Published: Sep 19, 2018 · Modified: Aug 29, 2023 by Claire

Monster Doughnuts

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Make your Halloween morning, party or office potluck spooky AND sweet with these easy monster doughnuts!

doughnuts with royal icing eyes against a black backdrop

Halloween is just around the corner! And you know what that means: Halloween treats! To celebrate, I'm doing a reboot of some of my favorite recipes and tutorials. First up: doughnuts that are every bit as easy and they are spooky (and delicious).

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Ingredients
How to make monster doughnuts
Expert tips
Storage
More Halloween and fall breakfasts
Recipe

Ingredients

Below are a few recommendations for key ingredients. A full list with measurements is available in the recipe card.

Unsalted butter: Melting the butter makes it easier to mix in, reducing the chances you'll overmix the batter.
Egg: Provides stability and richness. Start with a room-temperature egg to keep the batter from seizing.
Milk: I use whole milk as it's what we tend to have on hand, but 2% or even 1% would work well for both the doughnuts and glaze. I would avoid skim milk.
Black sanding sugar: I like to use the sanding sugar because it means I don't have to add as much black food coloring to the glaze and I like the texture it creates. You can omit it if you'd prefer.

How to make monster doughnuts

First, whip up some royal icing eyes or buy some at the store.

I made mine so that I could have a variety of sizes.

Chocolate batter dripping off of a whisk into a white bowl.

Second, whip up some doughnuts. Either follow the chocolate doughnut recipe below or whip up another doughnut flavor.

Overhead view of iced and sugared chocolate doughnuts.

Third, combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan. Heat until warm and a crust forms.

Dip the doughnuts and dust with sanding sugar.

Hands piping chocolate onto the back of a royal icing eye.

Fourth, melt 3-4 squares of chocolate and pour into a piping bag.

Pipe onto the backs of your icing eyes and press them onto the tops of the doughnuts.

doughnut with royal icing eyes shot from the side against a black backdrop

Expert tips

New to baking and decorating doughnuts? No worries! Here are some tricks and tips to help you make the perfect batch the first time around.

Use a piping bag to pipe your doughnut batter into your doughnut pan. This is a lot easier and less messy than trying to pour from the bowl.
Doughnuts are easiest to remove from the pan while they’re still warm. The sweet spot seems to be about 2 minutes after they come out of the oven. Simply turn the pan over and gently shake it until the doughnuts come out (hot-pads are a good idea).
Did you know you can make your own sanding sugar? If you can't buy black sanding sugar at the store, here's how to make it.
Avoid overcooking the glaze, which results in excessive thickening. Cook over low heat, removing once a crust forms. To fix overcooked glaze, add water ½ teaspoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
Why we cook the glaze: Cooking it triggers a reaction that results in a fast-hardening glaze. It's perfect for locking in moisture and easy packing.

Storage

Baked doughnuts don’t keep well and tend to dry out faster than the fried variety. 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.

To revive stale doughnuts, microwave them in 5-10 second increments until soft. Just watch out for melting icing.

More Halloween and fall breakfasts

Did you make this recipe? Please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below! I regularly update these posts and feedback from wonderful readers like you helps me improve them.

Recipe

Update Notes: This post was originally published in October of 2015 but was republished with step-by-step photos and tips in September of 2018.

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