Rainbow Donuts
Bake up some magic! These rainbow donuts are homemade and the buttermilk frosting melts in your mouth. Kids can help decorate them!
Forget about funky store-bought donuts. We’re recreating bakery-fresh donuts in our kitchen – and it’s easier than you might think. Skip the yeast. You don’t need it! These quick-bread donuts are light and airy without it, which saves you a lot of time.
These are the perfect donuts to whip up for St. Patrick’s Day or on a rainy day when you’re dreaming of sunshine and rainbows. They add bursts of happiness and color to your kitchen (and will make your inner child jump with joy!).
No Yeast Homemade Donuts
Not only are these soft donuts made without yeast, they’re baked instead of fried. That makes them so much better for you – and I’m all about guilt-free baking.
What happens if you don’t use yeast in donuts? Well, typically, they could come out dense or chewy. However, I discovered that the secret to fluffy baked donuts is to use both baking powder and baking soda. Then, to keep it moist, I used a combination of Greek yogurt and real milk.
Together, with the rest of the ingredients, the donuts bake with airy pockets that are Heaven to sink your teeth into.
How To Decorate Rainbow Donuts
Whether it’s your first time decorating donuts or you’re hitting a creative wall, my recipe is here to give you something to copy. When you follow my recipe, you’ll get blue donuts (for the sky) with white-cloud frosting and colorful candies as the rainbow.
But there are a bunch of other ways to decorate homemade donuts to look like a rainbow. If inspiration strikes you, go with it!
Here are a few more ideas you can try too:
- Make the donuts colorful: Split up your batter into separate bowls and add a different food coloring to each bowl. Then, layer each color in the donut pan.
- Make rainbow frosting: Keep the donuts white/vanilla. But mix different colors of frosting and layer them in plastic wrap and place the plastic wrap in a piping bag, It will pipe out the colors of the rainbow.
- Use other types of candy: You don’t have to use chocolate candies. Use rainbow sour belt candy or Twizzlers.
What Ingredients Do I Need To Make Rainbow Donuts?
If you love to bake, then you probably already have everything you need. Here’s what I used when I made these colorful donuts:
Donuts:
- Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Egg
- Brown Sugar
- Milk
- Greek Yogurt
- Butter
- Blue Gel Food Coloring
Buttermilk Frosting:
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Whole Milk
- Candy-Covered Chocolate in Rainbow Colors
To get the specific measurements, scroll down to the recipe card and you can either copy and paste it, screenshot, or print out the card itself!
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How Long Will The Donuts Last?
There are two ways to store the rainbow donuts. But it’s best to store your donuts before you add the frosting. After you add the frosting, you have to keep them in the refrigerator and this will change the flavor and texture a bit.
Keep the baked, unfrosted donuts in a sealed container at room temperature. They will stay fresh for about a week this way.
If you need them to last longer, then freeze them. Place them in a food-safe freezer bag. They will stay fresh in the freezer for about six months.
Can You Air Fry Donuts?
Yes, you can use an air fryer instead of your oven to make the donuts. As long as your donut pan fits into your air fryer, it will work. I prefer to use my oven because it’s actually easier for this recipe.
If you bake them in the air fryer, you’ll have to bake them at 350F for about 15 minutes and flip them over halfway through baking. Flipping them over is the tricky part, and that’s why I prefer to just bake them in the oven.
How To Make Rainbow Donuts
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and spraying a donut pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Set it aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and brown sugar. Add milk and Greek yogurt and combine, followed by the melted butter.
Once all wet ingredients are thoroughly combined, add blue gel food coloring and stir until wet ingredients are completely tinted.
Next, slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and fold until well combined. The batter will be thick.
Insert batter into a piping bag, and pipe into each section of your donut tin.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the
center.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool down completely before decorating.
Once the donuts are cooled, prepare your buttercream. Use an electric mixer to beat together softened butter, powdered sugar and milk. If your buttercream is too runny, add more powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. If it’s too thick, add more milk one tablespoon at a time.
Your buttercream is ready once it forms semi-stiff peaks.
Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag with a round tip attachment and frost an arch at the top of each donut.
Next, add your candy-covered chocolates along this arch, giving it the look of a rainbow. Finally, pipe some buttercream clouds at the ends of your rainbow. Serve and enjoy!
If you make these rainbow donuts, please share your pictures or videos with me! Tag me on TikTok or share photos on Instagram.
And if you love watching recipe videos, then browse my video library over on YouTube.
Ingredients
For the Donuts
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 2 tsp blue gel food coloring
To Decorate
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp whole milk
- Candy-covered chocolate rainbow colors, preferably
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and spraying a donut pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and brown sugar.
- Add milk and Greek yogurt and combine, followed by the melted butter.
- Once all wet ingredients are thoroughly combined, add blue gel food coloring and stir until wet ingredients are completely tinted.
- Next, slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients and fold until well combined. The batter will be thick.
- Insert batter into a piping bag, and pipe into each section of your donut tin.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool down completely before decorating.
- Once the donuts are cooled, prepare your buttercream. Use an electric mixer to beat together softened butter, powdered sugar and milk. If your buttercream is too runny, add more powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. If it’s too thick, add more milk one tablespoon at a time.
- Your buttercream is ready once it forms semi-stiff peaks.
- Scoop the buttercream into a piping bag with a round tip attachment and frost an arch at the top of each donut.
- Next, add your candy-covered chocolates along this arch, giving it the look of a rainbow.
- Finally, pipe some buttercream clouds at the ends of your rainbow. Serve and enjoy!
