Whether you grew up with the “doughnuts” or the more modern “donuts,  it’s hard to resist these fresh baked treats. A classic snack that is prepared in various ways with various toppings or fillings to chose from – glazed, jelly or cream filled, dusted with powdered sugar or sprinkles, doughnuts are a delicious treat many people like to indulge in.
My Emma loves doughnuts, when she was really young and we would go grocery shopping, her favorite and last stop was at the doughnut counter.  I don’t think we ever went grocery shopping without stopping for one. Her order was always the same, vanilla dipped with coloured sprinkles. Today, she is more willing to venture out to include cinnamon sugar and powdered to her list of favourites.

With National Doughnut day around the corner (June 1), I thought I would make doughnuts as a treat for Emma. Now, there are two types of doughnut batters you can make –  yeast or cake. Yeast doughnuts are more the traditional doughnut that uses yeast and tends to be soft, fluffy but relies on the doughnut toppings or fillings for its sweetness. Cake doughnuts are made with what would resemble more of a cake batter, it tends to be more crumbly and a bit sweeter just like cake. I prefer yeast doughnuts, the struggle I always have is with the frying part of making doughnuts. I know there are people who believe if you are going to indulge than indulge big. I understand the mindset but I still feel that if there is a bit of a healthier way to enjoy something, then you should try. Doesn’t make you feel so guilty when indulging and when was the last time you ate just one doughnut.
Most doughnut recipes I have come across that bake the doughnuts vs fry, tend to be the cake batter ones. The recipe I am going to share with you, is a yeast dough that is baked. It was really hard to tell that they were baked and just like regular doughnuts that are amazing the day you bake them but can be heated in the microwave the next day to get that soft chewy texture back.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

Here is what you will need:

For the dough:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup  sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dried yeast
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk (I used 2%)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar

• Melt 4 Tblsp  butter in a bowl
• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 tablespoons of cinnamon

How to make the cinnamon sugar doughnuts:

For the dough

• Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together in a standing mixer fitted with dough hook.
• In a saucepan, melt butter. Add milk, water and vanilla extract until just warm.
•  With the standing mixer on speed 2, add the milk mixture and mix until everything is combined and the dough is smooth (about 5 minutes).
•  Grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat lightly. Cover  with plastic wrap  and let the dough rise until doubled, 1 -2 hours.
• Heat the oven at 350
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.
• Roll out to ½ “ thick.
• Using a doughnut cut of your donuts. If you do not have a doughnut cuter circles.
• Cover your donuts and let them rise at room temp for 30 minutes.
• Unwrap the donuts. Brush the very top with melted butter.
• Bake for 13 minutes.

For the cinnamon sugar

• Melt  butter.
• Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
• Take you donuts out the oven and while warm dip the doughnuts in melted butter and then toss into the cinnamon sugar.
• Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

I hope this recipe inspires you to be creative in your kitchen – enjoy!

To view the original doughnut recipe go to Gemma Stafford’s website at http://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/homemade-donuts/