Wednesday, August 22, 2012

BETTER Baked Donuts w/ Gingerbread Glaze

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Forget about the last baked donut recipe I posted.  Delete it.  Unbookmark it.  Unpin it.  Seriously. :)

This is SOOOOOOO much better!!  After much trial and error, I have been able to make a BAKED donut that is soft and light and airy and tasty!!  This one is much less roll like, much more Krispy Kreme donut like.  As for the gingerbread glaze, it is made with cookie butter, from Trader Joe's.  I am still finishing up the jar from the frozen bananas and the macaron filling.  And there might be the fact that the gingerbread flavor just screams "holidays" and "cooler days" in my head...both of which I would love to be here now.

These are really quite easy, makes probably about 18-24, 3" donuts and the holes that go with them.  There is a good amount of sugar and butter though, so rising times may take much longer unless you are using SAF gold yeast for sweet breads.  Don't worry about it, just let them rise until the dough has met whatever stage of rising indicated, no matter if its 45 minutes or 2 hours, it all depends on the conditions and temperature of your kitchen and the yeast you use.  If you want to use the maple glaze from the last donut recipe that you can find here or a different one all together, feel free to leave out the cinnamon and nutmeg.

One last thing:  If you are a cookie butter fanatic like some I know, then just forgo making the glaze and just spread the straight cookie butter right on the warm donuts.  Heaven!

**At the bottom of this recipe I have included the Maple Glaze Recipe for those that don't want, or can't get cookie butter.  The maple glaze is to die for, so you aren't trading down, don't worry.

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO PIN IT :)


Baked Cookie Butter Glazed Donuts


*Note: These little beauties are best made and eaten the same day, preferably warm right from the oven. The great news is that you can make the dough, roll and cut out the doughnuts the night before and let them do their second rising in the fridge, covered. Remove them from the refrigerator and put them on the counter about an hour before baking. I used instant yeast in the recipe. If you only have active dry yeast on hand, proof the yeast with 1/3 cup of the warm milk and the sugar until it is foaming before adding in the rest of the milk and proceeding with the recipe.




*Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 dozen doughnuts/doughnut holes

INGREDIENTS:

Doughnuts:

  • 1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees (I used soymilk, so sub as needed)
  • 1 Tbs. instant yeast
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground  (optional, leave out if doing a different flavored glaze if you don't want competing flavors)
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional, leave out if doing a different flavored glaze if you don't want competing flavors)
  • 1 teaspoon salt


Cookie Butter Glaze**:

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • milk, soymilk, cream, enough to thin the glaze to desired consistency
  • 1/2 cup cookie butter (from Trader Joe's)


Directions:

  1. Place the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Add the butter and yogurt. Mix in the eggs, flours, nutmeg (optional), cinnamon (optional), and salt. Beat the dough with the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon and eventually your hands) for 2-3 minutes at medium speed. Adjust the dough texture by adding flour a few tablespoons at a time or more milk. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky – don’t over flour! Knead the dough for a few minutes (again, by mixer or by hand) and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl.  The dough has been kneaded enough when it is quickly poked and the remaining indentation starts to spring back and disappear slightly. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size (the exact time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen). 
  2. If you don't have a mixer, this can be done by hand.  Mix all ingredients thoroughly and knead for 5 minutes by hand.
  3. Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or a 3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough (I used a 3 inch cutter and a 1 inch cutter). Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, they don’t fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough. Cover the tray with lightly greased plastic wrap (I did not do this and they still came out fine, your choice). (At this point, you can refrigerate the doughnuts overnight or proceed with the recipe.) Let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled. 
  4. Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking the doughnuts around minute 8. They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through.
  5. Glaze: Place the cookie butter in a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave 15 seconds until warm and runny.  Mix in the powdered sugar and enough milk to thin the mix to a glaze consistency, fairly thin.
  6. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Dip each one in the glaze or sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately.

**Maple Glaze:


3 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 half and half (I used 2% evaporated milk, worked great)
1 Tbs. real maple syrup
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Maple Glaze: In a medium sauce pan combine the brown sugar and butter and bring to a boil.  Add maple syrup and cook over medium heat for 1 minute until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.  Add cream slowly and mix until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and stir until powdered sugar is dissolved and glaze is smooth.  Dip donuts immediately while it is still warm and runny.  If it sets up, heat it again on low heat until it is spreadable. 

24 comments:

  1. Loved baked donuts!!! I will be pinning these for sure, my family can put a away a lot of donuts!! These are beautiful!

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  2. Um... fat pants HERE I COME! I cannot WAIT to make these!

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  3. Ok, I have not tried baked donuts yet, but I keep seeing them, so I am going to have to go ahead and do it. These look yummy! Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday.

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    1. Let me know how they turn out, or if you have questions. If you want a maple glaze instead of the gingerbread one, try the glaze for the "Maple Glazed Baked Donuts" recipe from last week.

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  4. Is there anything better than hot cup of coffee and donuts. I love this recipe!!! It will take me some time, but it's worth it.

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  5. These look delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

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  6. You had me at "gingerbread glaze"...

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  7. These look scrumptious~! I've been looking for a good baked donut recipe...thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday :)

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  8. These look just good too. I need to make them. Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday.
    http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com

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  9. These look yummy! I would love to have a healthier doughnut recipe, I will have try these. I pinned it to remember. What is cookie butter?
    I would love to have you link it up to my linky party! http://domesticrandomness.blogspot.com/2012/08/friday-fascinations-3-everything-linky.html

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    1. Cookie Butter is like peanut butter or nutella, but made with gingerbread cookies, so it tastes like gingerbread. It is only sold at Trader Joe's. If you don't have one, or don't like that flavor, I have included the maple glaze recipe at the bottom of the post from my previous baked donut recipe. It is delicious if you like maple, so you could give that a try too. I will stop on by your party for sure!

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    2. Interesting. There isn't a trader joe's near us, we jut went to one the weekend before last (we chose our vacation spot specifically to visit IKEA and Trader Joes :). I am not a huge fan of gingerbread but it is interesting that they mad it into a butter. Very fascinating :) I do like maple, and do have maple syrup that one of my mom's cousins made. Maybe I will try that.

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    3. I highly recommend the maple one, it is still far superior to the cookie butter glaze in my opinion, but I LOVE maple. I recommend trying that glaze with these.

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  10. Mmmm...this looks so yummy! I'm pinning it and cooking some in the morning!

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    1. Awesome! Please let me know how they turn out for you and if you have any questions.

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  11. Wow, cookie butter donuts? Those are UNREAL. I totally need them in my life right now!

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  12. Oh my!! I'm a sucker for a good donut. Thanks for linking up to Tasty Thursdays on The Mandatory Mooch. I hope you will link up again this week. The party will be live tonight. www.mandatorymooch.blogspot.com

    Thanks, Nichi

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  13. I have to make these my kids love eating krispy kream donuts. I do not buy them often they are a treat at my house. But if I can make them for them it would be great.

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  14. I have never made a donut before, but I'm drooling over this picture so I think I need to try! Thanks so much for sharing at my Throwback Thursday party! Love seeing the yummy recipes you have to share :)

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  15. Thank you so much for hosting so I could share them, I love sharing! I hope you make sure to stop by my link party and link up some stuff too if you haven't all ready. http://mommyssweetconfessions.blogspot.com/2012/08/sweet-confessions-sunday-link-party-4.html see you there!

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  16. Hi Lindsay,
    This is a seriously great recipe. I would love to have some of these. Thank you so much for sharing with Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party last week. This weeks Link Party is opened at http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/08/free-bee-sweet-hat-pattern-crocheted.html
    Hope to see you there.
    Debi Bolocofsky
    Adorned From Above
    www.adornedfromabove.com

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  17. Hi again! I just thought I'd stop by and let you know that I made these yesterday (with three little kids helping!) and they were incredibly popular! We used the maple glaze and everyone loved it! Thanks for sharing!

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  18. Thanks for linking up to Friday Fascinations! This is such a great post that I featured you! Come on over and get a button!
    http://domesticrandomness.blogspot.com/2012/09/friday-fascinations-3-features.html

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  19. I found your post via Something Swanky's linky party--what a gem! If Krispy Kreme found out about this, I'm sure there would be a revolution of sorts. Thank you for sharing!

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