Buy a Donut Day Has Me Picking Favorites From These 17 Donut Recipes

Buy a Donut Day is exactly the kind of holiday I can get behind because nobody needs a complicated excuse to bring donuts home.

Give me a box with glazed, chocolate, fruity, filled, and maybe one completely unexpected flavor, and suddenly choosing just one becomes the hardest part of the day.

I’m always drawn to the donuts that feel a little nostalgic but still give me a reason to try something different, especially when I’m making them at home.

These 17 donut recipes are the ones I’d put on the table when I want plenty of favorites to choose from, even if choosing just one turns out to be impossible.

Vegan Chocolate Donuts

Vegan butter and a flax egg replace butter and eggs in these baked chocolate donuts. They bake for 15 minutes and need to cool all the way before they come out of the pan, or they break. Dip the tops in dark chocolate glaze and sprinkles for a vegan favorite on the donut plate.
Get the Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Donuts

Homemade Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Apple cider simmers down from a cup to half a cup on the stove, and that strong cider gets stirred into the batter. Each donut bakes in a donut pan for about 10 minutes, then gets dipped in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. If a jug of cider is open in your fridge, this is the donut to pick.
Get the Recipe: Homemade Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Air Fryer Lucky Charms Marshmallow Donuts

Canned buttermilk biscuits become donuts here: cut a hole in the middle, air fry for about 5 minutes, and dip the tops in melted marshmallow glaze. Press the Lucky Charms marshmallows on while the glaze is still wet. Pick this one when you want the colorful donut on the plate.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Lucky Charms Marshmallow Donuts

Maple Glazed Donuts

Donuts follow my kids everywhere we travel, and they will tell you nothing beats homemade on the road. This yeast dough rises twice, fries for a minute or two on each side, and gets dipped in a real maple syrup glaze. Add the toasted pecans, and you have a favorite worth picking.
Get the Recipe: Maple Glazed Donuts

Air Fryer Pumpkin Donuts

Mix pumpkin puree into a dough with no yeast, roll it into tubes, and press the ends together so you don’t need a donut cutter. Air-fry each donut for 8 minutes, then brush with butter and dip in pumpkin pie spice sugar. That is an easy from-scratch favorite to pick for a fall donut day.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Pumpkin Donuts

Krispy Kreme Donut Recipe

Evaporated milk and shortening soften this yeast dough, and it rises twice before the donuts fry in shortening. Dip each donut in the glaze twice for a thick coat. They are best the day you make them, and this is the pick when only a fried, fluffy glazed donut will do.
Get the Recipe: Krispy Kreme Donut Recipe

Baked Gluten Free Cinnamon Spice Glazed Donuts

Applesauce keeps these gluten-free donuts tender, and the batter stirs together fast with a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend. They bake in a donut pan for 15 minutes, then get dipped in a cinnamon and nutmeg glaze. Pick these when someone at your donut table can’t have gluten.
Get the Recipe: Baked Gluten Free Cinnamon Spice Glazed Donuts

Air Fryer Churro Donut Holes with Caramel Sauce

Churros are one of my favorite snacks when a stall sells them, and my family loves trying the different dips. Cut refrigerated biscuits in half, roll them into balls, air-fry for 6 to 8 minutes, then brush with butter and roll in cinnamon sugar. Make the warm caramel for dipping, and pick this one when you want a donut with a dip.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Churro Donut Holes with Caramel Sauce

Glazed Air Fryer Donuts (made from biscuits)

Five minutes in the air fryer turns a can of buttermilk biscuits into donuts. Cut a hole in each biscuit, flip halfway, and dip the cooled tops in a simple vanilla glaze with sprinkles. The cut-out centers cook into donut holes in 3 to 4 minutes, making this an easy pick when you want donuts fast.
Get the Recipe: Glazed Air Fryer Donuts (made from biscuits)

Baked Chocolate Donuts with Peppermint

A little cooled coffee gets whisked into this chocolate batter, and the donuts bake in about 12 minutes. The glaze is cocoa with peppermint extract, and you add crushed candy canes before it hardens. If you like a peppermint mocha, this is the donut to pick.
Get the Recipe: Baked Chocolate Donuts with Peppermint

Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts

One box of chocolate cake mix, water, oil, and an egg make the batter, so there is no flour to measure. Pipe it into a donut pan, bake 12 to 14 minutes, then spread on softened canned chocolate frosting and dip in sprinkles. A box makes about 18 donuts, enough to share and still keep your favorites.
Get the Recipe: Chocolate Cake Mix Donuts

Mocha Donuts

Strong coffee is stirred into both the batter and the glaze, so these chocolate donuts have a mocha flavor. Pipe the batter into a donut pan, bake for 8 to 10 minutes, and you’ll get 18 donuts. Let them cool before dipping in the glaze, or it will melt off, and coffee lovers will have a favorite to pick.
Get the Recipe: Mocha Donuts

Gluten-Free Chocolate Donuts

Almond flour and coconut flour make these donuts gluten-free, and a flax egg keeps them vegan. The batter scoops into a donut pan, bakes for 15 minutes, and the tops get dunked in melted dark chocolate and coconut oil. It makes 6 donuts, a good small batch to pick for guests who skip gluten, dairy, and eggs.
Get the Recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Donuts

Pumpkin Rice Krispies Donuts

Thanksgiving Day got loud when my toddler Leo marched through the kitchen chanting for dessert while my newborn daughter slept. I had no time to bake, so I melted marshmallows with pumpkin and spice, stirred in Rice Krispies, and pressed the mix into a donut pan. A maple cinnamon glaze goes on top, which makes this the donut to pick when time is short.
Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Rice Krispies Donuts

Air Fryer Blueberry Donut Holes

My son kept asking if donut holes really come from the middle of donuts, so we made our own from scratch. The dough has frozen blueberries tossed with a little flour, chills for 30 minutes, then gets rolled into balls and air-fried. We top them with a glaze made from blended blueberries, and they’ve become a weekend favorite at our table.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Blueberry Donut Holes

Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Donuts

Spice cake mix, ¾ cup pumpkin puree, two eggs, and melted butter make the batter, so you use only part of the can. Pipe the batter into a donut pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes; then brush each donut with butter and roll it in cinnamon sugar. One batch makes 14 to 16 donuts, a shortcut pumpkin pick for fall.
Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Cake Mix Donuts

Baked Guinness Donuts

Stout beer gets stirred into the chocolate batter, and the glaze has espresso powder and Irish cream liqueur, so these donuts are for adults. They bake for 15 minutes, and the glaze hardens fast, so dip and add sprinkles quickly. Pick them for the grown-ups’ side of the donut table.
Get the Recipe: Baked Guinness Donuts

Buy a donut, choose a favorite, and then quietly reconsider when you see the next one. Which donut would you grab first?