Once it is baked, dough of any kind results in a happy dance inside my mouth.  I can’t help it.  Breads, pastries, you know the drill.  Baked goods are just that.  Good. 

Of course, there are varying degrees of good. 

• Amazingly good. 
• Melt-in-your-mouth good. 
• Are you kidding me with these?  These are damn good. 
• I-think-I’ve-died-and-gone-to-heaven good.  (This last one results in symptoms of not knowing where you are, not knowing what you are doing, trouble remembering your name, and difficulty forming coherent sentences.)

Speaking of good…well, today I surprised even myself.  I made doughnuts.  I made this. 

Do you want to know the greatest part?  I did not fry them.  I baked them.  This is thrilling because it allows me to convince myself that these are actually healthy due to the baked, not fried, method.  Doughnuts that are actually good for you.  Who knew?  Okay, I know it’s still technically a doughnut but it is also technically healthier.

I bought this baking pan which allowed me to make these sweet little doughnuts on this St. Patty’s day morn.  I had good intentions of trying to make these doughnuts leprechaun friendly.  I thought I would decorate with white frosting and green sugar sprinkles.  However, I also found this recipe for glaze.  Chocolate of course.  Because the kids saw the doughnuts pictured on the Nordic Ware packaging and set their hearts on the version with chocolate icing.  They are my children through and through.  At least for today, when they are well-behaved and eating donuts with chocolate glaze and sprinkles. 

Lucky for them, I was in a good mood this morning.  It was “ask and you shall receive” at the Anderson household.  There is some serious perfection in this beautiful glaze.

Mmm…I have determined that the rainbow sprinkles signify our nod to the little green men.

For the last batch, I added cocoa powder to the dough for chocolate doughnuts with chocolate glaze.  Because I am a firm believer that one simply cannot get enough chocolate in their lifetime.  Here are the chocolate babes.

You can count on me to share more doughnut baking recipes as I discover them.  I also think I might need to purchase an additional pan so I can do twelve at a time instead of the dubious six.  Here is the Baked Buttermilk Donuts recipe straight from Nordic Ware.

One Year Ago

Happy Doughnut Baking & Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Love,

The Doughnut Leprechaun