Baked Donuts

A few weeks ago I posted on twitter that I was having a wicked craving for donuts. I had just gone on a fried-foods bender and knew if I dared put one more piece of fried dough in my mouth that my thighs would instantly expand to the size of tractor-trailer tires. I decided to blend two of the recipes from my latest book,Quick and Easy Vegan Celebrations, and make it into one amazing Baked Donuts recipe. Right now in the south the temperature are easily reaching into the mid to upper 80s so proofing yeast for the dough is no biggie if I just turn off the AC for a bit. If you happen to be living in a colder climate right now you have a couple options for keeping your dough warm so it doubles perfectly. The easiest one is to place the bowl with dough inside of it at the highest point in the kitchen, like on top of the refrigerator, where the temperature is warmer. Another great way to get your dough nice and warm is to place it near the oven or stove while you’re cooking another dish or lastly you can preheat your oven to 375oF, turn off the heat, then place your bowl inside leaving the oven door open (do not do this with a plastic bowl). It usually takes yeast about an hour to rise in dough.

To make this a soy free recipe simply use soy-free Earth Balance.

Baked Donuts
Makes approximately 1 dozen donuts and donut holes

½ cup + 3 tablespoons rice milk
2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons shortening
1/3 cup sugar
2 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon

Topping:
¼ cup Earth Balance Margarine, melted
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Warm milk on the stove top for about 2 minutes (just before the point of boiling, you don’t want it to get hot, just warm). Add to the bowl of a standing mixer. Stir in yeast and let sit for 5 minutes. Beat in shortening, sugar and ½ cup flour, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon until incorporated. Change to the dough hook and add the remaining 2 cups of flour. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. If the dough is too stick at this point add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it becomes more smooth and elastic. If the dough is too dry add rice milk, a tablespoon at a time, until dough becomes smooth and elastic. Once the desired texture is reached form dough into a ball within the bowl and cover. Set in a warm place and allow to double in size, this should take about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375oF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Once the dough has doubled, punch it down onto a lightly floured surface and then roll it out to about ½ inch thickness. Using a donut cutter(Only about $4.99 on amazon or $6 at Williams Sonoma) cut out donuts and arrange on the prepared baking sheet about an inch apart. Repeat until all the dough is used. I like donut holes as well so instead of rolling the middles of the donuts back into the dough I just baked up the donut holes alongside the regular donuts.

Bake donuts and donut holes for 8 to 10 minutes or until they become golden. While donuts are baking combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Remove donuts from the oven and allow to cool just enough so you can handle them. Dip each donut into the melted margarine then into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Serve immediately.

If you have left over’s serve them warm the next day by heating them up in a toaster oven.