Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard
Indulge in the flavors of fall with this recipe for Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard! This fall donut recipe uses sourdough discard for a creative and cozy way to reduce waste and indulge!
If you love sweet breakfast recipes, be sure to check out some of my other fall favorites like Maple Pumpkin Spiced Baked Donuts, Caramel Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls, Sourdough French Toast Sticks, Sourdough Chocolate Chip Scones, Buttermilk Pumpkin Waffles or Sparkling Apple Cider Donuts.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard
- Ready In: 25 minutes
- Makes: 12 donuts
- Main Ingredients: butter, light brown sugar, all purpose flour, sourdough discard
- Flavor Profile: cozy chai spices with a crunchy streusel topping and sweet glaze
- Dietary Info: no seed oils
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: transform sourdough discard into homemade fall donuts
Summarize & Save This Content On
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy: I love making these baked chai donuts because they are quick and easy! You can have these ready in under an hour for freshly made donuts on a lazy weekend morning.
- Uses Sourdough Discard: This fall donut recipes uses up sourdough discard which reduces food waste and turns it into delicious donuts!
- Streusel Topping: These baked chai donuts are complete with a streusel topping for a texture that combines perfectly with the soft cake donut. These are reminiscent of your favorite coffee cake, but in donut form!
- Better For You: This fall donut recipe is a little better for you than most because it is baked and not fried!
This is a collaboration recipe with my friend at Hannah at Make It Dough! Each month we collaborate to bring you a creative seasonal recipe that uses sourdough in some way!
Some of my favorite past fall recipes include Eggless Sourdough Molasses Cookies, Sourdough Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting, and Eggless Sourdough Pumpkin Pie. These all use sourdough discard to reduce food waste while creating delicious desserts!
Ingredients
- Light Brown Sugar: I use my homemade light brown sugar, but you can also use store bought too.
- Sourdough Discard: You can use your sourdough discard straight from the fridge.
- Egg: Make sure to use organic large eggs. Using eggs that are smaller or larger can make the donuts dry or sink.
- Greek Yogurt: I use organic plain Greek yogurt, but vanilla is also fine.
- All Purpose Flour: My favorite is Cairnspring Mills!
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder for a nice delicate crumb. Check out the Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder for more info on leavening agents.
- Cooking Spray: I think cooking spray is essential for baked donuts as it just allows them to release much easier. I use organic olive oil cooking spray, but avocado oil or canola oil also work.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Baker’s Tips
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- You can use your sourdough discard straight from the fridge.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can just spoon the batter into the donut pans.
- Be careful when filling the donut pans with the topping. I overloaded these and created basically a donut with no hole. But, if I'm honest, I'm obsessed with donuts (and bagels) with basically no hole, so I was pretty happy! But, if you want to ensure a hold, clean the topping off of the middle of the donut pan well before baking.
- Make sure to store these in under a cake dome so they stay fresh. You could also put them in an airtight container too.
- High Altitude — Bake at 400°F for 8 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the topping looks golden brown.
How to Make Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. To make the topping: Melt the butter, you can do this in a small pot over the stovetop or in the microwave, either works.
- In a medium bowl, add the melted butter, flour, cane sugar, light brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Mix together with a spatula until a paste texture forms. Set aside.
- To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter, light brown sugar, sourdough discard, and egg.
- Mix together using a hand mixer until combined.
- Add in the yogurt, milk, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, all spice, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper in that order.
- Mix on low until a stiff dough forms. Transfer to a piping bag with no tip.
- Lightly grease two donut pans with olive oil cooking spray to prevent sticking. Pipe the donut batter into the pans, this makes 12 donuts. Crumble the topping on top of the donuts.
- Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean the topping looks golden brown. Allow to cool completely in the pans.
- To make the glaze: In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and mix. Whisk together until a smooth glaze forms.
- Drizzle the glaze over the tops of the donuts.
- Enjoy!
Serving Ideas
- Enjoy for breakfast with an Iced Blueberry Latte and Bone Broth Sausage Mushroom Frittata.
- If you're hosting a fall brunch, these pair great with Cinnamon Sweet Potato Bread Without Eggs, Eggless Apple Cinnamon Waffles, Maple Cinnamon Olive Oil Granola, Homemade Sesame Bagels and Cinnamon Honey Butter Spread Recipe.
- Have as a mid morning snack with Creamy Vegan Chocolate Smoothie With Almond Butter or Coconut Hot Chocolate.
- My husband is obsessed with enjoying these just with a cup of coffee, the ultimate treat anytime of day!
- If you're hosting a fall party, these are a great addition to a dessert bar! Serve alongside Maple Spice Cake With Brown Sugar Frosting, Pumpkin Spice Latte Protein Brownies, Soft Baked Pumpkin Spice Cranberry Sandwich Cookies, Brown Butter Pumpkin Spice Popcorn, Pumpkin Chocolate Bars, and Lattice Spiced Apple Pie.
Baked Chai Donuts With Sourdough Discard FAQ’s
Sourdough discard is the portion of sourdough starter that is removed during the feeding process. While it's usually discarded (or thrown away) it can be used in many baked goods to provide a tangy flavor! This reduces food waste and provides flavors to recipes like these Chai Baked Donuts with Sourdough Discard!
No, you can use it straight from the fridge. Perfect time to bake this recipe if you need to feed your starter.
Yes, if you don't have sourdough discard, just add 57 grams of all purpose flour and 57 grams of water together in a bowl and mix it up. Use this in place of sourdough discard. If you are using this, then I would be sure to use plain Greek yogurt and not vanilla as you want to get some tang in there!
Yes, you can use your sourdough discard straight from the fridge for a recipe like this as we don't need active starter. We're just using sourdough discard to reduce waste and give these donuts a tangy delicious flavor.
Yes, if you have a chai spice mix that you like, feel free to use it in place of all the total amount of spices. So, you would use 2 3/4 teaspoon of chai spice mix and do not add in the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper, allspice, and cardamom.
No, you cannot make baked donuts without a donut pan. If you don't have a donut pan and you have a muffin pan, you can use this recipe for muffins, but they will be muffins, not donuts.
Yes, just be sure to store in a cake dome or an airtight container so they keep their moist texture.
These will stay fresh under a cake dome for 3 to 5 days, but are best when eaten right away. If you don't have a cake dome, be sure to store in an airtight container so they don't dry out.
You can. Store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Just thaw and enjoy!
More Fall Baking Recipes
Loved it? Tell us!
Thanks a waffle lot for stopping by 🧇 If you loved this recipe, sprinkle some love by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review — it inspires others to try this recipe and helps me organically reach dog loving foodies like you! I personally read and appreciate every message!
Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and join John John and me in the kitchen for step by step recipe videos! And subscribe to our newsletter for new and seasonal recipes!
Baked Chai Donuts with Sourdough Discard
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Mixing Bowl
- Hand Mixer
- Donut Pans
- Piping Bag
Ingredients
Topping
- 85 grams salted butter (melted)
- 95 grams all purpose flour
- 57 grams cane sugar
- 57 grams light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Batter
- 85 grams salted butter (melted)
- 170 grams light brown sugar
- 113 grams sourdough discard
- 1 large egg
- 57 grams plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup milk
- 255 grams all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Olive oil cooking spray
Glaze
- 212 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- To make the topping: Melt the butter, you can do this in a small pot over the stovetop or in the microwave, either works.
- In a medium bowl, add the melted butter, flour, cane sugar, light brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Mix together with a spatula until a paste texture forms. Set aside.
- To make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter, light brown sugar, sourdough discard, and egg.
- Mix together using a hand mixer until combined.
- Add in the yogurt, milk, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, all spice, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper in that order.
- Mix on low until a stiff dough forms. Transfer to a piping bag with no tip.
- Lightly grease two donut pans with olive oil cooking spray to prevent sticking. Pipe the donut batter into the pans, this makes 12 donuts.
- Crumble the topping on top of the donuts.
- Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean the topping looks golden brown. Allow to cool completely in the pans.
- To make the glaze: In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and mix. Whisk together until a smooth glaze forms.
- Drizzle the glaze over the tops of the donuts.
Video
Notes
- Always use a digital food scale for the best results.
- You can use your sourdough discard straight from the fridge.
- If you don’t have a piping bag, you can just spoon the batter into the donut pans.
- Be careful when filling the donut pans with the topping. I overloaded these and created basically a donut with no hole. But, if I'm honest, I'm obsessed with donuts (and bagels) with basically no hole, so I was pretty happy! But, if you want to ensure a hold, clean the topping off of the middle of the donut pan well before baking.
- Make sure to store these in under a cake dome so they stay fresh. You could also put them in an airtight container too.
- High Altitude — Bake at 400°F for 8 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the topping looks golden brown.
Nutrition
The Bake Shop
Visit The Bake Shop for foodie inspired tees, sweatshirts, and accessories. Find my favorite kitchen tools (with discounts!) in the Kitchen Shop. And shop our collection of food inspired dog accessories too!
Beautifully spiced, these are fall pastry perfection!
Starbucks, if you are listening, this recipe could easily be your next chai flavored craze! Not only are these donuts absolutely delicious, but they don’t leave you with that guilty donut hangover feeling at all…. I was seriously mourning summer until I tasted this sweet treat. Bring on the fall!