Every once in a while when I was growing up, my mother would pick up some doughnuts for us as a treat. They were never yeasted doughnuts, only the cake type. To make them extra special for us, she would pop them into a paper bag and warm them gently in the oven. Oh . . . . but they were some good, especially when served with a glass of cold milk!!!
My Great Aunt Orabelle used to make "Cake" style doughnuts from scratch. I can remember her fingertips being burnt from when she slipped them into the hot fat. She basically didn't have any feeling in her fingertips and so consequently she wouldn't actually notice them going in. (Its funny the things you remember.) Nothing tasted as good as her doughnuts, although I only ever really got to taste them a few times.
Occasionally I would make doughnuts for my children as an after school snack. I always fried them in my heavy deep cast iron skillet. For some reason I thought everything tasted better when cooked in that!
I never thought of baking doughnuts back then, and I didn't have a doughnut baking tin in any case . . . baked doughnuts would have been a lot healthier for the kiddles . . .
Sugar aside (we won't think about that) these baked doughnuts would be a lot lower in fat and not quite as greasy as a fried doughnut. Doughnuts are a bit hard to fry without some of them ending up greasy.
If the oil isn't just the right temperature, they can't help but absorb more of it. No amount of shaking them in a paper bag with the cinnamon sugar will compensate for a doughnut which has absorbed too much oil!
These are ever so much easier to make. There's no frying involved and they are as simple as beating a batter together . . .
and then spooning it into a dedicated doughnut baking tin. I have two of those (from Wilton). Each one bakes six doughnuts. They are basically non-stick, so all I have to do is lightly spritz them with some low fat non-stick cooking spray. Easy peasy.
Don't worry if you don't have a doughnut pan, you can also use a muffin tin, or (to make doughnut holes) a mini muffin tin!
After baking and once they have cooled, you simply dip the tops in melted butter and then a bowl of cinnamon sugar. Tasty, tasty! You can also dip the bottoms if you like so both sides are cinnamon sugared, but bear in mind you will need roughly double the amount of butter and cinnamon sugar!
Yield: 12 - 18Author: Marie Rayner
Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts
prep time: 10 minscook time: 17 minstotal time: 27 minsEvery bit as satisfying as the fat fried option. In fact, I like these better.ingredients:
- 280g plain flour (2 cups)
- 285g sugar (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 300ml whole milk (1 1/4 cups)
- 2 TBS butter, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 120g butter, melted (1/2 cup)
- 95g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter
your donut pans really well and dust with flour, or spray with a
non-stick baking spray. Set aside. - Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and
salt. Whisk together the beaten egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together just to combine.
Spoon into the prepared donut pans, filling 2/3 full. Bake in the
preheated oven for about 17 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick
inserted into the center of one comes out clean. - Let sit in the pans for 5 minutes before tipping out to cool on a wire rack.
Whisk together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
Put the melted butter in another bowl. Dip the tops of the donuts first
in the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar. (You can do this
on both sides if you wish.) Store in an airtight container.
These will keep nicely for several days if stored in an airtight container. They really very tasty. You won't miss fat fried doughnuts at all. I actually prefer these and I hazard to think you will too!! Bon Appetit!
