Whole Wheat Baked Doughnuts

While perusing the 50% off tables at Sur La Table my eyes fell on this darling bake pan. I love bargains and I love kitchen stuff…so this was a “must buy”!  On the back of the outer package were two recipes, one for baked cake doughnuts and the other for baked chocolate doughnuts. Although Valentine’s day is past, I still made and decorated these for my honey. “Healthy doughnuts”sounds like an oxymoron, but these are much healthier than what you would buy at the bakery.

I am always compelled to tweak a recipe just to make it a little healthier. (much to my boys chagrin over the years…) The first change I made was to switch to 100% whole wheat pastry flour. The next switch was from sugar to agave syrup, which forced me to reduce the amount of buttermilk.

Whisk together 2 c. whole wheat pastry flour, 2 t. baking powder, 1/2 t. grated fresh nutmeg and 1 t. salt.

Add 1/2 c. buttermilk, 2 T. melted butter, 2 eggs lightly beaten and 1/2 c. agave.

Spray pan with oil. Fill each doughnut cup about 1/2 full which is about 2 T. batter.

Bake at 425 degrees for 4-5 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back with touched. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes before removing. Repeat with remaining batter.

Before I move on, if you notice the paper plate that the donuts are sitting on…they are a staple in my kitchen. They save so much time on clean-up. They are cheap, eco-friendly and I use them in almost every meal preparation. In this case, I drizzled the frosting over the doughnuts, and presto, tossed the plate!

I thought long and hard about how to decorate these healthy doughnuts in a healthy (er) manner. I started with this…

I made a thin glaze with hot skim milk and a few drops of vanilla. In one dish I mixed “all fruit raspberry jam” with the glaze with resulted in a pretty pink color. The other dish is a simple glaze that I sprinkled these on…

I like that fact that there is no artificial flavors or colorings added. The colors came from natural foods concentrates.

I am going to buy a dozen or so of this wonderful raspberry spread to take back home with me. It is so smooth with a rich fruit flavor.

These are the first and only doughnuts that I have ever made except for those cheater tube biscuit types that you fried in hot oil. Does anyone remember what a huge fad they were in the 80’s?

Too bad our grandkids can’t indulge in these, they would be ecstatic! Never fear, kids, I will bring the pan home and make them for you someday soon.

Can you believe that I am having coffee and doughnuts for my breakfast?

Well, I just ate the pink one and guess who finished off the rest?

Whole Wheat Baked Doughnuts

2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. agave syrup
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. grated nutmeg
1 t. salt
1/2 c. buttermilk
egg, lightly beaten
2 T. melted butter

Whisk dry ingredients together. Add buttermilk, agave, eggs and melted butter. Mix until just blended. Spray pan with oil. Fill each doughnut cup about half full. (about 2 T.) Bake at 425 degrees for 4-5 minutes, or until top of the doughnut springs back when touched. Let cool in pan for 3 minutes before removing. Repeat with remaining batter. Finish doughnuts with desired toppings.