You won’t be able to take your eyes off these Donut Hole Eyeballs! All you need is 4 ingredients and 15 minutes to whip up this creepy-cool Halloween treat. Kids and adults both love them, so make them for your next Halloween party and watch them disappear.

Close-up of stacked Donut Hole Eyeballs.

 👁 Turn donut holes into creepy Halloween eyeballs

About 10 years ago, I published a Halloween recipe for Donut Hole Monster Eyeballs on SugarHero. Both the doughnuts and glaze were made entirely from scratch, and the recipe produced approximately eleventy bajillion donut holes. I loved those weird misshapen eyes, but if I’m being honest, no one wants to make eleventy bajillion donut holes and then decorate each one individually. I created the recipe, and even I didn’t want to make it again! The concept was solid, but the execution needed serious work.

So this year, I revisited the idea of donut hole eyeballs, but took some major shortcuts to make the recipe fast and easy to pull together. After all, these are the quintessential Halloween party treat, so you need to be able to bust out a ton of them without blocking out a day and a half in the kitchen.

These donut hole eyeballs are made with just 4 ingredients, and use entirely store-bought components so you can spend all your time decorating them, not deep-frying anything! This is a great dessert for little ones to help with, and kids and adults both love them, so they’re perfect for any Halloween party or movie night.

Need more Halloween inspiration? Check out more of my favorite recipes like Zombie Brain Brownie BitesBloody Halloween Cake Balls, Red Velvet Hot Chocolate and Melting Chocolate Skulls!

Hand with dripping blood manicure holding a Donut Hole Eyeball up to the camera.

Table of Contents

🧾 What You’ll Need

Overhead shot of ingredients needed to make Donut Hole Eyeballs.

Ingredients

Semi-homemade fans, this is the perfect recipe for you! Grab these simple ingredients from the store and you’re ready to go. (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)

  • Donut Holes: You need donut holes that are sturdy enough to be skewered and dipped. While I love freshly made donut holes from a donut shop, they can be too light and delicate to work well. I’ve had more success with the boxed grocery store variety, like Entenmann’s brand. The ones I used in the pictures are pumpkin spice flavor, which is why they’re pumpkin colored on the inside.
  • Candy coating: We are using bright white candy coating to cover the donut holes, and red candy coating to give them creepy blood vessels (optional but awesome.)
  • Candy eyeballs: I like using the large size candy eyeballs, because they look more proportionate, but any candy eyeballs you can find will work. If you can’t find the blood-stained ones I used, check out the Tips section below for some advice on making your own.
Hand holding a red appetizer fork with a Donut Hole Eyeball on it.

Equipment

  • Long toothpicks: You can use long toothpicks (4″ or longer) or wooden skewers to dip the donut holes in candy coating.
  • Piping bag:A piping bag is a must for piping the thin red blood vessels on the sides.
  • Bowl and spatula: You’ll need several microwave-safe bowls to melt the candy coating, and spatulas to stir the colors.
  • Styrofoam block: I save large pieces of styrofoam from packages to use as a drying base when dipping lollipops or cake pops. If you don’t have any styrofoam, try a cardboard box, egg carton, or anything else you can stick the donut hole skewers into.

Yes, it is this easy! Peep these step-by-step photo instructions, then grab the printable recipe down below.

Two-photo collage showing how to skewer donut holes.

Skewer the donut holes

  • Stick long toothpicks firmly into the center of your donut holes.
  • Melt the white candy coating and stir until it is completely smooth and fluid.
Two-photo collage showing how to dip donut holes in candy coating.

Dip the donuts

  • Dip a donut hole in the white coating until it is completely submerged. Take it out of the bowl and let the excess drip back into the bowl.
  • Stick the toothpick into a foam block to set.
Two-photo collage showing how to add finishing decorations to Donut Hole Eyeballs.

Decorate your eyeballs

  • Press a candy eyeball into the top while the coating is still wet.
  • Pipe squiggly red lines up the side of the eyeballs to look like blood vessels.
  • When everything is set, gently twist the toothpick to loosen it, and slide it out of the donut hole.
Plate of Donut Hole Eyeballs with red glass in background.

💭 Variations

If you want to take your eyeballs up a notch, try one of these variations:

  • Eyeball lollipops: Instead of toothpicks, skewer the donut holes with lollipop sticks. First dip the tip of a stick in melted coating, and let it set so the stick is firmly held in place. Then dip and decorate as usual. When everything is set, you can wrap the pops individually for a fun party treat!
  • Cake pops: use this same decorating idea with cake pops instead of donut holes. Just as eerie, just as delicious!
  • Use them as decorations: you can enjoy these eyeballs on their own, but they also make awesome edible decorations! Put them on top of cupcakes or layer cakes to transform them from cute to creepy.
  • Make giant donut eyeballs: why stop at donut holes? Make a mega eyeball instead! Take a powdered sugar donut and fill the center with a gummy or chocolate eyeball. Don’t forget the red blood vessels on the sides!
Plate of Donut Hole Eyeballs with red appetizer forks sticking out of some of them.

💡 Tips and FAQs  

WHAT IF YOU CAN’T FIND CANDY EYEBALLS?

Candy eyeballs can sometimes be hard to track down, but fortunately you don’t have to have them! Consider using gummy rings (like gummy Lifesavers) and adding a mini chocolate chip in the center. Speaking of chocolate chips, pressing a large chocolate chip into the top of the donut hole can also mimic an eyeball.

TURNING REGULAR CANDY EYEBALLS BLOODY

I love the look of the blood-splattered eyeballs, but if you can’t find them, they’re easy to replicate at home. First, make sure you are wearing gloves to protect your hands. Take a brand new toothbrush and dip the tip of the bristles in red food coloring. Put the candy eyeballs on a tray, and working over a sink (for easy cleanup), run your thumb over the bristles to splatter the eyeballs with small drops of food coloring. Let it set completely, and you’re ready to go!

MAKING THESE WITH KIDS

These are very kid-friendly treats, but the red blood vessels can be tricky for little hands to make. You can always skip this step, or if you want the bloody effect, pick up some candy writing markers and draw the red lines on them instead.

STORAGE INFORMATION

The good part about using store-bought donut holes is that they are meant to have a long shelf life! And the candy coating helps keep the donuts inside from drying out too much. These are best eaten within a week of assembling them, and can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Note that the refrigerator humidity might cause the candy eyeballs to bleed, so if you are hoping to make these in advance, consider a small test batch to see what storage solution works best.

Close-up of Donut Hole Eyeballs with plain donut hole in the background.
Jelly candy eyeballs suspended in clear gelatin.

Floating Eyeball Jello Shots

These Floating Eyeball Jello Shots are very simple but are still some of my favorite Halloween treats! They’re just so…wait for it…eye-catching! (groan)
View Recipe
Close up of oozing Zombie Brain Brownie Bite on a plate with several more brownie bites in the background.

Zombie Brain Brownie Bites

Zombie Brain Brownie Bites are bite-sized brownies, topped with a bright green zombie brain that oozes green chocolate “slime” when you bite into it! 
View Recipe

Leave a Review!

If you make this recipe, let us know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on the recipe below, and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram @elabau, or use #sugarhero on IG!

Don’t miss the step-by-step tutorial showing how to make Donut Hole Eyeballscheck out the web story here!

Close-up of Donut Hole Eyeballs.

Donut Hole Eyeballs

5 from 6 votes
Donut Hole Eyeballs are a cute, creepy Halloween dessert recipe that’s perfect for parties, movie nights, or any spooky occasion. Enjoy them on their own, use them as cake or cupcake decorations, or serve them on lollipop sticks to make eyeball pops!
Prep15 minutes
Resting time30 minutes
Total45 minutes
Yields24 eyeballs

Ingredients

Instructions 

  • Stick long toothpicks firmly into the center of your donut holes.
  • Melt the white candy coating in the microwave in 30-second intervals. I recommend using 50% power, if possible, so the coating melts slowly and doesn’t overheat or get clumpy. Once most of the coating is melted, stir well until it is completely smooth and fluid.
  • Dip a donut hole in the white coating until it is completely submerged. Take it out of the bowl and let the excess drip back into the bowl. Gently scrape the bottom of the donut hole against the lip of the bowl to get off any extra drips.
  • Stick the toothpick into a foam block to set. While the coating is still wet, press a candy eyeball into the top of the donut hole. Repeat with the remaining donut holes and let the white coating set completely.
  • Melt the red coating and transfer it to a piping bag. Snip off a tiny bit of the tip, and pipe squiggly red lines up the side of the eyeballs to look like blood vessels.
  • When everything is set, gently twist the toothpick to loosen it, and slide it out of the donut hole.

Video

Measuring Tips

Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.

Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?

Nutrition

Calories: 114kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 0.2IU | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Snap a pic and hashtag it #SugarHero. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @elabau.

Meet Elizabeth!

Hi, I’m Elizabeth — a trained pastry chef, cookbook author, video instructor, and your new Baking BFF! I’m going to teach you everything you need to know to be a sugar hero. ❤️

Related Recipes

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate This Recipe!




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

34 Comments

  1. I can’t decide which is more awesome about these – how delicious they look pre-frosting and pre-monster squish, or how disturbing the picture of the smooshed eyeball with ooze in the middle is. . . . Oh, and the fur? It was my very first thought when I saw the pic! Love it.

    1. Thanks Sara! It was actually really fun smashing the doughnut, and made me think that maybe I should do more smashed desserts more often. 🙂

  2. These are spooktacular! I love the combination of creepy, cute, and tastiness. You really did a great job on this one.

    1. Hi Nancy! Sounds like you will be having some tasty fun in the very near future! Hope your guests enjoy. Thanks for leaving a comment.

  3. These are absolutely perfect for a Halloween party! I love that there are shortcuts too. I love made-from-scratch recipes, but I’m also more inclined to make them over and over again when they’re easier.