(Ugh. That title. It's 1:30 pm, the coffee has worn off, and I can't think of anything clever and not boring.)
You know how I have a thing for muffins?
Best kid snack food ever. Minus the crumbs I am constantly vacuuming off the couches and rugs.
Well I've started to make donuts because the kids seem to think they're more fun. JOKE IS ON THEM 'cause they're pretty much a muffin in round form. But hey, it's okay to mix it up a bit. Given that I still had some apples in the fridge from the orchard trip, I decided to make an oh-so-seasonally-appropriate apple cinnamon version.
Every time I make donuts I tell myself that I'm going to keep it simple and not get all "extra" about it. But you can't fight nature- I'll show you what I did here. You can keep it simple, or you can lean in. Your choice. Either way these freeze well if there happen to be any leftovers.
Baked apple cinnamon donuts. Let's do it.
Apple Cinnamon Donuts
3/4 cup brown sugar (can sub white sugar- it really doesn't matter)
1/2 cup butter spread (I used Country Crock)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For glaze
2/3 cup powdered sugar
~2 teaspoons milk
Pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a bowl, combine sugar, butter spread, and applesauce. Stir in the egg. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Generously spray your donut pan with nonstick cooking spray. Grab a large tall cup and place a zip top freezer bag around it. Carefully pour the batter into the bag in the cup- then simply seal it up and snip off a 1/2" corner so you can easily pipe in the batter.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for a minute or two, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Now for the part where I went above and beyond the call of donut: I had a particularly fat apple so I cut thin cross sections and cut out the middle core to make donut-sized apple rings. I microwaved the rings for a minute, or until they were somewhat softened. I placed the rings at the bottom of the donut pan, then piped the batter on top. I kept some of the donuts plain and added apple rings to about half of them. Bake as usual! My kids preferred the apple ring kind, even though they didn't turn out as pretty looking.
To add optional glaze, whisk together the ingredients- glaze should be thick but drizzle-able. Another tip: place paper towels under the cooling rack so that the extra drizzle just falls down and doesn't make a mess to clean up. Once drizzled, pop them in the fridge to let the drizzle "set."
Makes a dozen donuts. Per donut (with glaze): 203 calories, 35 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams fat, 3 grams protein, and 77 mg sodium.
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