Tag: donut holes

Fall-in for Apple Cider Donuts

Fall-in for Apple Cider Donuts

Yes, fall is upon us. Amazing how a year can go so quickly and yet feel interminable.  Jamie came home yesterday from work and pronounced “We need to make something sweet today” to which I replied, “Sounds good to me but NO PUMPKIN”.  Pumpkin lattes, desserts, all things pumpkin are popping up everywhere, its way too early if you ask me.  Luckily Jamie did not have pumpkin on the brain either.

Our favorite fall fruit is undoubtedly APPLES.  As the fall season comes into swing, I dust off the peeler and pie pans knowing that any day now Wes will say, “Are there apples at the farmers market yet? Is it PIE time?”  For me, I will invariably think about making apple crisp, homey, delicious and a little easier than making apple pie.

But, none of the usuals made the cut yesterday.  Jamie had spied a recipe on NYTcooking for baked Apple Cider Donuts.  I was all in.  Not a west coast thing, apple cider donuts are a tradition in the northeast and marks the start of the fall harvest season. The donuts are tasty and easy to make providing you have a donut pan (duh, of course, I do), and are a little easier on the waistline than fried donuts.  They are tender, with a nice spiciness from the cinnamon in the batter and cinnamon-sugar topping.  If you aren’t a gadget freak like yours truly, these can be made in muffin tins.  Jamie added diced apples bits to the batter that made them even better, a BOSS tweak.

These are delicious, perfect with a cup of coffee or tea on a brisk autumn day or a warm fall evening, or ANYTIME.

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Welcome the fall season with these delicious BAKED Apple Cider Donuts!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Baked Apple Cider Donuts
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Calories 333kcal

Equipment

  • donut tin or muffin tin, regular or mini

Ingredients

Batter

  • 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour 225 grams
  • 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter 140gm *2 sticks, at room temperature* 10 tablespoons for the batter and 6 tablespoons for the cinnamon sugar coating
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar 165gm
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup apple cider 120 ml
  • 1 small apple, cored, peeled and diced 1/4 inch Use any kind you like, Jonagold, Fuji, Golden Delicious for sweeter apple or Pippin for a tart apple

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 6-cavity doughnut pans (or a 12-cup muffin tin) with nonstick spray.
  • In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well incorporated after each addition, scraping the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.
  • Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. With the mixer running, add the apple cider in a slow, steady stream and mix to combine. Scrape the bowl well to make sure the batter is homogeneous.
  • Spoon the batter into prepared doughnut pans, filling them about 2/3 of the way full (you can also do this using a disposable piping bag or a resealable plastic bag with a 1/2-inch opening cut from one corner).
  • Bake until evenly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the thickest portion comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. (If you are making muffins, divide batter evenly between the prepared cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating halfway through.)
  • While the doughnuts bake, whisk the granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl to combine. In a separate small bowl, melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter in the microwave.
  • Let the doughnuts cool for 5 minutes after baking, then unmold them from the pans, brush with the melted butter and dredge them in the cinnamon sugar while they are still warm. Serve immediately, or let cool to room temperature.

Notes

If you don't use the apple you can reduce the cider for more apple flavor.  Start with 1-1/2 cups cider and reduce over medium to 1/2 cup.  It will be sweeter so you can reduce the sugar by 20% in recipe.  It's more work, up to you.
Or you can add 1 Tablespoon of Boiled Cider, I use King Arthur Boiled Cider to amp up apple flavor.  To be really picky, substitute this for 1 tablespoon of the apple cider
We made mini muffins and donut holes, fill the donut hole pan only half so it creates a round top.  Reduce baking time to 12-15 minutes.
 
Donut Hole Muffins for National Donut Day!

Donut Hole Muffins for National Donut Day!

Happy National Donut Day!

Also known as an excuse to have something sugary and yummy.  I’m guessing this is pretty much the food version of a Hallmark-created holiday to boost card sales, and I’m ok with that.  So, of course, I pulled out my donut hole pan and made these poser donuts “Donut Hole Muffins”.  Yum.  I first enjoyed these little gems during our search for “Delicious PIE” road trip.  Here is the link to the original post with the recipe for those very easy, very quick Donut Hole Muffins.

I also wanted to show off hubby’s hobby (not to be confused with Hobby Lobby), woodworking. The wood serving plank in the banner of this post is courtesy of the hubby.  I have been asking (nagging) him to make me wood breadboards and serving trays.  This is just an extra piece of wood he had left from a project, the grain of the wood just caught my eye, and I just love using it as a backdrop.  Boards today, bowls some day soon…hopefully.

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Celebrate. Life is good, eat donuts.

Do-Nut Pass on these Donut Hole Muffins

Do-Nut Pass on these Donut Hole Muffins

My cooking gadget addiction strikes without warning.  Standing in Michaels one day, supposedly JUST browsing with NO intention of buying anything when BAM!  I became the proud & puzzled owner of a donut hole pan.  Yes, a donut hole pan.  I have 4 or 5 mini-muffin tins that would do the trick, but nooo, in a moment of weakness, I bought one.  I already own donut pans, which in my defense, I justify by saying baked donuts are much better for you than fried ones…  Which would be fine except I RARELY eat donuts much less make them from scratch.

Just another excuse to feed my gadget addiction.

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Opportunity Knocks

The pan stayed in my cabinet, forgotten, until recently.  After Head of the Charles in Boston, we decided to take a side trip to Vermont to see the Fall colors.   Really, we were actually in search of pie.  We stayed at a cute little B&B, the Trumbull House Bed and Breakfast in Hanover.  Each morning, we were served a delicious basket of baked goods. Their Donut Hole Muffin in the basket was a standout, buttery, tender with a nice crunch from the cinnamon sugar coating that covers the ENTIRE muffin.

See, there was a reason I bought a donut hole pan. LOL.  So without further ado, here is the recipe for Donut Hole Muffins courtesy of the Trumbull House in Hanover Vermont.  These are really easy.  There aren’t any eggs in the recipe if you were wondering.  If you use your donut hole pan (doesn’t everyone have one?) and it has a dark finish, decrease the temperature to 350 degrees.  I baked them for approximately 12-14 minutes.  Test early, 20 minutes might be too long.  You can bake these in mini-muffin tins or in a regular-sized muffin tin.  Increase the baking time for the regular-sized tin to 20-25 minutes.

You’ll love these.

Put them on your muffin or donut bucket list.

Donut Hole Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground mace
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini-mu!in cups or DONUT HOLE PAN
  • Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and mace in a large bowl.
  • Stir in the milk. Stir flour and baking powder together and add to milk mixture. Stir until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups or DONUT HOLE PAN about half full.
  • Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
  • While muffins are baking, place melted butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon.
  • Remove muffins from pan while warm, dip each mu!in in the butter and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture.
  • Let cool and serve.