I woke up the other day with a crazy craving for donuts. Unfortunately, there are no proper donut places nearby and since we are in the dead of winter, I really did not want to dress up and trek almost across town for the sole purpose of satisfying my cravings. It was easier to make them myself. That way, I get the flavor I want and I get to stay in pajamas!
The downside, though, is that I am absolutely terrified of deep frying! So, I had to resort to baking, which means that texture-wise, I would not get exactly what I had a hankering for. But that’s ok.
I’ve never really been into those extravagant, super colorful, hyper decorated donuts to begin with, so I was looking for something pretty simple and easy to make. I went for sour cream donuts. And, of course, me being me, I made them bite-size because a) they are way cuter than regular size donuts! and b) they take up twice as less time to bake!
Mini baked sour cream donuts
Makes about 48 mini donuts
ingredients
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup canola oil (+ more to grease the mold)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
For the glaze
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 almond extract
directions
Preheat oven at 350.
Grease your mini donut mold.
In a bowl, mix together sour cream, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, canola oil and sugar, until combined. No need to use an electric mixer here. I mixed everything together using a spatula and it worked out fine!
Sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix until combined.
Fill the mold only half-way. I used a piping bag with a small round tip to make filling the mold easier.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the donuts are slightly golden on top.
Let the donuts rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and almond extracts in a large bowl until well combined.
Before covering the donuts with glaze, prepare your work area: put parchment paper on a big cookie sheet, then put a wire cooling rack on top. This prevents the glaze from trickling down on your counter top, and the parchment paper prevents you from having to wash the cookie sheet!
Once you’re set up, dip the mini donuts in the glaze using a fork (see photo below). Let the donut rest on the fork a while to let the excess glaze drip down and back into the bowl before putting it on the rack.
If you have some left-over glaze, dip the donuts back in for a double-glaze!
Let the glaze set completely before enjoying the mini donuts.
That’s it! How easy was that? The hardest part was waiting for the glaze to set. This recipe makes about 48 mini donuts but they’re so tasty that you’ll gulp them down in no time! I was afraid I would only get donut-shaped cakes, but the result is actually pretty close to what I was craving! Texture-wise, they are quite close to old-fashioned donuts : a bit dense, but still moist. Needless to say that my hankering was completely satisfied!
This made me confident enough to explore more baked donuts recipes. I’ll keep you updated!