Lemon Poppyseed Baked Donuts

These lemon poppyseed baked donuts are soft, moist, and bursting with fresh lemon flavor while popping with crunchy poppyseeds in both the tender donuts and the sweet lemon glaze.
I brought these lemon poppyseed baked donuts to a baby shower party. When I heard the theme of “pop,” my mind went straight to poppyseeds, and considering I am still baking my way into Spring, lemons were perfect for the occasion. Nothing screams Spring like lemon poppyseed!
Oh, I should mention I finally invested in a donut pan. And I am in big trouble. Guys, I am ADDICTED!! Like whoa!! Baked donuts are amazing. Soft, moist, delicious, and perfect with your morning cup of coffee or tea. I immediately made a second batch!
These lemon poppyseed baked donuts were the first donuts I made as soon as I got my pan, and they are everything I expected baked donuts to be: Moist, fluffy, and a little crunchy from the poppyseeds.
How do they compare to fried donuts? Well, for one, they are baked and much better for you. But also, they are really moist and have a great, tender texture.
But of course, fried donuts will always have a little edge because they are fried, but since these are pretty delicious and better for the soul, I will stick with them.
They are great for a quick breakfast and only took me 15 minutes to whip up, and they baked in 10 minutes.
- 1 cup cake flour, sifted
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon poppyseed
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg
- ½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste or seeds from ½ a vanilla bean
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons milk
- Poppyseed, for topping (optional)
