Easy Christmas Donuts {6 Designs}

Quick and easy Christmas donuts, homemade with simple ingredients. Decorate them with icing and candies to make a snowman, reindeer, wreath, Santa and even Grinch.

During this time of year Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Creme come up with some of the best holiday flavors and designs. I was inspired by them and decided to make some myself! After all, donuts are such a fun and easy way to celebrate holidays and special occasions. In fact, you should check out my other fun donuts for other upcoming events, including my Baked Pumpkin Donuts, Jelly Filled Donuts, Apple Cider Donuts, Halloween Donuts, and Pikachu (Pokemon Donuts).

Key ingredients

• Donuts– Can be homemade or store-bought.
• Many different candies- Such as red gum balls, candy eyes, and bow candies to name a few.
• Various sprinkles- Including sanding sugar, sugar pearls, and mulutiple Christmas sprinkles.
• Food coloring- To add more vibrant color to these fun holiday delights.
• Powdered sugar– Used for decoration and for thickening the glaze and icing.
• Chocolate chips- Use both mini and regular sizes.
• Vanilla glaze- Made by using powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
• Chocolate ganache- Which is a combination of chocolate chips and heavy cream.
• Black icing- You will need black food coloring for this if you are making it homemade or you can purchase some at the store.
• Shredded coconut- If you really like coconut, go a head and add more or adjust to your personal preference.
• Pretzel twists- Either a generic brand or a name brand can be used, but make sure they are the twists and not the sticks.

Variations

Make them mini sized– They would be so cute for little kids parties and easy to eat too.

Use other candies- There are so many fun candies out during the holiday season, so don’t be afraid to branch out and use your imagination.

Explore sprinkle options- You don’t have to find the exact sprinkles I used. Get creative and have some fun with this!

Try different glaze/frosting- The ones I’ve included in my recipe card work best and will give great results, but you can always experiment with other options. For different looks and flavors in your creations, you may want to try my Red Frosting, Lemon Glaze, Easy Mint Frosting, or Chocolate Ganache Frosting to name a few.

Santa or elf face- Use white chocolate or milk chocolate to create the base, then use icing and candies to decorate to make it look like an elf or Santa face. You could even use mini dehydrated marshmallows as Santa’s beard and use fruit by the foot to make a hat shape on top.

Larger Christmas tree- Frost and sprinkle them all green with fun colorful round candies acting as lights. Then arrange all 12 or more donuts like a tree. It’s similar to a pull apart cupcake cake.

Triple snowman- Combine three snowman donuts one on top of the other. Keep two of them plain white with the top tier decorated as the face.

Make images with icing- Do your base over entire donut like you would for the reindeer donuts below, but then simply pipe a design with colored glaze or icing. For example, make a squiggly Christmas tree shape in the center, pipe lines so that it looks like a present wrapped in a bow, or even just make a red and green plaid design.

How to make the best easy Christmas donuts?

1. Bake donuts- Let them cool fully.
2. Dip them– In vanilla glaze or chocolate ganache.
3. Decorate– With candies and colorful icing to create festive designs.

These are the main basic steps. Additional details for each specific design and step by step pictures can be seen below within this post.

Santa Donuts

1. Dip– The donut in glaze
2. Coat completely– In red sanding sugar.
3. Pipe– A band of black icing in the center
4. Stick on- A yellow square candy.

Reindeer Donuts (Rudolph/ Rudolf)

1. Dip– Donut in chocolate ganache.
2. Stick– Two eye candies on the top.
3. Break– A pretzel twist in half and place as antlers.
4. Press- A red gum ball in the center.
5. Add– A white jimmie sprinkle near the bottom.

Wreath Donuts

1. Dip– Donut in vanilla glaze.
2. Coat– In green sanding sugar.
3. Push– Red sugar pearls all over.
4. Stick– A red bow candy near the bottom.

Snowman Donuts

1. Cover- The donut in powdered sugar.
2. Push– Large chocolate chips on the top for eyes.
3. Firmly place- Mini chocolate chips near the bottom for mouth.
4. Press- A candy corn in the middle for nose.

Grinch

1. Tint glaze- With green food coloring.
2. Mix in- Shredded coconut.
3. Dip– Donut in mixture until covered.
4. Stick- Sprinkles all over.

Tips and techniques

If you are using store-bought donuts– Make sure to buy plain ones so that you can coat them in colored glazes and icing of your choice.

Don’t ice warm donuts– Because the heat will cause the decorations and icing to melt.

Use food tweezers- If you want exact placement of sprinkles and candies instead of just using your fingers.

Use mini tongs- For dipping the donuts in glazes and icing to keep from getting your hands too messy. Sometimes it gets difficult when the sanding sugar starts sticking to your hands as you’re trying decorate.

Splurge on sprinkles- Don’t skimp on the fun decorating items, including the candy. This is what really makes this treat stand out.

Storage

Room temperature- These can be placed in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Refrigerate- I think these are better the day of, but you can store them in a sealed container for about 3 days. The candies and other decorations may become hard and chewy, though.

Freeze- This is tot recommended because the candies and decorations don’t thaw well.

Recipe FAQs

More Christmas Desserts

• Christmas Tree Cupcakes
• Snowman Cookies/Oreos
• Christmas Tree Cookies
• Jumbo Gingerbread Men Cookies
• Christmas Tree Brownies
• Santa Hat Brownies

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Easy Christmas Donuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Decorating time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 50 minutes mins

Easy Christmas donuts, homemade with simple ingredients. Decorate them with icing and candies to make a snowman, reindeer, wreath, Santa and even Grinch.

Yield: 12 Donuts

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 Donuts, Can be homemade or store-bought
• ▢ 2 cups Vanilla glaze
• ▢ 1 cup Chocolate ganache
• ▢ 1/2 cup Powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup Chocolate chips, Mini and regular size
• ▢ 1/4 cup Candy corns
• ▢ 1/4 cup Red sanding sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup Black icing
• ▢ 2 tbsp Yellow square candies
• ▢ 1-2 tbsp Shredded coconut, Adjust according to your preference
• ▢ Green food coloring
• ▢ 1/2 cup Heart sprinkles, Big and small sizes
• ▢ 1/4 cup Eye candies
• ▢ 1/4 cup Pretzel twists
• ▢ 1/4 cup Red gum balls
• ▢ 1/2 cup Christmas sprinkles
• ▢ 1/4 cup Green sanding sugar
• ▢ 2 tbsp Red sugar pearls
• ▢ 2 tbsp Bow candies

Instructions 

• Bake donuts and allow them to cool fully or buy plain donuts from your favorite bakery or grocery store .
• Snowman: Cover the donut fully in powdered sugar. Push large chocolate chips on the top for the eyes. Push mini chocolate chips near the bottom for the mouth. Push a candy corn in the middle for the carrot nose.
• Santa: Dip the donut fully in vanilla glaze and then coat it completely in red sanding sugar. Fill a piping bag with black icing and attach a small round tip. Pipe a black belt along the center and stick a yellow square candy in the center for the belt buckle.
• Grinch: Use green food coloring to tint the glaze green and mix in some shredded coconut. Dip the donut fully until covered. Stick large and small red heart sprinkles all over.
• Reindeer: Dip the donut fully in chocolate ganache. Stick two eye candies on the top. Break a pretzel twist in half and stick it along the sides for the antlers. Stick a red gum ball in the center for the nose. Add a white jimmie sprinkle near the bottom for the mouth.
• Sprinkles: Dip the donut fully in vanilla glaze and cover it completely in your choice of Christmas sprinkles.
• Wreath: Dip the donut fully in vanilla glaze and then coat it completely in green sanding sugar. Push red sugar pearls all over the donut and stick a red bow candy near the bottom, using some glaze.

Notes

• Don’t ice warm donuts because the heat will cause the decorations and icing to melt. 
• Use gel colors or liquid food coloring to tint your glaze. 
• Leftovers can be stored in a covered box at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for 2 days. 
• Read additional variations and tips above. 

Nutrition

Calories: 158kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 2g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.03g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 0.04mg, Sodium: 45mg, Potassium: 84mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 28g, Vitamin A: 0.4IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 15mg, Iron: 1mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 158

Author: Abeer Rizvi