Thursday, January 14, 2010

Baked Doughnuts

A few months ago, I spied a recipe I knew I had to try.  It's a recipe for baked doughnuts.  I have not had doughnuts in ... gosh, like a decade.  I miss the cinnamon and sugar doughnuts the most, so that's what we decided to make, although you can also make a glaze and top them with cute sprinkles.



The recipe was truly easy to make, and we made ours up the night before so we could enjoy them in the morning.  They were even good the next day, warmed up just a bit.  



Baked Doughnuts - From Proceed with Caution

1 1/3 C warm milk (~100 degrees F)
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
2 T butter, softened
2/3 C sugar
2 eggs
5 C flour*
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp. sea salt (ground finely)

1 T cinnamon
1/2 C sugar
Melted butter (or spray butter)

*You can use half wheat and half white flour.

Mix together 1/3 C warm milk and the yeast.



Stir the butter and sugar into the remaining 1 C warm milk, and then add it to the milk/yeast mixture.



Add in the eggs and whisk lightly to combine.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg and salt.



Then, mix the wet and dry ingredients together until just moistened.



If you have a mixer with a dough hook, mix knead the dough using your mixer for a few minutes, at medium speed. If you do not have a dough hook on your mixer, then knead your dough by hand on a lightly floured surface.

We found the dough really easy to work with and fun to knead!







By the time you're done kneading the dough should no longer be sticky. Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl.



Cover, and let rise at room temperature for an hour until doubled.

Then, punch down the dough and roll it out to 1/2 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

Be creative if you don't have a doughnut cutter. We used two glasses to make our dough into doughnuts...



Cut the large 3-4 inch circles first



And, then cut the middle "doughnut holes".

Place the doughnuts and doughnut holes on 2 lightly greased cookie sheets.





Cover, and refrigerate overnight. Or, cover and let rise for 40 minutes and then follow the baking directions.

In the morning, remove the doughnuts from the fridge and allow them to rise/rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Then, preheat the oven to 375.

Bake the doughnuts until the bottoms are just lightly golden, about 8 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE.



While they are baking, prepare the cinnamon and sugar mixture on a plate.



Melt butter (or use spray butter) in preparation for the dunking :)

When doughnuts are done, carefully pick them up and coat them with butter (careful, the doughnuts will be quite hot to the touch). Then coat them in cinnamon and sugar.



Serve warm.



Yum-o.



Makes about 2 dozen doughnuts plus 2 dozen doughnut holes.



*We coated about 1 1/2 dozen doughnuts with cinnamon and sugar, and then froze the remaining doughnuts to be cinnamon/sugared later. This way we can have a special treat again.



These were even delicious the second day, when warmed in the microwave for a few seconds.



A light, airy doughnut at your service :)

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25 comments:

  1. Curious whether this recipe makes a cake-like or airy doughnut.

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  2. You forgot to invite me over to enjoy these. When will you learn? Also - these "doughnut holes" you speak of - they are called TIM BITS!

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  3. These look great! I'm excited to try them for my Sunday School class.

    P.S. Your crock pot apple cake recipe was a hit last week with my family! We added some cool whip on top and everyone loved it. I left the leftovers with my mom and dad to have for breakfast the next day and they said it was even better then. Thanks for the great recipes!

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  4. sounds like something I need to try! thanks for posting it!

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  5. I was wondering what jenny was... what is the difference... Love the "innovative" use of the glass and can

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  6. @ Jenny: They are more airy than cake-like.

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  7. These look absolutely delicious! I've bookmarked this recipe. I really need to try these.

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  8. SnoWhite you froze after baking right? Then when they come out of freezer I would microwave and add cinn/sugar?

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  9. @ Frosty: Yes, we baked them, and then froze them (un-sugared).

    You can then let them come to room temp, cover them in cinnamon/sugar and zap 'em for 30 seconds or so!

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  10. I haven't had doughnuts in years...I miss them. Thank you for bringing them back into my life!

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  11. Mmm...my husband would love these!!!! These are the kind we usually buy on a chilly winter day while wandering downtown. Yum!

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  12. I was never a fan of doughnuts, but maybe because I never had a homemade one. They look divine! -Delores

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  13. I could do this recipe. I love that you can put it in the refrigerator the night before and have great doughnuts in the morning.
    Thanks,
    Yvonne

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  14. Those look divine! I can see making them with the kids the next time we have a snow day...

    Thanks for sharing! I especially love the tips about using what you have to cut them all out.

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  15. Baked doughnuts! Perfect! This will be a great cooking project this weekend. Thanks!

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  16. These look so good! Now I have a huge craving for cinnamon sugar doughnuts!

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  17. I was excited about finding this recipe as a healthier alternative to deep fried doughnuts. However, we were a bit disappointed with them.

    I used 3 cups AP flour and 2 cups of wholemeal, and I "kneaded" them using the dough hook on my mixer. The dough remained sticky even after the kneading. They didn't rise well, even though I put them in a slightly warm oven as I usually do with my yeast bread. They also didn't appear to rise overnight or while resting before baking. They rose a bit as they cooked, but they were much denser than we expected.

    Next time, I'll try 5 cups of white flour and kneading by hand. If that fails, I'll probably give up on this recipe :(

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  18. @ Naomi -

    I'm sorry that the doughnuts did not turn out well for you. In the original recipe, it does say that you may need to add more flour/milk to help to dough form. Often, when I use wheat I end up needing more liquids to make the dough. We did ours by hand, so I'm not sure if kneading it in the mixer had anything to do the influence on the rising.

    Ours rose less than I thought they would to -- much less than bread, but enough to get a little rise in the doughnuts.

    If you do try them again, I hope you have better success with them.

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  19. I loved this recipe! I just baked them this morning. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes!!!
    Pam

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  20. I've been wanting to make doughnuts for a while now and love that these are baked instead of fried. will definitely give them a try! :)

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  21. I worked in two delis that serviced the same general area, at different times.

    We had a pizza oven at one deli, which we used to bake the raised doughnuts instead of frying them. I preferred these over the fried, and so did many people.

    I will love trying your recipe. Thank you very much.

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  22. Mouthwatering... I can't believe they're baked! I'll have to try these when Hanukkah rolls around - they look better and much healthier than the greasy, fried, bakery doughnuts!

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