Chocolate Glaze Recipe (For Donuts and More)

chocolate donut glaze recipe featured image

Chocolate Glaze Recipe (For Donuts and More)

If you've been looking for an easy, no-fail chocolate icing recipe for donuts (and more!) without corn syrup, you found it. And as a total bonus, we can get away with using much less sugar (if you're interested, check out the notes in the recipe card for the explanation why!).

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Chocolate Glaze, Chocolate Glaze For Donuts, Chocolate Glaze Recipe, Chocolate Icing, Chocolate Icing For Donuts, Chocolate Icing Recipe

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 3

Servings servings

Calories 62kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 tablespoon water
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/16 teaspoon salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make whatever it is you're glazing. If you're using this glaze on donuts, cake, cupcakes, brownies, etc., make the donuts and let them cool so they're ready to glaze.
Make the glaze. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan over low heat. Heat the mixture (stirring constantly) until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Dip. Dip the tops of the cooled donuts in the glaze, letting the excess drip off, and place the dipped donuts on a wire rack. If you want to decorate with sprinkles, add them immediately.

Notes

Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes about 1/2 cup of glaze, or 8 (1-tablespoon) servings.
Sift the Cocoa Powder and Powdered Sugar: This is important for a smooth, lump-free glaze.
Don't Over-Cook: If you cook this glaze too long, you'll end up with something a lot closer to chocolate fudge than icing.
Storage: After cooling to room temperature, you can store this in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. After chilling, it will stiffen like hot fudge. To be able to use it as a glaze after chilling, simply reheat it in a double boiler or a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave in 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring in between each.
Why Can We Use Less Sugar Here? Instead of combining sugar with melted butter and other wet ingredients to achieve a pourable, dip-able, glaze-like consistency, here we use heat to actually melt the sugar and butter. This means we can get away with using much less sugar (do a quick Google search and you'll see what I mean; many glaze recipes that don't cook the glaze use up 3 times as much powdered sugar for the same amount of cocoa powder!) and less added liquid. And I don't know about you, but if I can get away with adding less sugar to my sweet treats and not even notice a difference (because we essentially just eliminate the excess sugar, not reduce the necessary amount to make it taste sweet), then I'm all for it.

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