Sweet

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Since these are best warm, I ate three. Three’s not a crowd in my belly.

I’m glad these worked out and taste like heaven … especially since I tried to make pumpkin goodness, but messed it up by using too much evaporated milk because I don’t know what a “tall can” is.

But these made me feel way better! I think I’ll make these the next time I get my hair cut and the stylist decides to curl it all really big-like and I have to go back to work, since the haircut happened at lunch.

I’ll make these the next time I get caught at Target by someone I know, when I didn’t really put make-up on and have a silly shirt tucked into a silly skirt. Yeah, I’ll make these to feel ok after all my water-spilling, sweater snagging, stair-tripping moments.

Make these to feel better about awkward-life things. You’ll probably want to eat three (plus a donut hole), because it’s the truth that these are the very best while toasty.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Recipe from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:

donuts –

  • 1 1/3 cups warm (not hot) milk, divided
  • 1 packet active dry yeast
  • 2 T butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • a pinch of nutmeg, freshly grated
  • 1 t salt

for dunking –

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 T cinnamon

Directions:

  1. After you’ve heated the milk on the stove, place 1/3 cup of the warmed milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the yeast and set aside for five minutes. Meanwhile stir the butter and sugar into the remaining cup of milk until the butter has melted. Add to the yeast mixture.
  2. With a fork, stir in the eggs, flour, nutmeg and salt – just until the flour is incorporated. With the dough hook attachment of your mixer beat the dough for a few minutes at medium speed until it no longer is sticking to the side of the bowl, or knead by hand until smooth. (Add a teeny bit more flour if it’s too sticky or a teeny bit more milk if it’s too dry. I found that the 5 cups of flour was the perfect amount.)
  3. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place (like on top of an oven that’s on) and allow it to rise for about an hour and half, or until the dough has risen to just about double in size.
  4. Punch down the dough and roll it out 1/2-inch thick on a floured surface. Using a 2-3 inch cookie cutter stamp out circles and place on parchment lined baking sheets. Then cut out the inner circle using a small circle cookie cutter or shot glass. Beware that if the hole is too small, the donuts will close up, but will still be delicious. (Add the donut holes back the dough and cut into large donuts or bake the donut holes on sticks for 5 minutes.)*
  5. Cover the donuts with a cloth and allow to rise for another 45 minutes. Bake in a 375°F oven until the bottom are just golden, 8-10 minutes – start checking around 8. (It’s better to underbake these than to overbake them. I took all of my donuts out at 8 minutes.)
  6. While the donuts are baking, place the butter in a medium bowl. Place the sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Remove the donuts from the oven and let cool for just a minute or two. Dip each in the melted butter and toss quickly in the cinnamon sugar. Eat immediately!

*At this point, when the donuts are shaped and on the baking sheets, they can be covered and refrigerated over night for early morning eating. Simply take them out of the fridge an hour before baking.

Cinnamon + Sugar + Me = Happy Baking

6 thoughts on “Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts”

  1. Oh man, these are perfect for those crappy days when you just want to hide in your living room fort made of blankets and pillows.

    Not that I do that…

    🙂

  2. I should make these the next time I run into someone from high school while standing under the big “SELF HELP” sign at Borders. Maybe they’d even work for when I run into an old boyfriend while buying cat litter and beer. Keep up the nommy noms, Megan. We need you!

  3. Oh! I bet the ones you made were amazing! I want to make buttermilk donuts on christmas. I’ll be frying those, for sure!

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