Book Review: 150 Best Donuts (With Recipes)

It’s Sunday Junk Food Time! I have no shame….I fell off the unprocessed wagon for the kids when I was sent a copy of this new cookbook:

A cookbook designed to lure me down the path of sin? Pretty much that sums it up. 150 Best Donut Recipes: Fried or Baked is the carb lovers field day. It also goes against my entire diet and way of eating, but I let it slide a bit. It had been so long since I had a donut and here I had a book dedicated to them in front of me. After pondering on Facebook about baked donuts – and the replies being they were lame/evil/no taste, well that was challenge accepted I suppose. I picked up a Norpro 6-Count Nonstick Donut Pan on Amazon and set out to make quick desserts two times. The baked donuts we tried came together quickly and baked while we ate dinner. Honestly, I loved them! They were like cake-style donuts minus the deep-frying. They were delicious, but lets face it, they are still a treat!

The cookbook itself is a wandering through a dieters hell. Every fabulous donut you could desire or think of, all presented in easy to read style. From baked to traditional fried ones. With glazes. toppings, fillings and everything else you’d need. This book and two pans? An awesome gift for the holidays….

But yeah, no vegan healthy ones 😉

Banana Pecan Donuts (from page 95)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup pastry whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 large egg, beaten, preferably locally grown
• ¾ cup milk (used unsweetened almond)
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. If your donut pan isn’t super slick, lightly oil pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour through nutmeg.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, milk, butter and banana.

Add to flour mixture, using a spatula to mix (it is thick), fold in pecans.

Add the batter to a freezer bag, seal tightly and snip the bottom off one corner. Pipe into the donut pan, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes. The book says 10 to 14, I found mine took 19 minutes to be golden and a toothpick came out clean. Let rest for a couple of minutes, then work a toothpick around the edges and pop out, rest on a cooling rack.

Fill the pan with rest of the batter, repeat the baking cycle. For coating in Autumn Spiced Sugar see below for recipe.

Makes about 12 donuts.

Simple Spice Donuts (From page 11)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 2 large eggs, beaten, preferably local
• ¾ cup milk (used unsweetened almond milk)
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. If your donut pan isn’t super slick, lightly oil pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and ginger.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and mix with a spatula until just mixed (it is thick).

Add the batter to a freezer bag, seal tightly and snip the bottom off one corner. Pipe into the donut pan, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes. The book says 10 to 14, I found mine took 19 minutes to be golden and a toothpick came out clean. Let rest for a couple of minutes, then work a toothpick around the edges and pop out, rest on a cooling rack.

Fill the pan with rest of the batter, repeat the baking cycle. For coating in Autumn Spiced Sugar see below for recipe.

Makes about 12 donuts.

Autumn Spiced Sugar (from page 204)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

In a food processor fitted with metal blade, combine ingredients and process until fine, about 90 seconds.

Store tightly covered.

To use:

Add ¼ cup sugar to a new paper lunch sack, Add a donut at a time and gently shake to coat. Remove and repeat. DO this as soon as you take the donuts out of the pan – preferably removing one donut at a time.

~Sarah

FTC Disclaimer: We received a copy of the book for potential review.