Baked Doughnuts - Yes, It's Possible

So this weekend was a rough one at our house.  I got sick which led to getting dehydrated which would have landed me in the ER getting IV fluids if it weren't for being able to get down 1 1/2 liters of Pedialyte (that stuff is magic for pregnant ladies).  Anyway, on the heels of that last night was a real loser.  My oldest daughter was up about every hour and a half to two hours (the kind of up that needs a parent).  When I asked her today what the deal with that was... she told me this: "I was just too excited about going shopping today for musical instruments and yo-yo's!"  What?!  (I bet you can guess this was not the plan for today.)  Anyway, to keep the day from being a total loss I decided that we could make homemade doughnuts just for kicks.  And if you know me... you know I don't fry.  Not that I am a health nut, but being the daughter of a nutritionist I was never taught how to do this dietarily offensive practice and even to this day cannot being myself to adopt it in my kitchen.  So I baked the doughnuts.  And can I just say... please try this?  You will be in love.  Granted there is enough butter involved to make up for the oil (so I'm not really sure you are any better off) but YUM.  (Picture to the left is Beatrice eating them, daddy style.  Mommy style is below!)  Go for it - and here's to brightening our own days instead of sitting under the cloud.

P.S. For those of you keeping track, here is what we have so far.  My husband likes balsamic vinegar, yellow mustard and dark rick chocolate.  He does not like any-kind-but-yellow mustard or cinnamon.  Got it?

Baked Doughnuts

adapted from: mel's kitchen cafe

Doughnut Ingredients
• 1 1/3 cups warm milk, about 100º
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Topping Ingredients (cinnamon)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Topping Ingredients (chocolate)
• 1/4 cup vanilla frosting
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Preparation

• Place the warm milk in a bowl. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Add the butter. Mix the eggs, flour, and salt. Beat mix the dough with a wooden spoon (or your hands) for 2-3 minutes.  The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky.

• Knead the dough for a few minutes (between your hands) and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.

• Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Cut out circles in the dough (I used a tupperware lid).  Then stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller circle (I used a juice glass). Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, the holes don't fill in.

• Transfer the circles (big and small) to a lightly-greased baking sheet and cover the tray with plastic wrap and let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled.

• Bake in a 375º oven until the bottoms are just golden, about 8 minutes.  They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. 

• For cinnamon sugar topping (my favorite): dip each one in the melted butter and toss in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
• For chocolate topping (husband's favorite): spread top of each doughnut generously in rich, creamy chocolate.

Note: This was a process that we started in the morning and completed with hot doughnuts after nap time.  I am guessing that this is not the ideal time frame for most people who may be trying to serve them for breakfast.  After all, that is more normal.  So, here is what you can do.  Perform all the steps through cutting out your doughnuts and placing them on baking sheets.  Then, instead of letting them rise again - place them in the refrigerator overnight (or whatever time frame you are working with) and then start up the preparation with a 45 minute rise when you want to get ready to bake.  Just an idea.

Note: I have "heard" that you can skip the whole dough step entirely if you just buy a can of flaky biscuits from the store.  I have not tried this... but if you do let me know what you think.  (Here is the basic recipe on how to do this à la pillsbury.)