BELGOODS BAKEWARE Silicone Mini Donut Maker Baking Pan Tray - 12 Holes - Pure Food Grade Non-Stick Silicone - Orange

I was excited to try out a recipe for apple cider donuts I recently found online in my new silicone mini donut maker. (Apple cider donuts are very popular here in New England in the Fall. And I love the idea of being able to enjoy them in a healthier, baked version.) I used the batter in a baggie with the corner cut off method to fill the indentations. What a challenge! The indents are so tiny it is really difficult to fill them. I'm a very neat, precise person and an experienced cook/baker and I found it to be a very frustrating process. In fact, as I was doing this, I was thinking to myself that this was the one and only time I'd ever use this donut pan. I made a 1/2 recipe which was still too much for the donut maker to hold so I had to put the excess into some custard cups and bake giant muffins rather than all mini donuts. BUT, once baked, the mini donuts are simply adorable! (Even my husband thought so.) The donut pan is heavy duty enough to simply put it on the oven rack directly. It baked evenly and the finished donuts came out easily with gentle pushing from the underside. You do need to use hot pads to remove it from the oven as the silicone heats up quite a bit during the baking process. And the donuts need to cool 5 minutes or so before removing them. Once they cooled sufficiently, I brushed them, top and bottom, with apple cider and then tossed them in a plastic bag of cinnamon sugar. They were yummy and as cute as could be. So now I'm wondering how I can minimize the aggravation of filling all the tiny indents in order to make use of this pan. Other reviewers claimed it was easy so perhaps their batter was more liquid than mine. (It would have been nice if the product came with instructions and a couple of recipes to try.) Perhaps I'll try an actual pastry bag to see if it might give more control. I'm also thinking that perhaps I will simply buy another donut pan with somewhat larger indentations. The result won't be quite so cute, but it will probably be worth it if it is easier to use.

I've already made a lot of donuts with this. I'm a fan of this pan for a number of reasons:1. It enables you to make small, baked donuts quickly, satisfying cravings and cutting calories. Yes all mini donut pans do this, but I wanted to point out the benefit of this seeming novelty item because everyone either likes donuts or knows ten people who do, so you will use it, don't worry. Now onto the Belgoods pan:2. Yes, it is very easy to clean and non-stick. I quickly wished all my pans could be like this. It can go on the light cycle of the dishwasher because any little residue easily comes off, but also a quick rinse does just as well. It's convenient if you want to make multiple batches.3. The donuts pop right out. They pop right out and maybe into your waiting mouth if you're uncouth like me. OK, the point is I did not find it a struggle to get my donuts. The struggle is not to make donuts every day now.

I've purchased two of these pans to bake paleo mini donuts and paleo mini bagels. It's hard to beat the price, and the baked goods I make with them always turn out evenly baked and never overdone. There are a couple reasons I am holding back a fifth star in my rating:1. Despite liberally greasing the pans with coconut oil and allowing baked goods to cool completely beforehand, it is difficult to get the baked goods out whole. I have used other silicone pans for paleo baking without this issue, and so it may just be a consequence of this pan's shape.2. Washing the pans in the dishwasher left behind a soapy smell in the silicone. I've switched to handwashing these, which has helped to minimize the lingering soap smell.

I am absolutely loving these doughnut trays so far. I made 4 dozen doughnuts within a day of getting them. They arrived on time, for once Prime shipping worked YAY. NONE of the doughnuts stuck to the trays when I went to remove them....it wasn't as easy as just flipping the tray over I had to take each one out individually....that could just be because of the type of donuts I made this time around though. Free cookbooks are offered to buyers and they look interesting but for me would require some modification on some recipes, such as converting the whole recipe to US measurements and not grams and Celsius usage....or recipes that call for things like Bisquik,YUCK, instead of taking the time to say X amount of flour, Y amount of salt or whatever...if I wanted preservative filled food I wouldn't be making my own doughnuts.......

We, my 9-year old daughter and I, have never owned a donut pan and we have never used silicone bakeware, so we weren't sure what qualities would constitute a "good" donut pan. This pan makes perfect mini donuts (so you can eat more than one!). The first batch we made stuck to the pan, but that was before I read the email from Belgoods that said to let the donuts cool for 20 minutes before taking them out and to also use cooking spray if necessary. Both methods worked. As we had only ordered one pan and were planning to make several dozen, we put the donuts in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to cool them quickly. They popped out perfectly every time! It is also very easy to clean. We are going to order at least one more pan. It would be nice if instructions came with it.

It works great and the clean-up was effortless! I was hesitant to buy this pan because one can only have so many specialty pans but it really doesn't take up too much cabinet space. I actually liked it so much that I ordered another one. To me, it's totally worth having knowing that I can easily whip up fresh, hot donuts at home without having to leave the cozy confines of my apartment. Living in Chicago, there are plenty of times that I avoid leaving my apartment (hello, polar vortex). The baked donuts don't taste "healthy" and I've found that offering these as a warm dessert (rolled in cinnamon and sugar), served alongside a shot of espresso and a scoop of gelato has been an impressive, yet easy treat to serve my guests. Happy I gave these pans a shot!