How to Make Waffle Doughnuts

Less indulgent than their fried, bakery-made counterparts, baked doughnuts are easy to whip together at home—if you have a pan designed for the task. But what if you don’t have a specialty pan? Enter the waffle doughnut! 

These darlings come together the same way you’d mix up a standard baked doughnut—the recipes below use Bisquick and cake mix for super-fast, super-yummy batters—and are cooked to perfection in a waffle iron. The resulting doughnuts are ready in minutes, and boast plenty of crannies ideal for catching syrup or glaze.

These waffle-iron doughnuts rely on a just a few pantry-staple ingredients: sugar, Bisquick, Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix, milk, eggs and spices.

To make, start by pre-heating your waffle iron, lightly greasing with cooking spray if needed. Once your iron is fully pre-heated, pour ¼ cup of prepared batter into each waffle well. Close and cook five minutes or until your waffle iron indicates they are done. Carefully transfer doughnuts from the iron to a cooling rack, and repeat the process ‘til all the batter is gone. 

Once your waffle doughnuts are cool, it’s time to glaze! The glazes and garnishes I experimented with are super easy to make. For a chocolate glaze, simply whisk 2/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 4 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. For a vanilla glaze, whisk 2/3 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Rainbow and chocolate sprinkles are an optional, yet totally fun garnish.

While any of these Bisquick baked doughnut recipes would work beautifully in the waffle iron, here are three combinations I tested and loved the most. 

These festive, sprinkle-heavy waffle doughnuts would be perfect for a birthday breakfast! To make, cook up a batch of Baked Confetti Doughnut batter in your waffle iron and dip cooled waffle doughnuts into vanilla glaze then top with sprinkles.

Chocoholics are bound to adore these treats. To make, whip up a batch of waffle doughnuts using the Easy Baked Chocolate Doughnut batter as the base, and drizzle with the cocoa glaze, as outlined above. They’re almost better than brownies!

This tantalizing cinnamon roll-doughnut-waffle hybrid will be the star of any brunch. Start by cooking a batch of Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut batter in your waffle iron. Dip cooled wonuts in melted butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. So easy and so, so good!