Heath Bar Baked Cake Doughnuts

I caved; I saw a bandwagon and I jumped on it. And I'm hooked too. What you say? Homemade baked doughnuts. I'll be honest, although they sounded easy I didn't expect them to really taste like doughnuts but you know what? They're just old fashioned cake doughnuts, nothing fake about the baked! I had a friend over for brunch to celebrate her birthday and I think if I hadn't told her she would have never questioned that I picked up these Heath Bar Baked Cake Doughnuts from a local specialty doughnut shop; they really were that good.

My move to a home a half hour south of where I lived for 20 some years saw few changes in availability of most things I was accustomed to; even if the shopping areas are 15 minutes away versus 5, I am in between two growing communities in Colorado and both Parker and Castle Rock have all the same shopping amenities I was used to. Sprouts, Home Depot, Target, King Soopers (Kroger to most of you); sure, all those name brand stores are close enough in either direction.

What I do miss are some of the smaller mom and pop shops I had come to know. Chopped Salad and my shoe guy and yes, the doughnut shop near my home that was a huge favorite; discovered 20 years ago when we were moving in! Not a place I frequented much but it was there and it was open at 6am if the urge hit me. I remember many a Saturday or Sunday morning when Abbie would make the drive with me; a doughnut for me and a doughnut hole for her. Gee, just thinking about her; almost a year and how much I still miss that sweet dog. I know she would love these!

Down South? A doughnut craving might be satisfied with a trip to the grocery store but those doughnuts are not the same so while I may not have gone much, now I crave them. And luckily I also think I've found my fix. While I admittedly love a light and fluffy yeasty glazed doughnut, I've always enjoyed the denser cake variety too and now I can make those and bake them and fiddle with flavors to my hearts desire.

Without a doubt the newfangled doughnut baking pans make this work easy. I ordered mine online from Amazon (Prime is addictive!) but they're everywhere so if the spirit moves you too finding the pans should not stop you. I used a piping bag to get the dough into the pan easily; if you don't have one of those, simply fill a Ziploc bag with dough and snip a corner about 3/4 of an inch across and you'll have a homemade version. The dough is simply mixed in a bowl so prep is pretty quick and you can have doughnuts prepped and baked and on the table in 25 minutes or less!

I saw Denise at Chez Us post about some chocolate doughnuts she had made that she loved so I started there and was off to the races. Forgoing the sprinkles, for me first out of the shoot was a creation that mimics my favorite flavor combination; chocolate and toffee, i.e. a Heath Bar Doughnut.

These are so simple; you really need to get one (or more) of these pans if you don't have one already and get going on your own. Next up? I also made French Toast Doughnuts with Bacon; a vanilla and cinnamon doughnut with a maple syrup glaze and bacon bits on top. My friend Cher could not choose...she loved them both!

Heath Bar Baked Doughnuts