Category: donuts

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as I write my first post of 2013! I myself enjoyed spending time with family, and just taking a week to relax. As you can image, I did some baking on my time off. 
If you’ve never eaten a homemade doughnut, it’s something you ought to try! It doesn’t get much better than eating a freshly baked, hot one straight out of the oven. I do have to give my mom and sister credit on these doughnuts as they did a majority of the baking while I went out on a long run. Don’t worry though, I was kind enough to dust the finished doughnuts with a decadent cinnamon-sugar topping – the best part I might add!
If you don’t have a doughnut pan, you will need to go buy one at the store in order to make these. The pans cost only $10, so don’t worry, you won’t be breaking the bank. Shout out to Sur la Table, one of my favorite cooking stores and the place where we bought our Wilton doughnut pans!
The recipe comes from Ina Garten’s newest cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof. Ina has lots of great recipes in her book, so I would definitely recommend it. The great thing about Ina’s doughnut recipe is that they are NOT greasy….they are baked! They’re great with a cup of hot chocolate for dessert or with coffee for your morning breakfast. I like them better as the cinnamon-sugar topping melts into the doughnut.
You can also sprinkle powdered sugar on these to change it up a bit. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Baked Doughnuts
Ingredients
Baking spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
FOR THE TOPPING
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 2 doughnut pans well.
2. Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined.
3. Spoon the batter into the baking pans, filling each one a little more than three-quarters full. Bake for 17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then tap the doughnuts out onto a sheet pan.
4. For the topping, melt the 8 tablespoons of butter into an 8-inch sauté pan. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Dip each doughnut first in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar, either on one side or both sides.
Yield: 12 doughnuts

Apple Cider and Donuts in Michigan

Yates Cider Mill – Rochester Hills, MI

Ever heard of an apple cider and donut combination? I sure haven’t, but supposedly this combo is extremely popular in Michigan! This week, I left the warm 80 degree temperatures in Dallas and flew up to chilly Michigan to visit my sister, Brittany (check out her blog – it’s called Runner’s Lowe).

It’s pretty cold up here and feels like the dead of winter… all the leaves have fallen off the trees, its cloudy and the highs don’t get out of the lower to mid 40s. Burrr! The cold is something us Texans don’t get to experience very often, so I’m having a blast!

Besides running, one of the first things Brittany and I did was visit Yates Cider Mill in Rochester Hills (supposedly the best cider mill in all of Michigan). The history of this cider mill dates back to the times of Abraham Lincoln. Yates opened in 1863 as a grist mill. By 1876 they installed a cider press and have been producing fresh, homemade apple cider ever since! They use premium apples that are probably they best I’ve ever eaten! We bought a few Jonagold apples…they are tinny-tiny, but are crisp and have a sweet/tart combination that beats any apple you would buy at the grocery store.

Top left: pretty view of the river; Top right: me with some cider and donuts.
Bottom left: Brittany and her apples, donuts, and cider; Bottom right: Yates Cider Mill entrance.

The apple cider and donuts were awesome! The cider is actually cold, not hot like you might think. It’s kind of like apple juice, but sans all the sugar and it tastes homemade and fresh…without all those preservatives. We ordered the cinnamon sugar donut, which was very good. It was small, and unlike the heavy, dense donuts you might order at a local donut shop, these were light, airy, and were not at all greasy. You could choose between plain, pumpkin, powdered, or cinnamon-sugar donuts.

Apple cider and cinnamon-sugar donut.

In addition to cider, donuts and apples, you can buy apple butter & jarred goods, homemade pies and baked goods, caramel apples, fudge, and ice-cream. Yates Cider Mills also has a small petting zoo, river walk and offers pony rides! Literally there is something for the whole family!

Next time you’re in Michigan, you’ve got to go visit this place. Did I mention Yates was on Food Networks’ Unwrapped? Pretty cool!