I made Ina Garten's easy cinnamon-sugar doughnuts, and I didn't need a fryer or any special ingredients

• I made Ina Garten's easy no-fry cinnamon doughnuts using pantry staples and my oven.
• The batter was easy to make so I filled both a muffin and doughnut tin.

When I came across Ina Garten's recipe for baked cinnamon doughnuts, I was excited to finally find an easy way to make one of my favorite treats at home.

I was a little skeptical because I've baked doughnuts a few times before and they've always fallen flat. They'd typically just taste like muffins and wouldn't actually satisfy a doughnut craving.

Still, this recipe seemed simple enough. Here's how Garten's doughnuts turned out:

These baked doughnuts are made with ingredients I always keep on hand

I bake a lot, so I always have essentials like flour, sugar, eggs, milk, vanilla, butter, nutmeg, and cinnamon on hand.

Luckily, that's most of what I needed to make this recipe.

The only specialty item required is a doughnut pan, but I also used a muffin tin since more people likely have them.

The recipe was very simple and straightforward

Making the dough was as easy as adding the wet mixture into the dry ingredients.

I whisked and stirred it together until the dry ingredients were fully incorporated. Once the dough was made, I was worried I did something wrong because it looked lumpy.

I decided to fill the batter into both doughnut and muffin forms

I thought the doughnuts wouldn't cook properly, but I figured I'd bake it anyway.

I divided my batter and was able to make 12 donuts and six muffins.

The first batch took about 30 minutes to turn golden

The recipe said to bake the doughnuts for 17 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, but they were still liquidy by then.

I ended up baking them for a total of 30 minutes. They looked perfect, but once they cooled, they felt a little too tough on the top and bottom.

I decided to bake the second batch of doughnuts for 27 minutes. They weren't golden, but they would spring back after I touched the tops.

I coated them in cinnamon sugar

Garten explained in a 2020 Food Network video of the recipe that the ideal cinnamon-sugar ratio is 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.

I mixed this ratio in a wide bowl while melting a stick of butter over low heat on the stove. I picked up each doughnut and muffin and dunked the top lightly in the butter, then the cinnamon-sugar mix.

For some of the doughnuts, I also dunked the bottom in butter and cinnamon sugar.

These doughnuts will be a go-to recipe for me, especially in the fall

Sure, these doughnuts aren't the light, glazed variety, but they do taste like the real deal.

The recipe was easy and hit the spot for my cravings. The cinnamon-sugar coating was also sweet and delicious.

The doughnuts weren't too dense, and I preferred the second batch because they had a slightly softer texture.

The muffins were the same in texture and taste, although they were slightly less sweet because they only had the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top.

Like most baked goods, these taste best warmed and dunked in butter and cinnamon sugar.

I also reheated them in a toaster oven for about eight minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and they tasted freshly made.

All in all, I loved these doughnuts and could see myself making them all year long.