Baked Glazed Chocolate Donut Holes

Moist and sweet, these rich chocolate donut holes, dunked in vanilla glaze, will warm your heart. And get this: they have all the goodness of a donut shop donut, without the calories and fat. Not to mention, there's no messy deep fryer to clean up after.

How did I make the donuts lighter (without changing their sumptuousness)? First, instead of deep-frying, I baked the donuts in mini muffin pans. For the batter, I cut back on the amount of butter and used just 3 tablespoons for over 40 donut holes. I also warmed the milk before adding it to the mix; this helps add a rich, buttery quality you don't find in cold milk. I also dunked the donut holes once in the vanilla glaze. Some recipes call for dunking the donuts in butter and then the glaze, and you simply don't need that here. Other recipes call for dunking the donut holes 3 to 4 times in the glaze; you don't need to do that either!

These are truly fabulous - I hope you make them and let me know what you think!

Glazed Chocolate Donut Holes
Store leftover donuts in an airtight container, at room temperature or refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Cooking spray
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature (you don't want them to scramble in the warm milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the glaze: 
3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk, or more if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray four, 12-cup mini muffin pans with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, combine the milk and butter. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook until the butter melts and tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt (make sure to break up the brown sugar).

Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the milk mixture.

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended; don't overmix or the donuts will be dense. And then you'll feel dense.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, filling each muffin cup 3/4 full (you will fill 44 to 48 muffin cups).

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with little moist bits clinging to it. Cool the donuts, in the pans, on wire racks.

To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.

Dunk the donut holes into the glaze using a fork or your fingers. Place the glazed donut holes on a wire rack nestled on top of a large baking sheet (let the glaze drip through to the baking sheet).

Makes 44-48 donut holes