Make your Halloween morning more festive with these simple candy corn doughnuts. They’re colorful, fun, and come together quickly—about 20–30 minutes depending on whether you bake your own doughnuts or use store-bought. With just a few pantry staples you can create a playful treat that looks like candy corn and tastes like a sweet, glazed doughnut.
These doughnuts are ideal when you need a last-minute Halloween breakfast or easy party snack. The technique is straightforward: make or buy plain, unglazed doughnuts, prepare a simple powdered sugar glaze, divide and tint the glaze into three candy-corn colors, then dip each doughnut top so the colors touch and blend into a classic candy corn pattern.
How to make candy corn doughnuts
First, use your favorite plain doughnuts. You can bake doughnuts such as sweet potato doughnuts or pumpkin-spice doughnuts, or simply buy plain doughnuts without any glaze or sugar on top. Either option works well as a base.
Next, whisk up a simple glaze from powdered sugar and milk. Split the glaze into three small bowls and tint one portion yellow, one orange, and leave one white. Spoon a few tablespoons of each color onto a shallow plate or dish so the colors sit close enough to touch.
Dip the top of each doughnut gently into the glaze so the three colors make contact and form the candy corn look. Allow excess glaze to drip off and set the doughnuts upright to harden. Repeat, refreshing the glaze on the plate as needed.
Recipe details
- Recipe: Candy Corn Doughnuts
- Author: Claire of The Simple, Sweet Life
- Prep time: About 20 minutes
- Total time: About 20–30 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 doughnuts
- Category: Breakfast / Treat
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 6–8 doughnuts (plain, unglazed)
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons milk
- Orange and yellow food gel coloring
Instructions
- Bake or buy plain doughnuts and make sure they are completely cool before glazing.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar and milk until you have a smooth, thick glaze with no lumps.
- Divide the glaze into three bowls. Tint one bowl orange, one yellow, and leave the third bowl white.
- Spoon a couple of tablespoons of each color onto a shallow plate or dish so the three colors sit close enough to touch.
- Gently dip the top of each doughnut into the glaze, taking care not to push it low enough that the doughnut touches the plate. That can cause patchy areas where the glaze makes contact with the plate.
- Let excess glaze drip away, then set the doughnut upright to dry. Refresh the glaze on the plate every few doughnuts so it stays smooth and doesn’t crust over.
- Repeat until all doughnuts are glazed. Allow the glaze to harden completely before stacking or packaging—typically 20–30 minutes.
Tips for perfect candy corn doughnuts
- Glaze consistency is crucial: it should be thick enough to cling to the doughnut but thin enough to level out. A spoonful of glaze should reabsorb into the bowl in about 10 seconds when the consistency is right.
- Keep the glaze fresh: add more glaze to the plate every few dips so the colors remain glossy and smooth instead of forming a crust.
- Avoid stacking doughnuts until the glaze has set completely. This glaze is relatively soft and can pick up marks if doughnuts are packed or stacked too soon.
- Storage: These glazed doughnuts don’t keep well long-term. Store any leftovers loosely in a paper bag at room temperature rather than in plastic or the refrigerator to avoid moisture damage to the glaze.
- Reviving stale doughnuts: If they dry out, soften them briefly in the microwave for 5–10 second bursts until they regain tenderness. Be careful not to melt the icing.
If you try this recipe, I’d love to hear how it went. Share a photo on Instagram @thesimplesweetlifeblog and tag it with #thesimplesweetlife so others can see your candy corn creations.
More Halloween ideas
- Bat doughnuts
- Marshmallow ghosts
- Monster doughnuts
- Ghastly candy bark
Update note: This recipe was first shared in October 2016 and was updated later with step-by-step photos and extra tips to make it even easier to follow.