Fat Camp Friday # 15: Doughnuts, BAKED not Fried

On February 11, 2011

Who says a baked doughnut can’t be good? Probably everyone you ask, but that’s besides the point. I would have said that too, up until a couple of days ago. I have been wanting to make my own doughnuts (among other things), and when I found this recipe for Baked Doughnuts on 101 Cookbooks, I had to give them a try.

Now that I have made them, I know that doughnuts are not as intimidating as I thought. If you can make bread, you can make a doughnut. The process for a baked doughnut is the same up until it’s time to cook them. Word of advice, if you plan to start making doughnuts all the time, invest in a doughnut cutter (or at least appropriate size cookie cutters) because it was pretty hilarious watching me try to cut out my holes using the top of a cinnamon jar.

Now, I’ll be honest, I couldn’t resist and I fried the holes. Hey, I had to make sure the recipe worked both ways! I did, and it does. Look at these beauties.

I used various toppings – the holes and a few regular doughnuts were rolled in cinnamon sugar, I also used homemade vanilla and chocolate icing. These are so good. Best eaten hot, and of course if you fry them they will taste better (but everything taste better fried), but baking them is still a worthy substitute. Cook them to order so they are nice and fresh when eaten. Enjoy!

Baked Doughnuts

Printable Recipe

From 101 Cookbooks

1 1/3 cups warm milk

1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

A pinch of nutmeg, freshly grated

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Place the warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes. Be sure your milk isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast. Stir the butter and sugar and add it to the yeast mixture. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg, and salt – just until the flour is incorporated.

With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl and eventually become and smooth with a little give. Turn it out onto a floured counter-top, knead a few times (the dough should be barely sticky), and shape into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a buttered (or oiled) bowl, cover, put in a warm place, and let rise for an hour or until the dough has roughly doubled in size.

Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on your floured countertop. Use a doughnut cutter, or a 2-3 inch cookie cutter to stamp out circles. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. It is easier to transfer them before cutting. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes – start checking around 8. While the doughnuts are baking, place the melted butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each one in the melted butter and a quick toss in the sugar bowl.

Now it’s your turn!