Baked Doughnuts with Cinnamon-Sugar

Today’s post comes from Tracy at Sugarcrafter. Tracy lives in upstate NY with her husband, kitty, and brand new puppy. Her blog, Sugarcrafter, is a baking and cooking blog that features from-scratch recipes using wholesome ingredients with step-by-step directions to give you the confidence you need to conquer any recipe. She also enjoys canning, hiking, camping, and quilting. You can follow Tracy on Twitter @sugarcrafter and become a fan on Facebook.

Recipe, text and photos from Tracy.

As a kid, I loved when my mom and I would stop by our local bakery on special occasions to pick up a box of fresh doughnuts. Upon walking into the bakery, I always delighted in the smell of fresh bread and pastries baking in the oven and the sweet smell of powdered sugar in the air. We usually picked out an assortment of doughnuts – everything from glazed to chocolate to my personal favorite, custard-filled. And of course, nothing could beat the ones that came fresh out of the fryer. Or so I thought.

It wasn’t until I came upon this recipe from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni that I converted to an oven-baked doughnut lover. I’ve made cake doughnuts in the oven before, and while delicious in their own right, I decided that they still had nothing on fried doughnuts. These doughnuts, however, are not cake-based but are yeasted doughnuts…and though they take a bit longer due the rising time needed, they make for what I feel are the lightest, fluffiest doughnuts you’ll ever taste. Coated with a glaze, a drizzle of chocolate, or a simple cinnamon-sugar mixture like I used, your guests will be scrambling to get their hands on these before they’re all gone!

Baked Doughnuts with Cinnamon-Sugar

Yield: 10 to 14 doughnuts

For the doughnuts:
1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk, heated to 115 degrees
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ to 3½ cups unbleached flour, divided, plus more for kneading
1 stick butter (4 ounces), cut into 1″ cubes

For the cinnamon-sugar coating:
1 stick butter (4 ounces), melted
1 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons cinnamon, mixed together

In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the egg and sugar on medium speed for about 1 minute. Add in the milk, yeast, salt, and vanilla. Turn the mixer to low, and then add in 2 cups of the flour. Attach the dough hook and then on medium speed, add the butter one piece at a time until smooth. Reduce the speed to low, and then add the rest of the flour until the dough sticks to the hook and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. It should be soft and moist, but not sticky.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in a mixing bowl coated with cooking spray and cover with a damp towel. Let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and roll it out to about ½” thickness. With biscuit cutters, cut out 3″ circles with 1″ holes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place the doughnuts 1″ apart. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on top of the preheating oven until almost doubled in size, about 25 minutes.

Bake until light golden in color, 5-8 minutes. Dip the hot doughnuts in the melted butter and then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve immediately; doughnuts are best eaten the same day they are made.

(Recipe adapted from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni)

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