doughnuts--baked, not fried

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. I'm never one to voluntarily eat anything deep fried, though, so I tried out this baked doughnut recipe as my contribution to the challenge. And then served the delectable doughnuts as my birthday dessert.


Mind you, I'm not saying they are healthy, these doughnuts. Just a teeny, weeny bit healthier than usual. They are full of sugary delightfulness, just what a birthday calls for. They taste a bit cakey, and the glaze and sprinkles shout decadence.


The recipe I used made exactly nine doughnuts with just enough dough left for one doughnut hole. I packed up the nine doughnuts to take to work tomorrow for my birthday celebration with my colleagues.

Baked Doughnuts
adapted from Wicked How-Tos
makes 9 doughnuts, and 1 little hole

for the doughnuts:
1 egg
1/3 c (75 g) fruit sugar or 1/2 c (110 g) caster sugar
2 t vanilla essence
1/2 c (125 ml) milk
1/4 c (50 g) unsalted butter, melted
2 c (250 g) plain flour
2 t baking powder

for the glaze:
1/2 c (65 g) icing sugar
boiling water
coloured sprinkles

Whisk together the egg, sugar, milk, and butter.
Whisk in the flour and baking powder to evenly distribute. Switch to a wooden spoon to make a heavy batter.
Let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Gently knead the dough and roll out into a think slab.
Use a large and small circular cookie cutter to make doughnut shapes, rerolling any leftover dough and cutting more.
Place doughnuts on parchment paper on a baking tray.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 390 F(200 C).
Remove to a rack to cool.

Make the glaze by putting the icing sugar in a bowl.
Add a teaspoonful at a time of boiling water to the icing sugar, using an electric mixer to combine. Use only enough water to create a smooth, runny glaze.

Dip each cooled doughnut into the glaze, then into the sprinkles.
Let sit for 5 minutes to harden before serving.

The doughnut hole did not survive long enough to make it into the box.