Delicate and fluffy mini funfetti donuts dipped in a beautiful marbleized glaze!
Would you believe we’ve reached week FIVE of Unicorn Month already???
Boy, does time sure fly when you’re having fun. More specifically, when you’re having the best monthlong Unicorn Partay everrrrrr!! Truly, this has been such a happy month filled with sprinkles, rainbows, sparkles, sugar, and most importantly, unicorns! I’m so glad I decided to turn this dark and dreary month into something more colorful and exciting.
So to finish off this magical month, I have for you these Unicorn Mini Donuts!
More like mini pieces of art, if you ask me. I definitely channeled my inner Jackson Pollock when icing these mini donuts. But before we get to the decor, let’s discuss the donuts themselves.
I just love making mini donuts! Probably because it gives me the illusion that eating a few (thirty) donuts seems much less than eating one regular-sized donut. These little minis are so wonderfully light and fluffy, you’ll find it rather impossible not to pop the entire thing in your mouth.
Along with fifteen more…
Good thing this recipe makes about 40 mini donuts. AND good thing they’re baked and not fried, so you don’t have to feel AS guilty when you inhale the entire batch, leaving not even a single crumb for anyone else. Remember, it’s not considered selfish if YOU made them.
That’s how it works, right?
I’ve never been a fan of frying things since there’s so much oil involved. Being the queen of all things sugary and sweet, it might seem rather hypocritical of me to say that. While I do enjoy deep-fried goodies from time to time (I love me some state fair elephant ears!), I’m just not big on deep-frying. Like my Cotton Candy Mini Donuts and my Monster Cookie Mini Donuts, these are just as tasty, but without the grease-filled guilt or the messy oil-splattered countertops. Hooray!
Not only are these donuts baked, but there’s barely any oil in the batter. I also used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. See??? Super duper healthy, if you ask me.
Since unicorns are anything BUT ordinary, I added a healthy dose of sprinkles to the batter to create funfetti donuts. The little specks of color gave these mini puffs of fluffiness that extra oomph they needed.
Giving these minis that artsy fartsy marbleized look was actually quite simple. As far as my technique goes, instead of adding the food coloring to the entire bowl of glaze, I started with about a third of the glaze and added one small drop of pink and blue food coloring. I used a toothpick to swirl it around, drizzling more white glaze on top if the colors were too dark for my liking. Then I dipped the donut, twisted it, lifted it out, and shook off the excess glaze before placing it onto a wire rack to set.
As the color or glaze ran out, I just drizzled on more glaze and swirled in more food coloring. I love how the richness in color varies from donut to donut–some are more pastel while others are more vibrant in color.
As for gold spackles, I used an Edible Gold Dust
mixed with a few drops of water, then I used a fork to splatter it on. They almost look like leopard markings–so purrrrrty 😉
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a prettier donut! These light and puffy gems of sweetness would be perfect for parties, whether young or old. And with the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday, these would be the perfect little finger desserts to serve those football fans. You could even use your favorite football team’s colors instead!
These mini donuts might not be your traditional manly football food…but since when does ANYone turn down a donut?
Unicorn Mini Donuts
Ingredients
Donuts:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup vanilla Greek yogurt*
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sprinkles
Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
- Food coloring (pink and blue)
- Edible Gold Dust
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a mini donut pan** with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the sprinkles.
- Transfer batter to a large ziploc bag. Cut the tip of the corner off, creating a pastry bag. Fill each well in the donut pan about 3/4 full.
- Place in the oven and bake for 7-8 minutes, or until donut springs back when gently pressed. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk, starting with 2 Tablespoons. Add more milk, if needed. Pour about a third of the glaze into a small bowl. Add a drop each of pink and blue food coloring, swirl with a toothpick, then drizzle in more white glaze if colors are too dark. Dip donut halfway into the glaze, twist, then lift and shake off excess glaze. Place onto a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining donuts. Decorate with gold dust. Allow glaze to set/dry before covering or storing in an airtight container for up to 5 days.