Baked Chocolate Doughnuts with Vanilla Glaze
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A couple of Sundays ago, I woke up at 8 a.m. instead of my normal 10 a.m. (Hey, I like to sleep in on the weekends!) With no plans aside from laundry until the afternoon, and no AP flour to be found but tons of cake flour, I decided baked doughnuts using cake flour were on my morning agenda.
As expected with baked doughnuts, these taste nothing like the real thing, but are an easy way to feel less guilty about basically eating cake for breakfast. Not too dense, with a rich chocolate flavor, these were easy to make and the perfect Sunday morning treat.
Doughnut Ingredients
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Doughnut Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk together.
Stir in the milk, eggs, oil and vanilla until well combined.
Transfer the batter to a large plastic bag and cut one corner off. Pipe the batter into greased doughnut pans, filling 2/3 of the way.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until springy. Allow to cool in the pans for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.
Glaze Ingredients
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Glaze Preparation
Warm the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan set over low heat.
Add the confectioners’ sugar and whisk slowly until well combined.
Remove from heat and set over a bowl of warm water (you may have to reheat over low heat occasionally).
Dip doughnuts in glaze and place on rack to set.
Doughnut recipe from Cassie Craves.
Glaze recipe from La Mia Vita Dolce.
S’mores Bars
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Every month or two, a few baker friends and I get together for brunch to explore a new restaurant in LA (and to swap our latest treats). There are so many brunch places here, you could spend a lifetime in LA without trying each one. So when our latest plans included a quick bite at Cafe Surfas (yes, the cafe connected to the awesome kitchen supply store), before a shopping spree, I decided to make another version of s’mores bars.
Unfortunately, my sciatica had other plans. I had another stupid acute flare up, which this time, I (thought) I was prepared for with Prednisone, but that’s a whole other mess of a story. So instead of sharing these s’mores bars with my friends, they went to the office, where they were a huge hit.
If you’re looking for something gooey and sweet, these hit the spot. The crust is a little more cookie-like that I would have preferred, but it works well with the rest of the bar and elicited only good responses from my coworkers.
Ingredients
3/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups butter (unsalted or salted) at room temperature
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt (less, if using salted butter)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (whole crackers can be crushed in a blender or food processor or else in a zipper-bag with a rolling-pin)
3 cups milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
Preparation
- Preheat your oven to 375° F and place rack on middle rung. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until smooth, about two-three minutes. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and graham crackers. On the lowest mixer setting gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and then mix until well blended. Add up to 1/4 teaspoon of water to the sides of the bowl, drop by drop, just until the dough separates from the sides.
- Press the soft dough into an un-greased 9×13-inch pan, preferably non-stick.
- Bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes or until slightly golden-brown and just set. Remove from the oven and sprinkle then spread the chocolate chips evenly over the top of the crust. Allow the base and chocolate to stand for five minutes or so to allow the chocolate to melt slightly. Spread chocolate with off-set spatula.
- Set the oven knob to broil. Sprinkle the mini-marshmallows evenly over the melted chocolate, covering it entirely.
- Broil the pan, with the top of the marshmallows no closer than five or six inches from the heat for about 30-60 seconds, or until the marshmallows are evenly toasted and browned on top – watch the entire process carefully. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Cut into bars, approximately 2″ by 3″.
Recipe from IslandEAT.
Buttermilk Brown Sugar Muffins
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I love everything brown sugar, and I especially love recipes that call for ingredients I already have on hand. Since this recipe met both of those points, I had a good feeling it would be love at first bite. Plus, Jenn has fabulous recipes and never lets me down!
This recipe is no exception. Soft, moist, sweet, and with a hint of cinnamon, these muffins are a delicious treat–for breakfast or dessert–and the crumb topping is the perfect touch. As Jenn suggests, these are amazing straight out of the oven, but if you’re not eating them right away, heat them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up. Make them now!
Muffin Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Crumb Ingredients
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon cold butter
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a small bowl, make the crumb by taking the flour, brown sugar and cold butter and cutting it up with a fork until it’s crumbly. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar,white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter, eggs and buttermilk, and stir together until just combined.
Spoon batter into the liners about 3/4 of the way full.
Generously add the crumb topping on top of each muffin.
Bake for 14 minutes, let cool on a wire rack for just a bit.
Yields about 18 muffins.
Recipe from JustJenn Recipes.
Brookside Chocolate Tasting Kit Giveaway
I was recently contacted by Hershey’s and asked if I wanted to try their new Brookside Chocolate–real fruit juice pieces dipped in dark chocolate. I’m normally not a huge fruit and chocolate fan; I’m that annoying person that bites into every piece of chocolate in those holiday assortments then throws away the other half when it’s fruit filled, but I was pleasantly surprised!
The fruit pieces are chewy and remind me of fruit snacks that I ate as a kid, and the chocolate is rich and has the right amount to complement the fruit without overpowering it. They currently offer three flavors: dark chocolate acai with blueberry, dark chocolate pomegranate, and dark chocolate goji with raspberry (my favorite).
Brookside sent me all three flavors (I shared the acai blueberry before I had time to snap a picture) as well as a headband, stemless wine glasses, a candy dish, a cheese board, a cheese knife, (all from Crate & Barrel!) and an AMEX gift card (cheese, crackers, and wine anyone?) so I can relax and indulge with friends.
And because Brookside is so awesome, one of you will win the same tasting kit! Leave a comment below letting us know what flavor you are most excited to try.
For more information about Brookside, visit them on Facebook and Twitter.
Brookside provided me with a tasting kit and will ship a second kit directly to a winner. Giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, January 27, 2013. One winner will be selected at random shortly thereafter and contacted by email. Please note this giveaway is only open to residents of the U.S.
Mini Hershey’s Kisses Peanut Butter Blossoms
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For the past decade or so, my friends have hosted a low key new year’s eve party at their house, and each year I bring dessert. (Actually, when you have a baking blog everyone knows you’ll bring dessert, but that’s a whole other story.) Because there are people in different rooms of the house, I tend to make desserts that can be eaten in a bite or two, so guests aren’t awkwardly holding a glass of wine while balancing a plate with a fork.
I’ve been wanting to use these mini (like the size of a large chocolate chip…that tiny!) Hershey’s kisses since I found them at the store, and I figured New Year’s Eve was the perfect night for a mini dessert. I don’t think I realized how mini the cookies really would be until I started measuring out the 1/2 teaspoon scoops of dough. One at a time. Then rolling each in sugar. For what seemed like forever.
But the repetitiveness during the preparation was well worth it. These cookies are tiny (about the size of a quarter), soft, and have the perfect chocolate to peanut butter ratio. Not only were they a perfect bite, everyone got a little kiss at midnight. (And my coworkers got the dozens of leftovers.)
Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar
Hershey’s Mini Kisses
Preparation
Heat oven to 350°F. Beat shortening and peanut butter with mixer in large bowl until well mixed. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to peanut butter mixture, beating until blended. Shape 1/2 measuring teaspoons of dough into 1/2-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 5 to 6 minutes or until set. Immediately press one chocolate into center of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 14 dozen cookies.
Recipe from Hershey’s.
