Low-Fat Baked Donuts

 I’m always confused abut how to spell “donuts.”  Is it “doughnuts?”  They’re made of dough.  But “donuts” is invariably used for the fried, fast-food variety.  So are “donuts” bad for you?

These aren’t!  (Relatively speaking.:-)  These are baked out of a buttermilk batter recipe that uses much less butter than a traditional baked donut recipe – and since they aren’t fried, there’s so much less fat in them.   Since I saw the recipe in the October 2010 issue of Health magazine, I was dying to try them out.  At 140 calories a full-sized donut that’s just awesome!  Plus 8 minutes to fresh-baked donuts – who can beat that??  I wanted to be crowned Best Mom in the Entire World – one who makes DONUTS! (DOUGHNUTS?) for her kid/s.  So I went out and bought two donut pans from my local Sur La Table and got to work.  (You can also buy them from Amazon; the regular size one is about $10; the mini-donut version about $9.)

Ingredients:
*nonstick cooking spray
*1 c whole-wheat flour
*1 c all-purpose flour
*1/2 c sugar
*1.5 tsp baking powder
*1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
*1/2 tsp salt
*3/4 c low-fat buttermilk
*2 large eggs
*1/4 c honey
*2 T melted butter
*1 T vanilla extract

Toppings:
*sprinkles
*powdered sugar mixed with water into a glaze
*cinnamon and sugar
*jam
*melted bittersweet chocolate chips
*nuts (I used crushed hazelnuts)
*shredded coconut
…The sky’s the limit!

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly coat a doughnut pan with cooking spray.

2. Combine flours and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

3. Combine buttermilk, eggs, honey, butter, and vanilla, stirring well with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; whisk just until combined.

4. Spoon batter into donut pans, filling 2/3 full** (this is important since they will puff up!!). Bake in middle of oven until donuts spring back when touched and are golden on the bottom (about 8 minutes). Let cool in pan slightly (about 4 min); turn out. Coat with toppings if desired.

And I drizzled chocolate, glaze, hazelnuts, sprinkles, and coconut.

And we ate.

So was I crowned Best Mom in the Entire World?  Not exactly sure – but both my boys were all giggly over them for days.

Perhaps not Best Mom…but Funniest Donut-Maker in the Entire World?  No?

Give them a try and see the reactions!  Hope you enjoy!

xoxox
Carly