Cotton Candy Mini Donuts

Soft and tender baked mini glazed donuts bursting with cotton candy sweetness!

Happy Labor Day, everybody! Hope you’ve all been having an especially wonderful weekend! I know I did because I got to go to the State Fair!!!

The State Fair is one of my favorite annual traditions to spend with family. The rides, the games, the music, the shows and the contests are all great reasons to go to the fair. However, if you’re like me, the main reason to go to the State Fair is for the FOOD!!! And why wouldn’t it be?? It’s the only day of the year when it’s perfectly acceptable to eat a corndog, curly fries, giant turkey leg, elephant ear, nachos, ice cream cone, kettle corn, funnel cake, snow cone, AND cotton candy all in one day! Mind you, I didn’t actually eat all of these foods at the State Fair this year–I’m not that much of a piggy! I didn’t have a snowcone…

I may have to go on a water and oxygen only fast for a while…

Though out of all my favorite sweet snacks at the State Fair, I would have to say my absolute favorite is cotton candy! You can’t make it at home, and it’s hard to get all year round. Plus, I don’t know if you knew this, but it’s actually quite low in calories! Just forget the fact that it’s made of PURE SUGAR.

Like I said, cotton candy is not something you can find all year round, BUT you can still enjoy all of it’s sugary sweetness in another form…meet the Cotton Candy Mini Donut!

It may not be as light and fluffy as your traditional cotton candy, but it comes super duper close!

The flavor is absolutely SPOT ON, thanks to these wonderful grocery store finds!

When I first spotted the Cotton Candy Sugar Cookie Mix, I just knew I had to get it! I mean, cotton candy-flavored sugar cookies?? Are you kidding me??? How could ANYONE pass this incredible novelty up? Quadruple points for the fact that I found it in the clearance rack at Target! Yeah-ya!!! Though at the moment, I had no idea I’d be turning this sugar cookie mix into a tasty, super soft and fluffy donut…but I’m so glad I did!

The Danimals Cotton Candy Greek Yogurt not only added that extra moist fluffiness, but it also intensified the cotton candy flavor even more! Yumba-rama!

As the donuts were baking, the house smelled just like the State Fair with that heavenly cotton candy aroma perfuming the air. I should make these more often just for the fact that they make my house smell so sweet and sugary!

And the glaze on these donuts was divine! Just like the donuts, the glaze had that wonderful cotton candy flavor, thanks to the Cotton Candy Flavor Mix. I loved the pretty teal blue that the flavor mix dyed the glaze! Almost too pretty to eat! 

ALMOST…

And because they’re so small, it’s impossible to eat just one! You could easily go through 5, or 10, or 15…or the entire batch in a matter of minutes!

They’re so unbelievably light and fluffy that you could just pop an entire one in your mouth!

Try to exercise caution after making these donuts, or else you’ll be doing a lot more exercising at the gym to counteract the amount of calories you’ve uncontrollably consumed. They may look small and innocent, but their seductively sweet scent is pretty powerful!

…On second thought, these donuts are baked, NOT fried, so go ahead! Eat your heart out!

To make the donuts, preheat oven to 375F degrees and grease a mini donut pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar cookie mix, baking soda, and salt. Add the eggs, oil, and yogurt and stir until combined.

Pour batter into a large plastic zip-top bag. I’ve found that the easiest (and least messy!) way of doing this is by slipping the bag into a tall (empty) glass and folding the opening of the bag over the rims. This way you can use both hands to scrape every bit of filling into the bag AND without getting the opening of the bag all messy!

Fold the opening of the bag back up, lift it out of the glass, and zip it closed. Lifting it before zipping allows you to zip it closed without any batter squishing out of the top. Cut the tip off of one of the bottom corners of the bag.

Fill each donut reservoir about halfway.

Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes, or until donuts spring back when lightly touched.

Allow donuts to cool in donut pan for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Instructions for the glaze as well as assembly can be found below. Enjoy!

Cotton Candy Mini Donuts

Soft and tender baked mini glazed donuts bursting with cotton candy sweetness!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 minutes mins

Total Time 53 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 35 Donuts

Ingredients

  

For the Donuts:

• 2 cups Betty Crocker Cotton Candy Sugar Cookie Mix dry*
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• ⅓ cup Danimals Cotton Candy Greek Yogurt*

For the Glaze:

• 5 Tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Duncan Hines Cotton Candy Flavor Mix (not entire packet)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Sprinkles

Instructions

 

For the Donuts

• Preheat oven to 375ºF and grease a mini donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar cookie mix, baking soda, and salt. Add the eggs, oil, and yogurt and stir until combined.
• Pour batter into a large plastic zip-top bag. Cut the tip off of one of the bottom corners and fill each donut reservoir about halfway.
• Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes, or until donuts spring back when lightly touched. Allow donuts to cool in donut pan for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Glaze

• Combine milk, vanilla and Flavor Mix in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until warm. Sift powdered sugar into milk mixture. Whisk slowly, until well combined.

To Assemble

• Remove the glaze from the heat and set over a bowl of hot water.
• Dip tops of donuts into the glaze, one at a time, and set on a wire rack with wax paper underneath to catch any drips. Immediately top with sprinkles. Glaze literally sets up in seconds, so be sure to add the sprinkles before dipping more donuts. Allow donuts to set for 5 minutes before serving.
• Donuts will stay fresh and soft in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Notes

*I found the Cotton Candy Sugar Cookie Mix at Target (I believe that's the only store it's sold in), but if you're having a hard time finding it, Betty Crocker's original Sugar Cookie Mix can easily be substituted.
*Greek yogurt, plain yogurt, or sour cream can be substituted for the Cotton Candy Greek Yogurt.
*The glaze thickens up/sets pretty quickly, so you may have to reheat the glaze halfway through dipping the donuts. Or, add new hot water to the waterbath bowl.
*These donuts freeze really well! Just place them in an airtight container or heavy-duty freezer bag (wax paper between layers of donuts, if stacking layers), and freeze them for up to 3 months. When you're ready to serve the donuts, remove them from the freezer and place them on a plate in a single layer at room temperature. Make sure they're not on top of one another! As the donuts begin to defrost, the glaze will be wet, but after about 15 minutes, it sets up nice and dry again!
*Don't have a donut pan? Use a muffin pan and bake for 15-17 minutes!