Mini Baked Fruity Pebbles Donuts Recipe (2024)

If dessert for breakfast is your love language, you’re going to love this mashup recipe forFruity Pebble Donuts! Featuring a tender-crumbed fruity pebble cake base, strawberry vanilla glaze, and extra fruity pebble sprinkles for a colorful, crispy garnish, these cereal donuts are what Homer Simpson dreams of. 🍩

Table of contents

• Why We Love This Recipe
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How To Make Fruity Pebble Donuts
• Optional Variations & Dietary Adaptations
• Expert Tips
• FAQs
• More Easy Dessert Recipes

Why We Love This Recipe

Today, we’re embarking on a delightful baking adventure that will transport you straight back to childhood, when doughnuts reigned supreme, but a bowl of fruity pebbles hit the spot. Picture this: baked donuts with a funfetti cake base that are beautifully freckled with those iconic fruity cereal gems, topped with a luscious strawberry vanilla glaze, and sprinkled with even more Fruity Pebbles for an irresistibly crunchy finishing touch. Is your mouth watering yet? Ours too! It’s the perfect treat!

Aside from being a pleasure to eat, these Fruity Pebbles donuts are also:

• Bright, Cheerful, & Playful– They look like the kind of dessert a unicorn would make!
• Easy To Make– Baked donuts are a snap to make. They’re basically just cake, but shaped in a ring. There’s no fussy yeast or deep-frying to see here.
• Crowd-Pleasing– We can’t imagine that anyone would be able to resist these delightful little treats. They’re just too precious!
• Budget-Friendly– We’re not sure when it happened, but last we checked, a dozen donuts cost well over $15. 🤯 We remember the days when they were $0.50 apiece! Luckily, making them at home will keep ALLLLL the nostalgia in full force, including on the bill. 🥳

So, are you ready to embark on a flavor-packed journey that combines your favorite childhood cereal with the nostalgia of a classic donut? Well, saddle up, and let’s get baking!

Ingredients & Substitutions

These Fruity Pebble cake donuts are made with primarily pantry ingredients. Here’s everything you’ll need:

• Box ofFruity Pebbles Cereal– Feel free to use either name-brand or generic cereal, so long as it’s shaped like Rice Krispies and tastes like fruit.
• Buttermilk– The acidity is what gives these cake doughnuts their tender crumb. If you don’t keep it on hand, you can easily make some by adding a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of either dairy milk or soy milk, stirring, and letting it sit for a few minutes to thicken and curdle.
• All-Purpose Flour– Plain white flour is perfect, but you can also use cake flour in a pinch.
• Baking Powder & Baking Soda– Yes, you need both kinds of raising agents. No,they are not interchangeable.
• Salted Butter– If you only have unsalted butter on hand, not to fret. Simply add ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt for each stick of unsalted butter you use.
• Granulated Sugar– You can also use organic cane sugar or superfine caster sugar here.
• Egg– For binding. Let it come to room temperature to make it easier to mix into the batter.
• Sour Cream– For extra acidity and fat, which yields a softer cake. Feel free to swap in an equal amount of plain, full-fat Greek yogurt instead.
• Neutral Oil– Canola oil, vegetable oil, avocado, grapeseed, corn, or peanut oil all fit the bill.
• Vanilla Extract– For rich complexity and warmth. You can also use an equal amount of vanilla paste or vanilla powder, or half as much ground vanilla bean.

For the glaze, you’ll also need:

• Powdered Sugar– This is an essential ingredient for making a perfectly smooth donut glaze. If you’re fresh out, you can easilymake your own using granulated sugarand cornstarch or potato starch.
• Milk– Any variety of dairy or unsweetened plain or vanilla plant-based milk will do! We don’t recommend using buttermilk here, though, as it’s a bit tangy for what we’re after.
• Strawberry Extract– Admittedly, this is a new ingredient to our pantries, but we love the bright berry flavor it brings.
• Pink or Red Gel Food Dye– This is optional, but helps make for a super pretty presentation.

How To Make Fruity Pebble Donuts

These baked Fruity Pebble birthday cake donuts come together with very little fuss. Here’s how:

Step 1: Prep.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease your non-stick donut pan. Set aside.

Step 2: Make Cereal Milk.Place 1 cup of fruity pebbles and the buttermilk in a large mixing bowl. Give a slight stir and set aside.

Step 3: Dry Ingredients.Combine all dry ingredients for the donuts (flour, baking powder, and baking soda). Mix.

Step 4: Remaining Wet Ingredients.Lightly whisk the egg before adding it to the bowl with the cereal and buttermilk in it. Add the oil, vanilla, greek yogurt, and melted butter to the bowl as well. Stir until thoroughly mixed.

Step 5: Mix Wets & Dries.Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture, a bit at a time, and stir it in until thoroughly combined.

Step 6: Pipe DonutBatter Into Pan.Grab your prepared donut pan and fill each cavity about 3⁄4 of the way full. I tend to use a piping bag with a Wilton 2A tip, but anything similar, or even just a spoon scooping it in, will work.

Step 7: Bake.Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops of the donuts are bouncy.

Step 8: Cool.For best results, do not remove the donuts from the pan. Just set the donuts away from the stove for about 15-20 minutes or until cool.

Step 9: Make Glaze.While the donuts are cooling, mix together all the ingredients for the glaze, except the cereal, and stir until thoroughly combined.

Step 10: Dip Each Fruity Pebble Donut…Gently remove the donuts from the pan and dip the tops of the donuts in the prepared glaze, before placing them glaze up on a piece of parchment paper, a pan, plate, etc.

Step 11: Sprinkle.Lightly crush the remaining 1 cup of fruity pebbles and sprinkle in a diagonal direction across the corners of each donut.

Step 12: Serve.Serve, eat, and enjoy!

Optional Variations & Dietary Adaptations

As much as we love these Fruity Pebble doughnuts exactly the way we normally make them, we want you to love them, too. Here are a few potential variations to try —if you test ‘em out, let us know how they turn out in the comments below!

• Gluten-Free– Fruity Pebbles are safe for celiacs, so the only thing to fix is the AP flour. While we haven’t tried it ourselves, research leads us to believe this recipe *should* work with a cup-for-cup all-purpose gluten-free flour blend, so long as it contains xanthan gum. Make sure to let the batter rest for 30 minutes before baking or you’ll risk a grainy texture.
• Dairy-Free– Simply swap in vegan butter,vegan buttermilk, and the plant-based milk of your choice to get all the yummy flavor without any of the pesky lactose.
• Vegan– Follow the dairy-free instructions and swap in a flax egg (1 Flax Egg = 1 Tablespoon whole or ground flaxseed + 3 Tablespoons water + stir + 5 minutes rest). Note that going both vegan and gluten-free is not recommended — GF, egg-free baking is tricky!

Expert Tips

Making these delicious breakfast desserts with Fruity Pebbles is pretty easy, but we’ve learned a few things along the way:

• Sprinkle the crushed cereal onimmediatelyafter dipping in the glaze. If you wait even a few minutes, the glaze will set up and the Fruity Pebble sprinkles will fall right off. 😕
• When you’re making the glaze, don’t add the milk all at once. Slowly dribble it in as you whisk, stopping when you reach the proper consistency. For me, using whole milk, that was about 3 tablespoons.
• Rap the bottom of the donut pan on the counter a few times before baking. This will knock out any bubbles that are lurking in the dough so you get pro-looking donuts every time.
• Baked Fruity Pebble donuts will keep well in an airtight container at room temp for about 4 days. If you want to extend their shelf life, you’re welcome to freeze them for up to 3 months, BUT we don’t recommend you freeze glazed donuts. Instead, wait to dip and decorate them after they’ve been thawed.

FAQs

Can I make these Fruity Pebble doughnuts with Froot Loops instead?

We suppose that *could* work, but you’ll need to crush up the Froot Loops to make them smaller. Also, note that Froot Loops are made with corn instead of rice and are NOT gluten-free, so just keep that in mind if you’re making other adjustments to the recipe.

Can you eat a dozen donuts by yourself?

Truthfully? Maybe! But we probably wouldn’t. At least not while anyone was watching. 😜

More Easy Dessert Recipes

• Chocolate-Covered Oreo Delights: A Tempting Twist on a Classic Cookie
• Cream Cheese Lemon Squeeze Bars
• Tropical Paradise in Every Bite: Pineapple Coconut Lime Popsicles Recipe
• Indulge in Bliss: The Ultimate Vegan Oreo Milkshake Recipe for Dairy-Free Delight

If y’all tried this sumptuous recipe forFruity Pebble Donuts, holler and let us know how it turned out for you by giving us a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and commenting below. You can also always feel free to tag us (@creamcheeseandlemonsqueeze) in your social media posts so we can cheer you on.

Alright, y’all. Thanks so much for stopping by! For even more down-home Mississippi coastal cooking inspiration, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok. You can also get all of our newest content delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our weekly newsletter. We can’t wait to see you again soon!

Alright, y’all. Thanks so much for stopping by! For even more down-home Mississippi coastal cooking inspiration, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and TikTok. You can also get all of our newest content delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for our weekly newsletter. We can’t wait to see you again soon!

XO,

Anna & Ashley

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