Kate’s Special Occasion Donuts

I’m a huge doughnut fan.  Tell me what part of town you live in, and I’ll tell you where to find great doughnuts.  And we have a lot!  As a kid, they were pretty much reserved for special occasions:  birthdays, Mother’s Day, Easter.  My favorite was peanut crunch, which was covered in chopped up peanuts - salty and sweet!   But despite plenty of homemade desserts and sweets, we never took the time to create our own, something that didn’t change until this project.

I was so excited to make a doughnut of my own design, not to mention feeling slightly less guilty for opting for a baked rather than fried version. I love to buy “unique” ingredients from baking sites that could go into some future bake.  Doughnuts fit the bill! 

  But first thing’s first, I believe in starting with the basics.  Any recipe worth making should be tasty without extras or enhancements.  After mastering the base product, it’s time to tweak that doughnut to create something you’ve never experienced before – my favorite part!

Ingredients Needed:

¼ cup Butter

½ cup Sugar

¼ cut Vegetable Oil

1 cup milk

¼ tsp Baking Soda

1 ½ tsp Baking Powder

¾ tsp Salt

2 2/3 All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Vanilla

2 eggs

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

Tools Needed for Recipe:

1) A Donut Pan for the oven-I personally use Silicone so I can neatly fold it in my cabinets

2)A mixer of some type so you can cream the butter well.

Bonus Info:

•If you’re using a 6-dough pan like I am, this will take two rounds of baking. But don’t worry; the pan cools off quickly enough you’ll have the second batch going in no time. I made 9-10 doughnuts

•Grease and flour the pan as aggressively as you would a Bundt pan. You truly can’t overdo it

•Use that 5-minute cooling period to assess any possible sticking to the pan. I used a toothpick to run around the inside and outside edges

•Using a scale is not just for professionals. This is a great tool to help ensure precise measuring AND it saves you time and effort by eliminating the use of measuring cups

•If you’re adding toppings like cinnamon and sugar, do so while they’re still hot for best adherence

•Have fun and be creative! Top with some chopped nuts, coat your pan with coconut flakes, or add something exotic to your glaze. I’ve added dragon fruit powder for a pop of color.

Recipe Steps:

Preheat the oven to 425 F and grease the donut pans

Add the butter, oil, and both sugars in a mixing bowl until it looks smooth

Add in the eggs one at a time watching to make sure each egg is absorbed before moving on to the next step

Mix the baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl. Once properly combined, add to the mixture in the mixing bowl.

Alternate between the flour in the mix adding each element to the mixing bowl. Make sure to start and finish with flour. At this point, the batter will seem thick.

Fill each donut shape three- fourths full before adding the donut pan into the oven. They should bake approximately 10 minutes respectively. Once you can insert a toothpick and it is clean, you can pull the donuts out of the oven.

Wait approximately 5-7 minutes to release from the donut molds.

Serve plain or with toppings of your choice.


Kate’s Twist to the Recipe:

Cinammon and Sugar Powder: I always enjoy the classic donut

Dragon Fruit Powder Glaze: