Saturday, November 23, 2013

Glazed Chocolate Donut Holes

The picture of this recipe has been intriguing me since I first saw it on Pinterest last summer: chocolate donut holes, dark and round, coated in a thick, white, sugary glaze.  I'm not a big chocolate person... or a big donut person... but for some reason, I kept trying to find excuses to make these little glazed donut holes.  I finally had the time, the ingredients, and the excuse over Veteran's Day weekend when I was headed to my friend's house for a little work party.  There were going to be kids there, and what kid can resist a glazed donut?

Now, when I said that I had the time, it wasn't exactly true.  Mark was over and had spent the day trimming our bushes and trees, so he needed to head back home and change and shower before the party, and we were trying to consolidate our driving into one car.  Good lord, I cannot wait until we actually have a house and live in the same place (will that ever happen!?!?!?).  So by the time I was ready to bake after a long walk with my mom, Mark was ready to head home.  I decided to make the donut batter here and bring whatever I needed to bake them to Mark's house, and bake them there while she got ready.  I am not totally sure if this caused the donut holes to be a bit more dense and dry  than I expected, or if baked-not-fried donuts are always going to be a little less ooh-la-la than the norm.  But they were a bit dry, and the recipe claims that they are moist.  The more I think about it, the more I think that letting the batter sit for the 25-minute drive to Mark's could have been the cause of the dryness; I can imagine the wet ingredients totally sopping up all the dry and over mixing... maybe.

Either way, I thought they had great flavor, and the glaze was awesome (I dunked them once but you can triple or double dunk if you're feeling wild).  I think they are worth making again to see if I can get them to be a bit more moist.  But I can say that the kids at the party were big fans anyway!

Recipe:

glazed chocolate donut holes
from Sally's Baking Addiction
makes about 45 donut holes

Ingredients:
2 cups flour (you can use white whole wheat, all-purpose, or a mixture)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (regular is fine too)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

for glaze:
1 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 24-count mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.  Set aside.

2) Make the donuts: sift the flour, sugar, and cocoa powder together in a large bowl.  Sifting is important; you want to remove any lumps of cocoa.  Mix in the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

3) In a medium bowl, whisk the beaten eggs, milk, yogurt, and vanilla together until completely smooth.  Whisk in the melted butter until combined.  Slowly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Careful not to over mix. Mix the two together only until no flour pockets remain.  Over-handling this batter will make your donuts holes dense and tough.

4) Spoon batter into the mini muffin tins, only about 3/4 of the way full.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Do not over bake them; they burn easily.  Allow the donuts to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool for 5 more minutes before glazing.

5) Make the glaze: while the donuts are slightly cooling, make the glaze by sifting the confectioners sugar into a medium bowl.  Stir in the milk, vanilla, and lemon juice until smooth and combined.  Add more confectioners sugar to make it thicker if desired; add more cream to make it thinner if desired.  Dunk each slightly warm donut hole into the glaze using a fork or your fingers.  Place on a wire rack on top of a large baking sheet to let the glaze drip down.  Repeat dunking two to three more times if you want a thick glaze coating.  Make more glaze if necessary.

6) Donut holes taste best served on the same day.  Store extras in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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