Doughnuts? Donuts?
I don’t think it matters how you spell it. Doughnuts (obviously my preferred way) are something that almost everyone loves. I’ve been toying with the idea of making my own batch of doughnuts for a while now. We’ve been trying to eat a little healthier so I baking was the way to go.
Now, some may argue that if it’s not fried, then it’s not a doughnut. To that I say, bah! It’s dough! It’s round! It has a hole! It’s a doughnut.
I am an amateur baker. I need a recipe, I freak out if I don’t have the exact ingredients that are called for, and I’m still wary of experimenting. When I found this recipe for Baked French Breakfast Donuts they were simple enough, and since I knew I had all the ingredients, I decided to make them for Sunday breakfast. Along the way, I learned a few things. Some should have been obvious, others unique to doughnut making.
1. Make sure you have all the ingredients.
This should be a no brainer. Seriously. Except, I got over confident. I saw that the recipe called for flour, sugar, etc. All the stuff that normally comes with baking most any dessert. So when I grabbed everything to set up my mise en place I figured I was good to go. I was not. I barely had a half a cup of sugar. I was lucky, though, and had a box of sugar packets on hand. Josh had a good laugh watching me rip open packages of sugar in an effort to get the required amount.
2. Use a piping bag.
I almost grabbed my pipping bag. Almost. But I hate cleaning it out, so I grabbed a Ziploc bag instead. Unfortunately, it had a weird, expandable bottom that made two holes when I cut the tip. It made pipping into my doughnut pan difficult. Also, a pipping bag would have made getting the right amount of dough into the pan that much easier.
3. Fresh is best.
Another no brainer. The recipe called for nutmeg. I don’t use nutmeg all that often so I knew going into this that the nutmeg I had was not at the peak of freshness. I intend on making these again, and when I do I will use fresh nutmeg. I’m not 100% sure, but I have a good feeling that the doughnuts will have a better flavor profile than the ones I made this weekend.
4. Don’t expect them to taste like a fried doughnut.
Going in, I knew it would taste different. Anything that is baked instead of fried is already different due to the flavor of the oil being missing. I didn’t expect how different it would taste. They had a cake-y texture more like a muffin than the doughnuts I’m used to. They also didn’t melt, but had a denser, thicker feel to them. To me, they were not inferior to traditional, fried doughnuts, just a different way of enjoying them.
These were just a few of the lessons I learned while making my first batch of baked doughnuts. I will be making these again. Do you have anything to add? Any suggestions for my next batch? I’d love to hear them.
Until then, I will be making these again. They’re simple, healthier, and delicious.
