Imagine a cinnamon donut with chocolate glaze then turn it into cupcake form and add a big swirl of milk chocolate frosting and you have these Chocolate Doughnut Cupcakes.

Topped with the cutest mini donut cookies, this milk chocolate frosting is thick, fluffy, light and incredibly delicious.

8 cupcakes with chocolate frosting on a white marble platter.

Topped with the cutest mini donut cookies, the milk chocolate frosting is thick, fluffy, light and incredibly delicious.

This blog has a large selection of cupcakes to choose from. I have some seriously good go-to recipes for both Chocolate Cupcakes which you can find here and Vanilla Cupcakes as used in these Lamington Cupcakes recipe.

These Chocolate Doughnut Cupcakes are a take on my Salted Caramel Cinnamon Cupcakes and they taste divine.

Ingredients

All your regular cupcake ingredients are here – flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and eggs but there’s a few that will benefit from further explanation.

Ingredients for chocolate doughnut cupcakes on a marble benchtop.

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

  • Chocolate: There are two types on these doughnut cupcakes. Dark chocolate is use for the “doughnut glaze” that sits on top of the cupcake and milk chocolate for the frosting.
  • Glucose: This is in the glaze and keeps it silky. You can substitute this with light corn syrup.
  • Cornflour (cornstarch): I use this a lot in my baking. The combination of flour and cornflour is essentially homemade cake flour.
  • Cinnamon: This is what gives the cupcakes a little bit of doughnut.
  • Buttermilk: (spelt with two t’s unlike the spelling in my picture above). Buttermilk keeps the cupcakes super soft and tender.

How to make chocolate doughnut cupcakes

If you’re after more of a cinnamon sugar or jam donut style cupcake, try these Jam-filled Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins instead. But for these gorgeous cupcakes;

4 images showing the making of the batter for cinnamon cupcakes.

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

  1. Start by creaming together butter and sugar, then add eggs (photo 1).
  2. Now start alternating dry ingredients with the buttermilk (photo 2) until it comes together into a batter.
  3. Divide the batter equally among 12 cupcake cases (photo 3), then bake.
  4. Once cooled, mix together the glaze ingredients and top the cupcakes (photo 4).

How to make whipped milk chocolate frosting

This is one of my favourite frosting recipes. It tastes just like milk chocolate but is super light and fluffy.

4 images showing the steps to making milk chocolate frosting.

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

  1. Again you’ll start by beating together butter and sugar (but this time icing / powdered sugar). Now add cream (photo 5) and beat it again until fluffy.
  2. Now add some melted milk chocolate (photo 6) and beat again until whipped and fluffy (photo 7).
  3. Pipe the frosting onto your doughnut cupcakes (photo 4).

All they need now is a donut cookie to top them off.

3 cupcakes with chocolate frosting in a line.

Tips and tricks for perfect cinnamon cupcakes

  • Cream the butter and sugar: This just means to beat these two together, really well until it looks light and fluffy.
  • Always weigh your ingredients for best results. A cup measure can be filled many different ways and as a result can have varying quantities of flour. Too much flour equals a dry cupcake.
  • Don’t overmix the batter: Once you’ve added the dry ingredients, overmixing can result in tough cupcakes so just mix them in with a spatula until they are just combined.

Handy tools to have

A donut with a bite taken out of it with a mini donut on top.

MORE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE

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7 cupcakes with chocolate frosting on a white marble platter.
4.7 from 3 ratings
A fluffy cinnamon cupcake topped with chocolate glaze and whipped milk chocolate frosting, these Chocolate Doughnut Cupcakes are fun to make and absolutely dreamy.

Ingredients

FOR THE CINNAMON CUPCAKES

  • 165 g plain (all-purp) flour (1 ¼ cups / 6oz)
  • 25 g cornflour (cornstarch) (1oz)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 150 g light brown sugar (¾ cup packed / 5.3oz)
  • 113 g unsalted butter, softened (½ cup / 1 stick)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, room temp
  • ½ cup buttermilk, room temp (125ml)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

  • 100 g dark (50%) chocolate, finely chopped (½ cup)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28g / 1oz)
  • 2 teaspoons glucose syrup or light corn syrup
  • 2 teaspoons water

FOR THE WHIPPED MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

  • 226 g unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks / 1 cup)
  • 325 g icing (powdered) sugar, sifted (2 ½ cups / 11.5oz)
  • 200 g milk chocolate (1 cup / 7oz)
  • cup whipping cream (80ml)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Equipment

Instructions
 

FOR THE CINNAMON CUPCAKES

  • Line a 12 hole muffin / cupcake silicone or tin moulds with paper cases. Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced.
  • Sift together the flour, cornflour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
  • In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing thoroughly between each. Scrape down the sides again, add the vanilla beat for a further minute.
  • It’s very important not to over mix once you start adding the flour mixture so, either using the lowest speed on the stand mixer or using a spoon, gently mix one third of the flour into the butter / egg mix until just combined.
  • Add a half of the buttermilk until just mixed through. Repeat flour, milk, last of the flour each time mixing until just combined.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake cases. Bake for around 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a crumb or two clinging to it.
  • Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans and placing them on cooling racks to cool completely.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

  • Once the cupcakes are cool, add all chocolate glaze ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring well between each until you have a smooth glaze. Spread 2 teaspoons of the glaze over the top of each cupcake.

FOR THE FROSTING

  • Microwave the milk chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring well between each, until just melted. Set aside and allow to cool.
  • Beat together the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
  • Add the cream and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated
  • Fold in the melted & cooled chocolate with a spatula, then beat on medium-high for around 3 minutes. It should be smooth and creamy.
  • Spread or use a piping bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.

Notes

  1. I use an Australian standard 20ml tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons worldwide).
  2. I used my donut cookies recipe to make some cute little doughnut cookies – just top them with some melted chocolate and sprinkle.
  3. For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
  4. I use corn starch a lot in my baking. Cake flour is a combination of all-purpose and corn starch but in Australia is not so readily available. I use this combo in my recipes a lot instead of using cake flour.
MORE CUPCAKE RECIPES!
Have you tried this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.

Whipped Chocolate Buttercream adapted from this recipe.