Tag Archives: donut

Chocolate Donuts with Strawberry Topping

chocolate donuts with strawberry topping
chocolate donuts with strawberry topping

Is it donut season? Everyone is making donuts right now. My inbox and social media feeds are overflowing with pictures of chocolate, vanilla, and spiced varieties. They come glazed or dipped or sprinkled, and all of them look mouth-watering. So, it’s time to dust off the donut pan and dive in.

I wanted to bake chocolate donuts, naturally. My recipe search revealed a vegan version with a chocolate glaze. As good as that sounded, I knew that a strawberry topping would be perfect. For high altitude baking, I added a bit of liquid and reduced the leaveners. Next, aquafaba was added for good texture.

The non-dairy milk I chose for my treats was from Take Two Foods, a new kid on the block. They upcycle spent barley by turning it into delicious plant milk, thus helping to reduce food waste. You can find out more about them here.

Chocolate Donuts with Strawberry Topping adapted from Vegan Double Chocolate Donuts

for the chocolate donuts
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon Take Two original flavor plant milk, or other non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup less 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/3 cup dutch process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons salted vegan butter, melted
2 teaspoons aquafaba
vegan sprinkles for garnish, optional
for the strawberry topping
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
2 tablespoons coconut oil, solid
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon non-dairy milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease the six cavities of donut pan.

Add the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar to a 2-cup glass measuring cup. Whisk and set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, melted butter, and aquafaba to the curdled milk in the measuring cup. Stir the wet mixture, then pour it into the dry ingredients in the bowl. Stir until just combined.

Transfer the thick batter to a pastry bag or large ziplock bag. Snip off the bottom corner of the bag. Pipe the batter into the cavities of the donut pan. Spread the tops of the donuts flat with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 14-17 minutes. The donuts should be puffed up, and a toothpick inserted into a donut should come out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the donuts from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the strawberry topping, heat the strawberries up in a small pan set on medium. When they have softened, add the coconut oil. When the oil has melted, remove the pan from the stove. Mash the mixture with a fork, then stir in the powdered sugar and milk. Stir until well combined, then let sit until cool.

Spoon the topping over the cooled donuts. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Eat immediately. Cooled and undecorated donuts can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for 2 – 3 days.

Until next time, happy baking!

Baked Doughnuts with Sprinkles

baked doughnuts with sprinkles

baked doughnuts with sprinkles

In the past I have made several failed attempts at baked doughnuts. I was certain the fault was with me or the fact that I was at high altitude. The doughnuts had dense textures and were better suited as doorstops. Frustrated, I gave up. But recently I found a new recipe and bravely decided to try again. Am I glad I did. I got perfect, beautiful, and tasty doughnuts.

The recipe I used was already vegan, so all I had to do was make minor high altitude changes. I added almond milk and then baked them a little longer. That was all that was needed for my success. They are delicious plain, but I had leftover ganache in my freezer that I melted to dip my doughnuts in. You can drizzle melted chocolate on these treats, or decorate them with buttercream and a few sprinkles. The beauty of doughnuts is that they can be topped with a multitude of tasty things that you probably already have in your fridge or cupboard.

Baked Doughnuts with Sprinkles adapted from Baked Vegan Donuts

1.5 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup lightly ground organic granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup + 1 TBS non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS unsweetened applesauce
5 TBS vegan butter, melted
For the topping: melted vegan ganache, vegan sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two non-stick doughnut trays with cooking spray. Set aside. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Add non-dairy milk, vanilla, applesauce, and melted vegan butter. Whisk together, removing any large lumps.

Place batter into a piping bag or ziplock bag with the corner cut off. Pipe evenly into doughnut wells. Bake for 16-17 minutes until lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Then tip doughnuts from pan and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.

Place a wire rack over a piece of waxed paper. Dip doughnuts into melted ganache, then put on wire rack. Shower tops of doughnuts with sprinkles, then set aside for the topping to set. While waiting, you can snack on the chocolate and sprinkles that have fallen onto the waxed paper.

Until next time, happy baking!

Donut Mini Muffins

Donut Mini Muffins

Donut Mini Muffins

In the past, I have tried (unsuccessfully) to make baked donuts. I even bought a donut pan but donated it after the utter failure of my baked creations. But I am still drawn to the idea of making donuts. It’s strange, really, because I am not a big fan of donuts. However, this week I delved into that arena again, this time changing a batch of mini donuts into mini muffins.

The recipe I uncovered was already vegan but I went one step beyond – I used aquafaba as the egg replacer. It worked beautifully, making light and fluffy muffins. The change I made for altitude was to use less baking powder. Besides that, I had fun using different donut themes for my muffins. I filled some with jam and smeared chocolate on top. Others I dipped into chocolate and then added sprinkles. I could have added powdered sugar to a few but the idea of only chocolate flavoring won out, as usual.

Donut Mini Muffins based on Vegan Mini Baked Donuts
Dry Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup vegan sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Pinch ground cinnamon
Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup aquafaba
4 TBS vegan buttery spread (not buttery sticks)
Toppings
2 TBS vegan sprinkles
3 ounces vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Put paper cups in 24 spaces of a mini muffin pan. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients with a whisk to mix thoroughly. Combine wet ingredients in a pan over medium low heat and mix until buttery spread is melted. This should not get too hot; just slightly warm. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. Scoop into muffin cups. Bake for 12 minutes until almost browned on top and a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating. To decorate, put sprinkles on a plate then melt chocolate chips over a double boiler. Dip minis one-by-one into chocolate then into sprinkles. Makes 24.

Until next time, happy baking!

Jelly Spice Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Jelly Spice Cakes This recipe was touted as a vegan cupcake that resembled a jelly donut.  The idea is that a blob of jelly placed on the cupcake top would bake inside and be like a donut. It sounded wild enough to run through my challenge.

Assuming that the cupcake might fall flat under the weight of the jam, I threw all of the high altitude alterations at it. I added soymilk and flour while reducing baking powder and sugar. For health reasons I replaced some of the white flour with whole wheat flour, and swapped arrowroot for cornstarch. Also, because I felt like it, I used cinnamon instead of some nutmeg.

Other high altitude tricks I used were to put the cupcake tin on a rack in the lower third of the oven, raise the oven temperature, and bake for less time.

With all these changes I was worried the cupcakes would fail so I put the oven light on. Was I glad I did! It was fun to watch the batter rise gracefully until the jelly finally succumbed and was enveloped.

The cupcakes had a light crumb but were too spicy to resemble a jelly donut. They were more like a spice cake combined with a jam dot cookie. On a hunch I decided to enhance the jelly flavor with peanut butter frosting instead of the powdered sugar called for in the recipe. Mmmm…always follow your hunches!

Jelly Spice Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting adapted from VegNews Magazine
cupcakes:
1 cup + 2 TBS soymilk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 TBS arrowroot
1 cup + 3 TBS all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup + 1 tsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup raspberry jam
frosting:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegan margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 TBS soy milk
for garnish:
2 TBS powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 370F and line a 12-cupcake tin with paper liners. In a measuring cup, combine soymilk, vinegar, and arrowroot. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour for the wet ingredients. Mix soymilk mixture with a fork to dissolve the arrowroot and pour into the flour mixture. Add oil, sugar, and vanilla, and mix well.
Fill liners with batter until almost full. Place a heaping spoonful of jam into the center of each cupcake, being careful not to overfill. The jam will sink into the bottom of the cupcake during baking. Bake cupcakes for 16-18 minutes. Prepare frosting by blending the ingredients until smooth and creamy, adding milk to achieve the desired consistency. Cool cupcakes completely on a wire rack. Apply frosting and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Until next time, happy baking!