Baked Donuts

I made donuts.  ‘Nuff said.

Kidding.  But there really is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes with making your own donuts.  I found donut pans in pristine condition for $2 a piece at the thrift store several months back.  Knowing how much my husband loves donuts (he has a motto: there is always room for a donut) and since they were super cheap, I scooped them up. 

I’d been eyeing the recipe on Vegan Yum Yum’s website for a while, but just hadn’t really gotten around to it.  This may be due in part to the fact that - confession time - I do not love donuts.  I mean, if there’s a vegan donut in front of me I’ll eat it (or, more accurately, part of it), but I’d never choose to eat a donut over something else sweet. 

But let me tell you, Lolo at Vegan Yum Yum knows her donuts (check out the original recipe on her blog; she even has a video demonstrating the ideal dough consistency).  I must admit, I loved them!  They may just turn me into an official donut fan.  These donuts are baked not fried, yet the texture is surprisingly light – not cakey at all like I expected.  The household donut connoisseur said the texture is similar to and old fashioned donut and proceeded to eat 5 in one sitting.

I followed her recipe for the glaze, but reduced the non-dairy milk by about 1/2 a teaspoon and used a scant 1/2 teaspoon maple extract instead.  I also used the left over cream cheese frosting from my carrot cake for half of them – yum!  So find yourself a donut pan, and go forth and make donuts!

Baked Donuts

Makes 8 regular-sized donuts

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon (scant) nutmeg

1 tiny pinch cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

egg replacer (Ener-G brand) for 1 egg

4 tablespoons non-hydrogenated margarine such as Earth Balance

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Add the wet ingredients to a small saucepan over low heat and mix until the margarine is melted.  The mixture should NOT get too hot.  You should be able to stick your finger in the mixture (it should just be slightly warm).  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.

Scoop the dough into a lightly greased doughnut pan (I found it necessary to lightly grease despite having a nonstick pan).  Make sure the dough sits just below the rim.  If you over fill, the donuts will come out looking like they have a muffin top.

Bake for 16 minutes, and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing.  Allow the donuts to cool completely before frosting and decorating.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon (scant) maple extract

Whisk glaze ingredients together.  Dip the “bottom” half of the donut (the side with the nicer shape) into the glaze, let some drip off, then dip glaze-side down into sprinkles.  Transfer to a wire rack that has been set on top of some parchment paper.  The excess glaze will drip through the rack onto the paper for easy cleaning later.