Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts

This weekend, the Lil' Diva performed in Peter Pan Jr. at school. The play was wonderful. I was totally floored by the level of acting on the part of these middle school students. I'm so glad we have a drama club where they can display their talents.

One of the ways I helped out was in baking for the bake sale table. Since Friday was National Doughnut Day, I decided some doughnuts were in order. Problem was that I didn't have time to make regular doughnuts with yeast and letting them rise then rolling out the dough and frying them. So, I opted for this baked option. The one thing I must say about this recipe is that while it makes very good doughnuts, the consistency is very different than your typical doughnut. The baked ones came out with a texture more like a cake or muffin.

I found a recipe on FoodNetwork.com for Cinammon Baked Doughnuts. I am listing the recipe and instructions as they appeared on the website. I used a mini-doughnut pan instead of a full size pan, and I only had one. This meant I reduced the cooking time from the stated recipe.


Ingredients

Baking spray with flour, such as Baker's Joy
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the topping:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a doughnut pan well.

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.

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.

For the topping, melt the 8 tablespoons of butter in an 8-inch saute 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.

Four of these cooled doughnuts easily made it into a treat bag. I made 4 dozen mini-doughnuts with this recipe.

* Filling my pan 3/4 full led to the doughnut rising above the top of the mold and not creating a hole on the top side of the doughnut. After the first batch, I only filled the molds 2/3 of the way.
**I baked mine for 9 to 10 minutes.