Baked Doughnuts!

Oh my goodness, when I found these on Tasty Kitchen the other day I was so excited! Doughnuts that are baked?!?!

Ok, so they didn't really come out with the texture of what I would consider to qualify as a doughnut, but they were darned delicious! They were more...like a bagel maybe? Who cares! Not when you have chocolate and coffee and cinnamon and sugar involved.

Baked Chocolate Donuts with Chocolate Ganache Glaze
Slightly adapted from Apricosa

2/3 cup warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt or Kosher Salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten

1 Tbs. butter
Scant 1/3 cup 2% milk
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Heat milk on stove until it reaches 95 to 105 degrees. Measure 1/3 cup of milk and place in a warmed mixer bowl. Add yeast and let set 5 minutes until yeast bubbles. If your yeast does not activate, toss and start again. Put butter in remaining 1/3 cup of milk and melt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, flour and salt.

Back to your mixer bowl with the yeast in it, add the dry ingredients, the milk with melted butter, vanilla extract and lightly beaten egg and mix with your paddle attachment until it is just combined. Then change the attachment to the dough hook and mix until dough pulls away from side of bowl, adding a touch more flour or milk if the mix is to dry or wet. It should just be slightly tacky to the touch, but still clean away from the sides of your mixer bowl.

Remove dough and place in a greased bowl (turning dough so the top is greased) and allow to raise until doubled in a warm draft free place. I usually turn my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn oven off and place my dough in oven until raised.

Punch dough down and roll out to 1/2" thickness on a floured surface. Using a biscuit cutter cut out circles, then cut out centers using the milk jug cover and transfer rings and holes to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Loosely cover with Saran Wrap.

Allow to raise again about 45 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake about 8 to 10 minutes. Let doughnut slightly cool before dipping in ganache.

To make ganache:

Place butter and milk in a small saucepan and whisk constantly just until mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Continue to whisk until all chocolate has melted and the ganache is smooth and glossy.

Invert each doughnut and dip into chocolate ganache and place on a wire rack so that ganache drips down sides of doughnut.

Enjoy!!



Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Slightly adapted from Apricosa

2/3 cup warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (divided)
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbs. butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Heat milk on stove until it reaches 95 to 105 degrees. Remove 1/3 cup of milk and place in warmed mixer bowl. Stir in yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. If your yeast does not bubble up or foam, discard and start again.

Stir butter into remaining milk and melt. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, nutmeg and salt.

Heading back to the mixing bowl with milk and yeast, add in milk and butter mixture, dry ingredients, and egg and mix with your paddle attachment just until combined. Then replace attachment with your dough hook and mix until dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding a touch more milk or flour if needed.

Remove dough and place in a greased bowl (turning dough so the top is greased) and allow to raise until doubled in a warm draft free place. I usually turn my oven on 400 degrees for 2 minutes, then turn oven off and place my dough in oven until raised.

Punch dough down and roll out to 1/2" thickness on a floured surface. Using a biscuit cutter cut out circles, then cut out centers using the milk jug cover and transfer rings and holes to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Loosely cover with Saran Wrap.

Allow to raise again about 45 minutes in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake about 8 to 10 minutes until they just barely take on a golden color. Do not overbrown the doughnuts because we want them nice and moist on the inside.

Melt 1 stick butter in a small sauce pan and mix cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg in a bowl. After doughnuts have slightly cooled, dip tops of doughnuts in butter then in sugar mixture and place on wire rack. After you've done all the doughnuts, go back through and dip bottoms in butter followed by sugar mixture.

Enjoy!!