Blueberry Donuts

Our boys LOVE donuts. I don't love donut nutrition facts. Even though I can't always partake in what comes out of the oven, baking is something I love to do, especially with the kids. (Yes, even when ingredients get spilled and a cup of flour ends up on the floor. That's how we learn, right?)

I was excited to try this recipe I found on Pinterest. These still don't qualify as health food, but they're a fun, easy treat at home, and you can still try and select the best ingredients for them - like whole-grain flour, ground flax seed, or organic ingredients. This recipe is adapted from this Strawberry Glazed Donuts recipe, with only a few modifications. YUM!

Baked Blueberry Glazed Donuts

1 c. flour (I used 1/2 c. whole wheat flour + 1/2 c. unbleached white flour)

1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. milk
1 egg
1 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 c. fresh blueberries, pureed with 2 tsp seedless blueberry jam (I used organic berries and Trader Joe's Organic Reduced Sugar Blueberry Preserves)
1 tbsp pure maple syrup

Directions:

Have your kids wash their hands and pull a stool or kitchen chair up to the counter so they can "help". Provide a whisk or spatula to each child to quiet the bickering and resign yourself to the impending mess.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Grease a 6-donut pan with baking spray. Keep the spray out of reach of your children so they don't spray each other with it.

 

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in milk, egg, butter, and maple syrup. Stir until well combined. Stir in blueberry mixture, starting with 1/2 of it and adding more only if needed. Batter should be wet, but not runny. Reserve the remainder for the glaze.

 

Put the batter into a pastry bag or plastic bag and snip approx 1-inch off end. Pipe batter into each well, reserving extra batter. Bake for 7-9 minutes, until donuts spring back when touched. Cool in pan for approximately five minutes and turn onto a cooling rack. Spray pan again and continue piping the rest of batter until all donuts have been made.

 

While the donuts are cooling make glaze.

 

Glaze

3 cups powdered sugar

Reserved blueberry puree

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cups cold milk

 

Stir all ingredients together until smooth. When donuts are cooled dip each into glaze and place back on cooling rack to let glaze set. When glaze has set - if you can wait that long - enjoy! We actually indulged ourselves while they were still warm and when the glaze was just set.

This glaze recipe made much more than what the yield for this recipe needs, so I saved the remainder overnight in an air-tight container, and used it to ice Blueberry Banana Bread the next day (sorry, I didn't take photos of that). Our 6 year old LOVED it! The next time I made these donuts, I halved the icing recipe.

Blueberry Banana Bread*
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. stick butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour (again, I mixed half whole wheat flour and half unbleached flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. blueberries, rinsed

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Grease bottoms of 2 loaf pans, 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5.
Whisk together flour, soda, and salt. Set aside.
Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in the blueberries and divide the batter evenly into the loaf pans.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pans on a wire rack. Loosen the loaves and remove them from pans; cool completely. Ice with blueberry glaze and slice before serving.

*recipe adapted from Betty Crocker cookbook.