Baked Vanilla Donuts

Baked Vanilla Donuts

     Today I thought I'd try this recipe that I found in the Sunday paper a few weeks ago. It is suppose to be a healthier donut. Really? Is there such a thing? I guess just putting the word healthier in front of it makes people think they are really not doing something that is too bad.

      Me? I say you have to do everything with balance. I don't say that I can't have something, because if I did it would just make me want it more. I just try not to over indulge.  I like my sweets, especially for breakfast, so I just let myself have a little. It's all about self control, right?

     I like donuts and I didn't want to hassle with deep frying them, but with these new donut pans all you do is bake them for about 15 minutes. How easy is that and that way you avoid the grease and they are not as fattening. This recipe also uses almond milk in it which is suppose to be very good for a person. So I guess you can say you are eating a better donut then what you would buy at the bakery and they are easy to make too!

     When I made the glaze for the donuts I used lemon extract. That lemon flavor was so wonderful. it just made it feel a little like spring. I also sprinkled them with non pareils to make them look pretty.

     I could have eaten a half a dozen, but remember it's all about self control. Besides I had to save some for family members that were not home this morning. I think they are going to love them and you will too!

Baked Vanilla Donuts
2 eggs
4 T butter, melted
1 t vanilla extract
2/3 C sugar
2 C all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 C almond milk

     Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 six-cup donut pans with cooking spray. In a bowl beat eggs for 1 minute on medium. Add butter, vanilla, and sugar and beat until smooth. Mix in flour, salt and baking powder. Add milk and stir until smooth. Spoon batter into the donut pans. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until light brown. Remove donuts from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Glaze and top donuts as desired. Makes 1 dozen.
Glaze
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 t vanilla extract or lemon extract
4 T milk
Stir together. Drizzle over cooled donuts.

Recipe adapted from Parade Magazine

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

     Oh my Goodness! It's been a long time since I've posted a new recipe. It's not that I have given up cooking or blogging it's just that life has been a little busy and I've been a little tired. It seems that by the time I get done cooking or baking something I don't have the energy to sit down and blog about it.

     But that is going to change! I'm going to try and write a couple of blog posts a week. I miss sitting down and blabbing about my life in general and sharing the different recipes that I have tried out. I want to thank the people that have loyally checked my blog for updates and sorry it's been a while.

   I decided to kick start my reentry with a super yummy cinnamon roll recipe. I got the recipe out of the Feb/Mar Taste of Home magazine and thought that I would give it a try.

     I love the ease of using my bread machine for mixing up yeast bread dough and this recipe worked perfectly for this. The trick is to put all the liquid in first then the dry ingredients and then the yeast. It works perfectly every time.

     The one thing that I would definitely change is the amount of frosting. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or what, but I felt like it was too much sweetness. Maybe half as much frosting would be just as good.

     I also have to say that although these cinnamon rolls were good I don't think they were as good as my Cinnamon Caramel Rolls that I also happen to make in my bread machine. My family totally agrees that these rolls were good, but not as good as my original recipe. I've linked  my recipe so if you want to try that one too it's easy for you to find.

     Well here's the recipe. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Remember you can mix up the dough by hand too. I'll leave directions for that at the bottom of the page.

Happy Baking!

Can't Eat Just One Cinnamon Rolls

1pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/4 Cup water

1 Cup milk

1/3 instant vanilla pudding mix (half of a 3/4-oz pkg)

1 egg

1/4 Cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3-3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

Filling

3/4 Cup sugar

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 Cup butter, melted

Frosting

1 1/2 Cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 Cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon water

In a bread machine pan put water, milk, egg and melted butter in first. Then add flour, pudding mix, salt and sugar. Make a little indent in the flour mixture and place the yeast in this indentation. Put the pan in the bread machine and set it to dough. Let it do it's thing. If the dough looks too sticky you can add the extra 1/2 cup of flour to the dough.

Once the dough is done mix up the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.Melt the butter and set that aside.  Roll the dough out on a well floured surface into a 10X18 inch rectangle. Then spread the melted butter on and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the dough up to form a long log shape. Take a sharp knife and cut 12 rolls. 

Place rolls in a greased 9X13 pan. Cover and let rise. Or if your like me I cover it, let it rise and put it in the fridge over night. In the morning while I'm preheating the oven I place it on the stove and let it warm up and rise that way. 

Bake the rolls at 350 for 20-25 minutes.While the rolls are baking you can mix up the frosting. Beat the frosting ingredients in a bowl until creamy. Let the rolls slightly cool before adding the frosting.

If you don't have a bread machine

In a bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in warm water. In a bowl, beat milk and pudding mix on low speed for 1 minute. Let stand 1 minute. Add egg, butter, salt, yeast mixture and cups flour; beat on medium until smooth. Stir in enough flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface, knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double, about 1 hour.  Now your read to add the filling.

Recipe adapted from: Feb/March Taste of  Home

  

Chocolate Banana Bread

Chocolate Banana Bread

     I just had to share this super yummy banana bread recipe. Not only does it help me get rid of those over ripe bananas that I constantly seem to have it was a very moist and a delicious way to start my day. I also know I've shared a few banana bread recipes, but this one is the bomb.

     What two better things to put together than chocolate and bananas? Next to peanut butter and chocolate nothing. Right? The bananas help keep this bread moist and the chocolate makes it almost addictive. My whole house smelled like chocolate cookies when I baked it. In fact when my daughter came home late, late that night she said she could smell it the minute she walked in the door and just had to have some.

     I've been eating it every day for breakfast, hence the less than half a loaf left on the platter. (I've gotta remember to start taking a pic right away before my masterpieces are all eaten.)  I feel like I'm cheating a little when I eat this for breakfast, but I know that at least it's somewhat healthy. The recipe was originally tagged as a dessert, but I feel like banana bread should be eaten as breakfast, even if it does have chocolate in it lol.

     With this recipe I could see making muffins with the batter. It would really be like eating a chocolate cupcake in the morning, but I could think of worse things to eat. Hey you could even pass these off as cupcakes if you put a little frosting on them. Hmmm, that's a thought.

     The recipe did call for good-quality cocoa powder. I used the cocoa powder that I get from Aldis and it tasted fabulous. In fact most of my baking supplies are from Aldis. I just can't pass up the great prices on baking supplies when my products still look, taste and smell delicious.

     Give this one a try. I'm sure your family will love just as much as mine.

Chocolate Banana Bread
3/4 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 Cup mashed bananas (around 2-3 medium bananas)
1/2 Cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/4 Cups cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add the mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla extract, and stir until smooth and creamy-looking.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until  just barely combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes. Bread is done when the top is firm to the touch and toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before unmolding and slicing.

Recipe by http://www.crumbblog.com