Who doesn’t love a freshly made doughnut? Instead of a deep-fried treat, these “doughnuts” are baked. Once baked, they were rolled in cinnamon sugar. With a cup of coffee, they actually tasted better the next day. We found them to be a satisfying way to enjoy a doughnut without all the fat gram guilt.
Who doesn’t love a fresh doughnut? I recall the first time I walked inside a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop. It was the late 90’s and we were in Southern California. My son’s eyes grew as big as doughnuts as he watched freshly baked doughnuts coming out of vats of oil, and then roll down a conveyor belt and into a glaze “jacuzzi”. As we both bit into a warm doughnut, we were in sugar heaven. I don’t want to think about how many fat grams we indulged in, but they sure were good!
I spotted a Doughnut pan f I must have picked it up and set it back down several times.
Bake the doughnuts in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. When done, they’ll spring back when touched lightly, and will be quite brown on the top. (Mine took about 9 minutes.)
Remove the doughnuts from the oven, remove them from the pan, and allow them to cool on rack. To me, they looked like flat muffins. I wasn’t sure if I was impressed. I could have dipped them in melted chocolate and called it a day. I could have sprinkled them, and that would have been lovely. But, I’m trying to make these as guilt-free as possible.
Homemade Baked Doughnuts
Equipment
- 1 Non-stick Doughnut Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unbleached Pastry flour or 7/8 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (see note)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons dried buttermilk powder* If you don't have buttermilk powder on hand substitute 2 tablespoons buttermilk or yogurt for the water– and I used 1% buttermilk.
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- For a non-stick doughnut pan, preheat to 325F
- Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, oil and water (or buttermilk or yogurt) until foamy.
- Pour the liquid ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Butter or grease the doughnut pan; non-stick pan spray works well here.
- Note: even though the pan is non-stick, since the doughnuts are low-fat they may stick unless you grease the pan first. Fill each doughnut form half full.
- Bake the doughnuts in a preheated 375°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes. When done, they’ll spring back when touched lightly, and will be quite brown on the top.
- Remove the doughnuts from the oven, remove them from the pan, and allow them to cool on rack.
- Glaze with icing, or coat with cinnamon-sugar or any non-melting sugar.
Susan says
Oh dear. They look so good. My mouth is watering. I have to make a confession. I have never, ever tasted a Krispy Kreme doughnut. Nad I have not eaten any kind of a doughnut in probably 12 years. (Since I retired from a place that was always overflowing with them) Do I miss them, you betcha. Just can't let myself do it. ;(
A Feast for the Eyes says
Susan, you're probably lucky you haven't had a Krispy Kreme doughnut. They are evil! I don't eat doughnuts very often, but every so often, the craving hits. Mini doughnuts are a small indulgence. Go ahead, try one!
Dinners and Dreams says
I love that they're baked instead of fried and they look absolutely gorgeous. Much much better than Krispy Kreme!!!
Nisrine
bellini valli says
You have hit my sweet spot Debby. Here in Canada Tim Hortons still has a corner on the market even if their doughnuts get smaller and smaller (perhaps that's a good thing). My absolute favourite is with cinnamon and sugar. Nothing beats a fresh doughnut in my books.
The Short (dis)Order Cook says
Now that I have a fryer, I'm so into making fried doughnuts, but I'd give these a spin. It's funny you discovered the "secret" to making these taste just right – patience! You need to be willing to wait a bit to eat them. Isn't that something many of us who cook could use more of.
I never got the KK thing. I've always been underwhelmed by the few KKs I've tried. Maybe it's because I've never had the hot glazed. My favorite doughnut is Boston Cream and the KK version is TOO SMALL and the cream tastes weird. I'm all about DD – if my waistline would only cooperate and not expand when I eat them.
Can't wait to see your further experiments with these.
Joanne says
I tend to avoid donut shops as well because…let's be real, if I get some I'm not just stopping at one. These baked donuts look amazing though! Especially with the cinnamon sugar outside!
Simple Simon says
Your doughnuts looked delicious. What a great idea to spritz them with water instead of the butter dipped method of adherence. So glad they turned out fine the next day.
Delishhh says
I made doughnuts awhile back and it was so much fun. But i made the ones you fry. this looks so much healthier 🙂 And you have a donut pan 🙂
Frieda says
I'm glad you "splurged" on buying this mini doughnut pan! You had a coupon, after all!
Thanks for the tutorial and recipe ~ I just got a mini doughnut pan and have been scouring the web for recipes as well.
In spite of the flavor, your sugar coated doughnut looks delicious!
Monica H says
Well they certainly look good to me even if they weren't that great initially. The cinnamon sugar is what does it for me!
A Busy Nest says
I have one of these pans and have not used it. This recipe makes me consider trying it since I like the idea of using whole wheat pastry flour.
Allie says
Well they sure look good! Even if they weren't fooling your taste buds. And I love the donut pan, so cute. I think it was a great investment. They remind me of apple cider donuts. Have you ever tried one? They make them in the fall here and you can get them at apple orchards and places where you pick pumpkins. Not sure if that was a Jersey thing or not. I'd love to try them!
Stacey Snacks says
Leave it to the "gadget queen" to have a donut mold! I have never even seen one!
Lisa says
Homemade donuts sound like a delicious treat. I love that they're baked instead of fried. I have a new linky on my blog called "Sweets for a Saturday" and I'd like to invite you to stop by and link this up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/01/sweets-for-saturday-1_21.html