Soft Oven-Baked Matcha Donuts Without Frying

You have a ring-shaped pan but no wish to bring out a pot of oil. These matcha donuts bake in the oven: their crumb is like a soft little cake, with a hole in the middle that sets them apart from other small matcha cakes baked in solid molds.

Six donuts call for about 2 1/2 tsp (5 g) matcha in the batter and 49 minutes in all, including 14 minutes of baking and 20 minutes of cooling.

• Preparation 15 minutes
• Baking 14 minutes
• Cooling 20 minutes
• Total time 49 minutes
• Makes 6 donuts
• Tools a six-ring donut pan, two bowls, a fine sieve, a whisk, a spatula, a brush, a rack, and an oven

The pan gives them their shape without frying. Don't expect the texture of a yeast dough: here you mix a cake batter and divide it among six cavities. We sell Essence for baking, though another cooking matcha can work.

Oven-baked matcha donut ingredients

• 3.2 oz (90 g) wheat flour for the batter
• About 2 1/2 tsp (5 g) matcha for the batter
• 1.2 oz (35 g) sugar for the batter
• About 1 tsp (4 g) baking powder for the batter
• About a generous pinch (1 g) salt for the batter
• 1 egg, about 1.8 oz (50 g) without the shell, for the batter
• About 2 1/3 fl oz (70 ml) milk for the batter
• 4 tsp (20 ml) sunflower oil for the batter
• 1 tsp (5 ml) sunflower oil for the pan

How to make six oven-baked matcha donuts

1. Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C).
2. Brush the six pan cavities with 1 tsp (5 ml) sunflower oil.
3. Sift 3.2 oz (90 g) flour, about 2 1/2 tsp (5 g) matcha, and about 1 tsp (4 g) baking powder into a bowl.
4. Add 1.2 oz (35 g) sugar and about a generous pinch (1 g) salt to the dry ingredients.
5. Whisk the egg, about 1.8 oz (50 g) without the shell, with about 2 1/3 fl oz (70 ml) milk in a second bowl.
6. Add 4 tsp (20 ml) sunflower oil for the batter to the liquid mixture.
7. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients.
8. Stir with a spatula until no dry flour remains.
9. Divide the batter among the six cavities, filling each no more than three quarters full.
10. Bake for 14 minutes, until the rings spring back under light pressure.
11. Let the donuts cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
12. Turn them out onto a rack.
13. Cool for another 15 minutes on the rack.

Stop mixing as soon as the dry flour disappears. Working the batter longer risks a less tender crumb. Leave a quarter of each cavity empty too, or the center hole will close in the oven.

Which matcha works in baked donuts?

We choose our Essence matcha for baking for these donuts, where it goes into the oven with sugar. Set aside the tea you like to drink with water. Sift about 2 1/2 tsp (5 g) with the flour to prevent dry specks in the crumb.

Banana or black sesame in matcha donuts?

For matcha and banana donuts, replace the egg with 2.1 oz (60 g) mashed ripe banana, then replace the milk with 1/4 cup (60 ml) plain soy drink. With the oil already used for the pan, this variation is plant-based. Expect a denser crumb than in the egg-based recipe.

For black sesame rings, scatter about 1 tbsp (10 g) seeds over the batter before baking. They'll stay on the surface. Without a ring pan, matcha madeleines bake in shell-shaped molds.

Our tip. Run a small spatula around each ring after the 5 minutes in the pan. If you unmold them immediately, the warm crumb may tear.

Allergens. These donuts contain wheat (gluten), egg, and milk; the banana variation contains soy and the seeded version contains sesame.