteristic of a true cake donut.
- Maple flavor throughout. Maple extract is added to the dough for a prominent maple note, while real maple syrup is used in the glaze so each bite has authentic maple taste.
- Brown butter glaze elevates the flavor. Browning the butter builds a nutty, caramel-like depth that complements the maple and spices perfectly.
Table of contents
- Maple Donuts: Recipe Highlights
- Why You’ll Love These Maple Donuts
- Key Ingredients
- How To Make Maple Donuts
- Pro Baking Tips
- Recipe FAQs
- More Cake Donut Recipes
Key Ingredients
(The full ingredient measurements are available in the recipe card below.)
- Sour cream — Adds moisture, richness, and the tender crumb typical of cake-style donuts.
- Salted butter — Melted into the dough for richness; browned for the glaze to impart a nutty, caramel aroma.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar — Combine for sweetness and depth; brown sugar contributes caramel notes that pair well with maple.
- Egg + egg yolk — Provide structure and extra richness; the yolk helps keep the crumb soft.
- Maple extract — Intensifies maple flavor in the dough beyond what syrup alone provides.
- All-purpose flour — Gives structure while maintaining a tender crumb.
- Cinnamon & nutmeg — Warm the flavor without overpowering the maple.
- Maple syrup — Sweetens and flavors the glaze naturally.
- Powdered sugar — Forms the base of a smooth, glossy maple glaze.
How To Make Maple Donuts
Make the dough: Whisk melted butter with brown and granulated sugars, then blend in the egg, extra yolk, maple and vanilla extracts, and sour cream. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined to form a soft dough.
Prepare the glaze: Brown the butter until it develops a deep, nutty aroma and golden bits. Whisk it with maple syrup and powdered sugar, then thin with heavy cream to your desired consistency.
Chill and cut: Refrigerate the dough until firm, then press or roll it to roughly ½-inch thickness. Cut donut rings and holes, and lightly score the tops to encourage the signature cracking as they fry.
Fry until golden: Heat oil to 350–365°F (175–185°C). Fry donuts in small batches for about 2 minutes per side until a deep golden color and cooked through. Drain on a wire rack briefly, then dip in the warm glaze or wait for a thicker coating once cooled.
Pro Baking Tips
- Mix gently: Fold the flour in until no dry streaks remain. Overmixing tightens the gluten and can make cake donuts tough.
- Maintain dough thickness: Keep the dough about ½-inch thick for a substantial, bakery-style donut. Rolling too thin yields flat, dry donuts.
- Score the tops: A shallow cut around the top helps the donut split attractively and form craggy edges when fried.
- Control oil temperature: Aim for 350–365°F. Too cool oil makes greasy donuts; too hot oil browns the exterior before the centers cook. Allow the oil to return to temperature between batches.
- Fry small batches: Two or three donuts at a time keeps the oil temperature steady and ensures even frying.
Recipe FAQs
Cake donuts can be baked or fried, but traditional old-fashioned cake donuts are fried to achieve a crisp, golden exterior and a soft, cakey interior. This recipe is fried for that classic texture and characteristic craggy finish.
An old-fashioned cake donut is a fried ring made with chemically leavened dough rather than yeast. It typically has a denser, tender crumb and often develops cracks and ridges during frying.
Not exactly. Cake donut dough uses similar ingredients to cake but is much thicker and sturdier. The dough is chilled, rolled, cut into rings, and fried rather than poured into a pan.
This particular dough was developed for deep frying, which gives the specific texture and exterior finish described. An air fryer will produce a different exterior and may yield a more biscuit-like result.
More Cake Donut Recipes
Desserts
Buttermilk Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar
Desserts
Old-Fashioned Apple Cider Donuts
Desserts
Pumpkin Spice Donuts
Desserts
Old-Fashioned Sour Cream Donuts
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Maple Cake Donuts
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp (56 g) salted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp maple extract
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups (300 g) sour cream
- 3 1/2 cups (467 g) all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 4–5 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
Brown Butter Maple Glaze
- 6 tbsp (84 g) salted butter, browned
- 6 tbsp (120 g) maple syrup
- 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
- 4–5 tbsp (75 g) heavy cream
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk melted butter with brown and granulated sugars until the sugars begin to dissolve, about 1 minute. Add the egg, egg yolk, maple and vanilla extracts, and sour cream; mix until smooth.
- Stir in the dry ingredients — flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg — folding with a spatula until a soft dough forms. Stop as soon as no pockets of flour remain.
- Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or until firm enough to handle.
- When ready to fry, heat about 3 inches of oil in a heavy-bottom pot to 350–365°F. Use a thermometer to monitor temperature.
- Meanwhile, brown the butter over medium heat until it foams and develops deep golden bits and a nutty aroma, about 5–7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in maple syrup and powdered sugar, then thin with heavy cream to the desired consistency.
- On a lightly floured surface, press the chilled dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut 3-inch donut rings and 1-inch holes. Use a sharp knife to make a shallow score around the top of each donut to encourage cracking while frying.
- Fry two donuts at a time for about 2 minutes per side, until golden and cooked through. Drain on a wire rack for 2–3 minutes, then dip into the glaze while warm for a thinner coating, or wait until cooled for a thicker finish.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an approximation and should be used only as a guide.