This recipe is another one of those brought to you by Cocinando Sabores, with February’s challenge to make homemade donuts from scratch and low in calories. These no-sugar donuts are baked in the oven (the sweetness is added with honey instead) instead of deep-fried. They are still fluffy and delicious, and combined with fresh fruit it makes for a delicious breakfast or sweet snack. And the best part is that you don’t even need a special donut pan!
Now, I have never made donuts before in my life, I promise you this. So many people say things like “oh, it’s so easy for you to make these things because you’re such a pro at baking” but, as we say in Spanish, nobody was born knowing! Many of the recipes I write about here I have no prior experience with, which is a testimony to how easy they would be to make to a beginner. So the challenge is on many different levels, and I’m so happy I’ve been motivated to try a new thing thanks to it! I hope this gives you the confidence to have a go at it, and please let me now in the comments if you do! These donuts must be eaten on the same day, otherwise they go hard, but if you do the recipe well enough they will disappear in a flash anyway!
If you have a standmixer, you can use it throughout the process. If not, you can do it by hand, you’ll just need a bit more elbow grease.
- 125ml warm milk
- dry yeast (check amount according to the package)
- 90ml warm honey
- 1 tbsp butter at room temperature
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 400g flour
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- dash of salt
- optional: sliced fresh fruit (strawberries, banana, apple, kiwi…)
- Whisk the warm milk, the honey and the dry yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes, or until foamy.
- Add the butter, the egg, the vanilla, salt and flour, and mix with the hook attachment if using the standmixer. If not, mix with a spatula.
- Continue mixing with the hook attachment for a further 3 minutes, or knead with your hands. The dough should now be smooth and just slightly sticky.
- Form a ball with the dough and cover with a tea towel and let rise for about an hour or until it’s doubled the size.
- Flour a clean and dry surface to roll the dough on. Roll it to about 2,5cm and then it will be ready to be shaped/cut. There are a few ways you can do this depending on what you want the final product to look like.
- For regular donuts: get a small bowl or cookie cutter to cut out the outline of the donut, and a smaller one to cut out the hole in the middle.
- For donut holes: take a small round cookie cutter and cut as many holes as you like.
- Another option for donut holes: with a sharp knife, cut the dough in small squares and shape them as balls with your hands. This is the option I chose for mine, because it works better for the skewers.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- Place a silicon baking mat on a baking tray, or use baking paper, and put the donuts on it. Bake for 8 minutes, they should only be slightly brown when you bring them out. Let them cool.
- Optional: Once completely cold, take some sliced fresh fruit and spear with the skewers alternating fruit and donuts.
BONUS TIPS:
- For some extra sweetness and the full donut experience, you can frost them with some dark chocolate and sprinkle with coconut flakes.
