1-Step 1: Prepare Your Equipment and Oven Before you begin mixing, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature allows the donuts to bake evenly without drying out. While the oven heats, thoroughly spray your donut mold with non-stick spray, making sure to coat all the nooks and crannies. Proper greasing ensures your donuts release cleanly after baking.

2-Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder. Take your time with this step and whisk until no lumps remain. Breaking up the brown sugar is especially important since it tends to clump. A smooth dry mixture means your donuts will have an even texture without pockets of sugar or baking powder.

3-Step 3: Prepare the Wet Ingredients In a separate bowl, mash your overripe bananas thoroughly with a fork until they’re smooth with only small lumps remaining. Add the melted butter and egg to the mashed bananas, stirring until everything is well combined. The banana mixture should look uniform and slightly thick.

4-Step 4: Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients This is the most critical step for tender donuts. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. The batter will be thick, and that’s perfectly normal. Resist the urge to overmix, as this can make your donuts tough and dense instead of soft and cake-like. You’re looking for a batter where no dry flour is visible but you haven’t stirred past the point of necessity. Think of it as folding rather than stirring, using a spatula to bring ingredients together with minimal movement.

5-Step 5: Fill the Donut Molds Transfer your batter to the prepared donut mold, filling each cavity about 3/4 full. You can use a spoon, but piping the batter gives you more control. If you have a piping bag, use it. Otherwise, a resealable plastic bag with the corner snipped off works great. This method is cleaner and helps you get the right amount in each mold.

6-Step 6: Bake and Cool Place the filled donut mold in your preheated oven and bake for 17-20 minutes. Start checking at 17 minutes by gently pressing the top of a donut. If it springs back without leaving an indentation, they’re done. If the batter still looks wet or feels too soft, give them another 2-3 minutes. Once baked, let the donuts cool in the molds for 10 minutes. This resting period allows them to set up properly and makes removal much easier. After 10 minutes, carefully remove them from the molds and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

7-Step 7: Make the Brown Butter Icing While the donuts cool, prepare the star of the show: brown butter icing. Place 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. As the butter melts, it will begin to foam. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the foaming subsides and you see brown bits forming on the bottom of the pan. This process takes about 5 minutes. Watch closely during this stage because brown butter can quickly become burned butter. You’re looking for a nutty aroma and an amber color. As soon as you see those brown bits and smell that toasty fragrance, remove the pan from the heat. Let the brown butter cool slightly, then whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract until smooth. If the icing is too thick to dip, add milk or heavy cream one teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

8-Step 8: Ice the Donuts Once your donuts are completely cool and your icing is ready, dip the top of each donut into the icing. Lift and twist slightly for an even coating, then place on a rack or parchment paper to set. The icing will firm up as it sits, creating a beautiful finish that’s both tasty and attractive.