Baked Chocolate Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

Today, on the eighth day of the eighth month, Joe and I are celebrating eight years of marriage. Eight years. It seems impossible to me, yet here we are, two beautiful sons and a mortgage and a lifetime later. He really is an amazing man, and I'm super lucky to have him.

Joe is a huge fan of sweets, which isn't surprising, because he's so sweet ;). (No more sappy stuff, I promise.) He is particularly fond of doughnuts, and has been known to come home from work on a Saturday morning toting a box of half a dozen of the tasty treasures. Since I've been trying to make more breakfasts on the weekends (you know, the kind that require more effort than pouring milk over cereal), I decided to bake us a batch of doughnuts one recent weekend.  Joe would say that my doughnut pan doesn't get nearly enough use anyway. (He's right.)

These are everything you'd want out of a chocolate doughnut. They're moist, cakey, sweet, and dipped in a decadent chocolate glaze. We all loved them. They're made with pantry staples, so as long as you have a doughnut pan (and if you don't, why not?!), you should definitely make them this weekend.

Happy Anniversary, babe. Maybe I'll bake you another batch of these this weekend, if you're really nice.

Baked Chocolate Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

doughnuts adapted from Stephanie Cooks; glaze adapted from Food.com

For the doughnuts:

1 3/4 cup cake flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

1. To make the doughnuts, preheat the oven to 325. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk together. Stir in the milk, eggs, oil and vanilla until well combined. Transfer the batter to a large plastic bag and cut one corner off. Pipe the batter into greased doughnut pans, filling 2/3 of the way. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until springy. Allow to cool in the pans for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

2. To make the glaze, melt the butter in a small suacepan over low heat. Stir in the cocoa powder and milk. Cook the mixture, stirring, until it thickens and comes to a boil. Remove the pan from heat and add the vanilla. Stir in the powdered sugar, adding more in 1/2 cup increments as needed to make the mixture smooth and slightly thicker than syrup.

3. Dunk each doughnut in the glaze, top them with sprinkles, then set them aside while the glaze hardens, about 30 minutes (the waiting is the hardest part). Makes 12 doughnuts.

Sprinkles Doughnuts

In all actuality, these should be called “cake batter doughnuts,” but when my older son saw them he called them “sprinkles doughnuts.” I thought that was pretty cute, so I’m going with it. :)

The doughnuts pictured are actually my second attempt at making these. My first try didn’t go so well. I only had chocolate sprinkles, the batter was way too salty, and I overfilled my doughnut pan. I assumed I just got a cake mix with a higher salt content and that’s why they tasted so salty, so I adjusted the salt in the recipe way down the second time I made them, and they were perfect. They’ve since become a family favorite, requested nearly every weekend. One box of cake mix will get you quite a few batches of doughnuts; this I know from experience!

These are delicious. I mean, doughnuts that taste like cake, and sprinkles, and a yummy vanilla glaze – what’s not to love? These would be a great birthday morning breakfast – or really, a great breakfast on any day! Thanks, Stephanie, for a wonderful recipe!

Sprinkles Doughnuts
adapted from Stephanie Cooks

For the doughnuts:

1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cake mix
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Several tablespoons of sprinkles

For the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat over to 325 degrees. Spray a doughnut pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl combine the flour, cake mix, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir well.

3. Add in the milk, egg, and vanilla. Stir. Stir in a few tablespoons of sprinkles.

4. Pour batter into a piping bag. Pipe batter into pan until 2/3 full.

5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool in pan a few minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

6. To make the glaze, stir together all ingredients. Add milk to achieve desired consistency. Spoon lightly over doughnuts, apply sprinkles, and allow to sit to harden.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Maple Glaze

When I (finally) got my stock of pumpkin puree this fall, I knew that one of the things I had to make was pumpkin doughnuts. My doughnut pan was practically begging to be filled with pumpkiny deliciousness. So when Deborah posted her recipe for baked pumpkin doughnuts, I of course made them that very weekend.

My family absolutely loved these doughnuts – shocking, I know. We are pumpkin people. The earthy flavor of pumpkin is such a perfect pairing with the sweetness of maple syrup. In fact, I loved the glaze so much that I may have eaten dozens a few fingertips full of it. This recipe makes a dozen doughnuts but I only have a six-doughnut doughnut pan, so I used my mini muffin pan to make doughnut holes out of the rest of the batter. They were delicious and adorable, and also disappeared too quickly for me to photograph them.

You can probably see that my glaze isn’t very thick. This is because I’m incredibly impatient when it comes to dunking doughnuts. I just can’t seem to wait until they’re cool. I’ve come to accept this about myself.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Spiced Maple Glaze
adapted from Taste and Tell

For the doughnuts:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the vanilla and milk. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.

4. Place the mix in a large zip-top bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

6. Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice and milk. When the doughnuts are cool, dip them in the glaze. Return to the wire rack to allow the glaze to set.

Sweet Acorns

I love being That Mom. You know, the one who always brings fun, creative snacks for her kids’ classes and makes homemade gifts for the teachers. When my boys are in actual school, time allowing, I’m sure I will be That Mom who makes the fancy little Bento box lunches every day until they tell me to stop (which they will, because they are boys, and boys eventually stop thinking cutesy things like that are cool).

I always look forward to Andrew’s snack day at preschool. His snack day in September happened to fall during their “Fall Into Fall” themed week, so I knew these adorable doughnut hole snacks would be perfect. They literally only took minutes to make, and they look just like acorns! They fit right in with the kids’ theme, and as suspected, they were universally loved. According to Andrew's teacher, some of the kids even pretended to be squirrels and tried to hoard as many doughnut holes as they could in their cheeks. :)

Sweet Acorns
from Gracious Rain

Doughnut holes (I used glazed, but if you can find pumpkin ones that would be fun)
Chocolate frosting
Chocolate sprinkles
Pretzel matchsticks

Slather some chocolate frosting on the top third of a doughnut hole. Roll in sprinkles. Repeat with remaining doughnut holes. For the “stem,” stick a pretzel in the center of each top.

Peanut Butter Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

In my humble opinion, the doughnut pan is one of the greatest inventions in the realm of baking equipment. Ever. I mean, what a genius idea, right? A pan you can use to bake doughnuts instead of frying them. Why, it almost makes doughnuts healthy! (…Okay, I know. That’s a stretch. But at least it’s healthier than deep-frying.)

I bought myself a doughnut pan for Easter, and then promptly…didn’t use it. I just never got around to it for some reason. But then one morning this post showed up in my Reader. And I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. These doughnuts were calling to me, and it was a call I was going to answer.

These doughnuts were delicious. The doughnuts themselves are cakey, rich, and peanut-buttery, but the glaze is what really did me in. I could have eaten it with a spoon. It tastes exactly like the chocolate glaze that comes on doughnut-shop doughnuts. I made these for us as a special weekend treat, and we all just loved them!

(By the way, if you’re in the market for a doughnut pan, this is the one I bought, and I love it. Although while I was searching for it to share the link, I saw this…and now I want it, too. One can never have too many doughnut-making-implements, right?)

Baked Peanut Butter Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze
from Fake Ginger

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a doughnut pan.

2. Using a mixer, combine peanut butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in milk, oil, vanilla, and egg; mix.

3. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt over top of peanut butter mixture. Use mixer to blend until just combined. Transfer to a pastry bag with a large, round tip (or a zip top bag) and pipe into doughnut pan.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until doughnuts are golden brown and spring back when touched. Flip onto a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes before glazing.

5. To make the glaze, whisk together melted butter and cocoa powder. Once the cocoa powder has melted into the butter, add milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and powdered sugar; whisk. If the glaze is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add more milk.

6. Dip the doughnuts into the glaze and allow the glaze to set about 30 minutes before serving. Makes 6 doughnuts.