I’m doNUTS about you…

I’ve been trying to watch what I eat lately, I’ve been tracking my calories and have been more adamant about working out daily. Not for any specific reason other than to just feel a bit healthier. So, of course I’ve been fantasizing about all sorts of goodies and sinfully delicious treats since I decided to jump on the healthier band wagon. Why does this always happen to me? As soon as I decide I shouldn’t have something it’s the only thing I want, ha. What has been the biggest guest star in my foodie fantasies you ask? DONUTS. Ugh, they are just too delicious! I cannot resist these babies! Like anything in life, moderation is key, so I allowed myself to indulge a little (or a lot) over the weekend and then promptly took the remaining offenders to work to give to my coworkers. They were gone in under 5 minutes.

As I did my research about the various different types of donuts and methods of making them, I decided that baking them was the only way I’d feel slightly less guilty about this indulgence. Also, I have an extremely sensitive smoke detector in my kitchen that has been known to alarm by a mere candle, so it further solidified my baking method choice.  By choosing to bake my donuts it really limited me regarding the shape or kind I was going to make, as I now required a donut pan. Luckily, you can pick up a donut pan online or at your local craft or kitchen store for under $10. YAY!  Turns out, baking donuts is really easy and pretty fast and I don’t really know if that information is going to be a good or bad thing to know. OH, and I’ve called out where in my ingredients list you can make substitutes, should you be gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan. 🙂

Enjoy the recipe and feel free to get really creative with your icing and toppings.

Baked Old Fashioned Donuts

Yields: 10-12 donuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes (watch carefully)

Donut Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour – if you are gluten intolerant use gluten-free all-purpose flour, it has a similar consistency
• 1/4 tsp Crushed Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Freshly Grated Nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 tsp. White Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup Milk – if you are lactose intolerant use Almond Milk, I use this in every one of my recipes that requires milk and it works perfectly
• 2 Tb. Melted Unsalted Butter – if you are lactose intolerant use Coconut oil, when whisked it can take on a similar texture to butter
• 1 Brown Cage Free Egg – if you are vegan 1/4 Cup of Vegetable Oil is a an equal substitute for 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp Good quality Vanilla Extract

Icing Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tb. Milk –  if you are lactose intolerant use Almond Milk, I use this in every one of my recipes that requires milk and it works perfectly
• 1/4 tsp of your favorite food color or flavoring. – I used pink food coloring for half of my icing mixture and then topped the donuts with sprinkles. For the other half of the icing, I used Maple flavoring then topped the donuts with crispy turkey bacon.

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease Donut baking pan
3. Sift flour, sugar, cinnamon,  salt, nutmeg and baking powder
4. Combine milk, white vinegar, and egg white – whisk to combine
5. Melt butter in a small bowl then add egg yolk – whisk to combine
6. Add egg yolk and butter to milk, white vinegar, and egg white mix – whisk to combine
7. Add wet mix to dry mix and mix well
8. Scoop batter into a large freezer bag, then cut the corner off the bag to create a small opening
9. Fill each donut cavity 2/3 full.
10. Bake for approximately 8 minutes or until donuts look slightly under done and spring back upon touch
11. Immediately flip the donuts over in the pan after taking them out and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to ice.
12. Dip donuts in icing then top with anything your little heart desires, like bacon or sprinkles. Enjoy!