Description

So much quicker to make then their indulgent fried equivalents, these stupid simple cinnamon sugar baked donuts are a mix and go affair that has all the beauty of the real thing. You may never go to the donut shop again.

Ingredients

Scale

Cinnamon Sugar Donut batter

1 stick of butter, for divided use (113 g)
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk, preferably homemade cultured buttermilk (177 mL)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (276 g)
1/4 cup brown sugar (53 g)
2 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Cinnamon sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

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Instructions

Make the batter

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Melt the butter in a small pan. Brush 2 6-cavity donut pans with a little bit of the butter.
Measure out 1/4 cup of the butter into a small bowl. Save the rest of the butter for after the donuts are baked.
Break the egg into the butter and then beat until the egg is smooth.
Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.
Mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk mixture.
Stir everything together to create a thick batter.
Use a small cookie scoop to scoop 2 scoops of batter into each well of your pans. Drop the batter into the edges of each well, and then use lightly damp hands to press the dough into the pan.

Baking and finishing the donuts

Bake the donuts for 16-18 minutes until the tops spring back when you touch them.
Mix the granulated sugar and the cinnamon together in a small bowl.
Reheat the reserved butter if it is cold for a few seconds, and then dip each donut in the butter and then into the cinnamon sugar. Be sure to dip the top and bottom of the donut.
Enjoy the donuts right away with a good cup of coffee.

Notes

Mace!: If you can find it, use blade mace in place or in addition to the nutmeg. It has incredible floral old-fashioned flavor you will not get from the nutmeg alone. I put 1 piece into a mortar and pestle and grind it into a powder before adding it into my batter with the cinnamon.

Freeze for later: Unlike fried donuts, these donuts freeze like champions since they’re basically just shaped muffins. Freeze them without the cinnamon sugar in a flat plastic bag. When you want to eat them, warm them back up in a 350 F oven for about 10 minutes, and then dip them in the butter and cinnamon sugar.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 18 minutes
Category: Morning breads
Method: Oven
Cuisine: American