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    Home » All Desserts » By Holiday » Halloween

    Published: Oct 7, 2018 · Modified: Nov 16, 2022 by Claire

    Candy Corn Doughnuts

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe· 5 from 11 reviews
    a stack of candy corn doughnuts in front of a jug of milk with doughnuts and pumpkins in the background

    Make your Halloween morning a little more awesome with these easy candy corn doughnuts. The best part: they come together in a record 30 minutes with just 4 ingredients. What's not to love about that? Check out the tutorial below for the full details.

    Sometimes you just need a quick, easy treat. And these candy corn doughnuts could be just that! They're super easy to make, require only a few ingredients and turn out every bit as tasty as they are pretty.

    How to make candy corn doughnuts

    First, whip up some doughnuts like these sweet potato doughnuts or these pumpkin spice doughnuts. Not in the mood to make your own? Store bought doughnuts (without glaze or sugar on top) work just as well.

    Step-by-step photos for making candy corn doughnuts

    Second, make your icing, divide it between three bowls, and tint one yellow, one orange and leave the other white.

    Third, spoon that icing onto a plate and start dipping!

    How to make the perfect candy corn doughnuts

    • Consistency is key with this glaze; you want it nice and think but not so thick that it won't stick to the tops of your doughnuts. You know you've reached the right consistency when you can drop a spoonful of glaze back into the bowl and it reabsorbs in about 10 seconds.
    • Be sure to add more glaze to your plate/bowl every couple of dips so that the glaze stays fresh and doesn't crust.
    • This is a relatively soft glaze so make sure you don't pack or stack your doughnuts until the glaze has completely hardened.
    • Leftovers: The glaze on these doughnuts is relatively soft and does not keep well. In all likelihood, leftover doughnuts will develop marks and divots in the glaze if stored overnight. If you end up with leftovers, the best way to store them is in a paper bag. Whatever you do, don’t refrigerate them or put them in plastic.
    • Reviving stale doughnuts: If you wound up with leftovers and they’ve gotten stale, no worries! You can soften them back up by microwaving them in 5-10 second increments until soft. Just watch out for melting icing.

    Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!

    Print

    Recipe

    Candy Corn Doughnuts

    a stack of candy corn doughnuts in front of a jug of milk with doughnuts and pumpkins in the background
    Print Recipe

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 11 reviews

    These candy corn doughnuts are every bit as easy as they are pretty. If you're looking for a last minute Halloween treat, this is it!

    • Author: Claire of The Simple, Sweet Life
    • Prep Time: 20 minutes
    • Total Time: 20 minutes
    • Yield: 8 1x
    • Category: Breakfast
    • Cuisine: American

    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 6-8 doughnuts (like these sweet potato doughnuts)
    • 2 ½ cup powdered sugar
    • 5 tbsp. milk
    • Orange and yellow food gel coloring

    Instructions

    1. Bake (or buy) your doughnuts and make sure they've cooled to room temperature (if you baked them). In a medium-size bowl, beat the powdered sugar and milk until thick.
    2. Make sure there aren't any powdered sugar lumps.
    3. Separate your icing into three bowls. Tint one orange, one yellow, and leave the third one white.
    4. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of each color onto a plate or shallow bowl. Make sure the colors are close enough to touch.
    5. Dip the top of each doughnut into the icing, making sure you don't push it so far down that it touches the plate (this will make the icing patchy wherever the doughnut touched the plate).
    6. Allow the excess icing to drip off before turning the doughnut right side up.
    7. Add another tablespoon of each icing to the plate and repeat. Make sure to refresh the icing between each couple of dips.
    8. Allow the icing to harden completely (about 20-30 minutes) before packaging.

    Notes

    • Consistency is key with this glaze; you want it nice and think but not so thick that it won't stick to the tops of your doughnuts. You know you've reached the right consistency when you can drop a spoonful of glaze back into the bowl and it reabsorbs in about 10 seconds.
    • Be sure to add more glaze to your plate/bowl every couple of dips so that the glaze stays fresh and doesn't crust.
    • This is a relatively soft glaze so make sure you don't pack or stack your doughnuts until the glaze has completely hardened.
    • Leftovers: The glaze on these doughnuts is relatively soft and does not keep well. In all likelihood, leftover doughnuts will develop marks and divots in the glaze if stored overnight. If you end up with leftovers, the best way to store them is in a paper bag. Whatever you do, don’t refrigerate them or put them in plastic.
    • Reviving stale doughnuts: If you wound up with leftovers and they’ve gotten stale, no worries! You can soften them back up by microwaving them in 5-10 second increments until soft. Just watch out for melting icing.

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @thesimplesweetlifeblog on Instagram and hashtag it #thesimplesweetlife

    Did you like this recipe? You might also like...

    • Bat doughnuts
    • Marshmallow ghosts
    • Monster doughnuts
    • Ghastly candy bark

    Update Notes: This post was originally published in October of 2016 but was republished with step by step photos and tips in October of 2018.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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      Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    1. Sue says

      October 24, 2016 at 7:55 pm

      I love the flavor and punch of color in these donuts! The video is pretty cool too 🙂

      Reply
      • The Simple, Sweet Life says

        November 20, 2016 at 7:42 pm

        Awww thank you! 😀

        Reply
    2. Jen says

      October 08, 2018 at 10:20 am

      These are outstanding! I love the vibrant color. Would love to whip these up for my kids.






      Reply
    3. jenna | the urben life says

      October 08, 2018 at 4:14 pm

      What a fun idea for Halloween parties! Quick and simple with just 4 ingredients 🙂

      Reply
    4. Ruthie Ridley says

      October 08, 2018 at 4:18 pm

      Candy Corn is my fave!!! I want to make these right now!






      Reply
    5. Mary says

      October 08, 2018 at 6:27 pm

      I love your blog! This idea is super cute too. Definitely saving it for this weekend!

      Reply
    6. Patricia @ Grab a Plate says

      October 08, 2018 at 7:21 pm

      Wow! These are so darn cute! Love it!

      Reply
    7. Elaine Benoit says

      October 09, 2018 at 5:05 am

      Not only do these look delicious but they are beautiful! My nieces and nephews will love these!






      Reply
    8. Holly says

      October 09, 2018 at 9:57 am

      These look super delicious! Perfect for Halloween!!






      Reply
    9. Gloria says

      October 10, 2018 at 6:45 am

      OMG these are so cute. I just made pumpkin donuts not long ago. I know my grandkids would LOVE these for sure.






      Reply
    10. Nicole says

      October 10, 2018 at 7:35 am

      My mouth is watering! How perfect is this treat for October?!

      Reply
    11. Dawn - Girl Heart Food says

      October 10, 2018 at 8:43 am

      Love the colouring of these! I bet they're as fun to make as they are to eat 🙂






      Reply
    12. Shobee says

      October 10, 2018 at 8:50 am

      They look incredible. This will be a hit in any Halloween party.

      Reply
    13. Anna Hettick says

      October 12, 2018 at 5:20 pm

      My kids (and I!!) will LOVE these for fall!!! So cute! Love the video explaining the icing!






      Reply
    14. Amanda Mason says

      October 13, 2018 at 8:55 pm

      These look SO amazing and actually pretty easy! When I hear donuts I never think easy but these actually look easy!! I'm going to give these a go! That video is so helpful!






      Reply
    15. Jyothi (Jo) says

      October 14, 2018 at 8:34 am

      Such cute doughnut frosting! Perfect halloween treat and for fall! They look incredible!






      Reply
    16. Leslie Haasch says

      October 14, 2018 at 9:25 am

      Giiiiiirl you're gettin' crazy up in here! This will make the perfect treat to bring in for my Halloween work party - they love any excuse for a fun breakfast!

      Reply
    17. Ashley @ Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen says

      October 14, 2018 at 5:52 pm

      I was just thinking that my 6yo would LOVE these, and he walked over while I was looking at your website and yelled, "CANDY CORN DONUTS?!" and got SO excited. Ha! These are so fun! Perfect fall treat.

      Reply
    18. Kitty says

      October 14, 2018 at 6:12 pm

      This is such a fun idea for Halloween! The candy corn colors are so pretty too!

      Reply
    19. Ruchi says

      October 14, 2018 at 10:39 pm

      They are so cute! Oh, look at those colors.. I am totally making them for my kids in a Halloween morning( and probably many more times)

      Reply
    20. Jagruti Dhanecha says

      October 15, 2018 at 3:26 am

      These candy corn doughnuts surely look incredibly cute, perfect for Halloween parties!






      Reply
    21. Emily Leary says

      October 15, 2018 at 1:52 pm

      Such a clever yet simple technique! It works perfectly! I'm going to be using this approach when glazing my donuts for sure!






      Reply

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    I'm Claire, the baker, blogger, and general sprinkle enthusiast behind The Simple, Sweet Life. Whether you like simple sweets, comfort (baked) foods, or works of sugar art, you're sure to find something here to sweeten your day!

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