The first thing people said when they saw these was, “woah, you made Simpson’s doughnuts!” And in a way, I did, but that certainly wasn’t the intention. I just really like hot pink and sprinkles, but don’t we all? Perhaps more than hot pink and sprinkles, I enjoy a better-for-you twist on an old classic. These are the perfect example of that – Baked (not fried) doughnuts.
Doughnuts don’t need to be deep fried in order to be delicious. Now….I’m not going to tell you these are healthy, but I can assure you, they are a not-so-guilty alternative to the usual coffee shop variety we’re all used to and they’re a cinch to make. As an added bonus, you don’t need one of those fancy donut pans! Who has room for all those extra odd pans you hardly put to good use? Not me!
These little beauties are really easy to make. Admittedly, it takes some patience to allow the dough to rise, which gives you the perfect opportunity to paint your nails, do some dishes, or if your like me, clean up the huge mess you just made. Once the dough has risen, you simply roll it out and use a round cookie cutter to give them shape. One more quick rise and they’re ready to bake – and they bake up fast, too! Since I love hot pink, I tinted my glaze as bright as I could, and finished them off by topping them with a variety of sprinkles. They almost look too good to eat, don’t ya think?
Baked Doughnuts
Ingredients
Donuts
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 8 g pkg quick-rise yeast
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Glaze
- 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 small pinch salt
- 2 - 3 Tbsp milk
- Food coloring and sprinkles optional
Instructions
Donuts
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Microwave milk until warm, about 1-2 min. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm milk and let stand until foamy, about 10 min.
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Spray a medium bowl with oil. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Lightly spray parchment with oil.
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Add the sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and salt to yeast mixture and beat on medium until combined. Gradually add flour, increasing speed to medium-high, until dough forms a ball and pulls away cleanly from the sides and bottom of the bowl, about 7 min.
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Transfer dough into an oiled bowl. Lightly oil top of dough and cover with a damp tea towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about an hour.
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Roll out dough on a floured surface until 1/2 in. thick. Cut into 28 rounds using a 2-in. round cookie cutter. Then use a 1-in. round cutter to cut out holes from centre of rounds. Transfer doughnuts and holes to prepared baking sheets. Cover with damp tea towels and let stand until double in size, about 45 min.
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake doughnuts in the centre of the oven, 1 batch at a time, until golden, about 10 min. Cool completely on a wire rack, about 10 min.
Glaze
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In a flat bottomed bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt then stir in 2 Tbsp of milk, adding additional milk 1 tsp at a time to reach desired consistency and whisk until smooth. Tint with food coloring if desired. Warm in microwave in 6 - 10 second intervals on HIGH power to warm as it begins to set while dipping doughnuts, as needed, whisking after heating.
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Dip tops of doughnuts into the glaze. Return doughnuts to wire rack. Top with sprinkles before glaze dries. Allow the glaze to dry at room temperature.
Doughnuts from Chatelaine, glaze from Cooking Classy
These doughnuts look really yummy. Pinned!