From Scratch to Scrumptious

Let’s be real here. We love donuts, but we can’t always eat fried foods. What are we to do? Let’s compromise. Keep the donuts, but bake them! Ok, ok. It’s not the exactly the same, but in tough times, we need something!

If you’re going to make a baked donut instead of a fried donut, it better be the best darn donut out there! It has be jam-packed with flavor! Let me introduce you to my friends: butter and nutmeg.

The butter makes these baked donuts richly decadent without pouring in all of the fat that frying would add. Nutmeg gives them a classic donut flavor. Then, they’re topped off with a dip in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar to complete the spice duo!

Plus, these donuts can be whipped up in half an hour! So much easier than frying! And WAY less mess!

If you keep standard baking ingredients and a handful of spices in your pantry, you can make these delicious donuts anytime! You don’t have to plan ahead or run to the store. Plus, it only takes half an hour! That’s a winner!

Flour: all-purpose flour. To properly measure flour, spoon into a measuring cup and level off the top. Alternatively, measure by weight with a kitchen scale.

Sugar: granulated sugar

Baking powder: This recipe uses baking powder for levening, making these baked donuts more like a “cake donut” instead of a yeast-raised donut.

Nutmeg: Ground nutmeg is a very classic donut-flavor. Even “plain” donuts often times use a pinch of nutmeg to give them a bit of flavor you may not even realize is there. It pairs perfectly with the cinnamon-sugar topping.

Butter: I always use salted butter but unsalted would also work fine.

This recipe uses melted butter, making it incredibly easy to mix by hand!

In many recipes, vegetable oil can be substituted for butter, but I do NOT recommend that for Nutmeg Baked Donuts. Their flavor and decadence as a donut depend on the butter.

Cinnamon-sugar topping: Dip the baked and cooled donuts in melted butter and then cinnamon-sugar. This topping perfectly compliments the nutmeg in the donut.

The first and most important thing is to grease the pan. I recommend Magic Cake Release. It makes the donuts slide right out after baking. I even use it on my non-stick donut pan.

Because baked donuts are very similar to muffins in terms of ingredients, you want to use a “muffin method” for making the batter:

• Mix all of the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt).
• Separately mix the wet ingredients (egg, milk and melted butter).
• Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, but only just until moistened. Too much mixing can result in a tough donut.

The easiest way to fill a donut pan is to pipe the batter into it. Use a large piping bag or a gallon baggie. Both work great.

• To make this step easy, fit your bag into very large cup or container that the top of the bag can fit over.
• Nestle your bag inside with the top of the bag flipped over the top of the container.
• Scrape your batter into the bag.
• Cut off the corner of your baggie or piping bag to make an opening about 1″ wide.
• Pipe the batter into the donut rings, filling about 3/4 full.

If you’re making baked donuts, you need a mold to bake them in. If you don’t have a donut pan, you can make these into donut muffins by scooping the batter into prepared muffin pans and baking for slightly longer.

Once the donuts are cool enough to handle, dip the bottom into melted butter and then cinnamon sugar. I dip the bottoms instead of the tops because the bottoms are perfectly shaped by the pan, whereas the tops are a bit more varied in shape.

Keep these at room temperature in a covered container with one corner cracked open. Just like fried donuts, if you cover these tightly, they will weep, and your cinnamon-sugar topping will get soggy.

Yes! These freeze beautifully. Place cooled donuts in a covered container, fully closed in the freezer. When you take them out to defrost, crack a corner to keep the baked donuts from getting soggy.