browned butter and cinnamon doughnuts



When my friends gave me a doughnut maker for my 18^th birthday, I made doughnuts seven times in two weeks.  I have since made them frequently for bake sales, birthdays, and on one occasion simply because my friends and I were all feeling mopey and I thought we deserved a treat at recess. I LOVE doughnuts, like a lot. A lot a lot. I will almost always pass up a cupcake for the opportunity to sink my teeth into a delicious cinnamon-sugar doughnut, one time I had a krispy kreme and it blew my mind.







Thanks to my dislike of frying I had to find another way to make my doughnut dreams come true, and when I found the smitten kitchen breakfast puffs recipe, life became immeasurably better. My first batch of doughnuts were yum, but a bit ugly and flat, and how could I settle for anything less than doughnut perfection? I discarded the recipe that came with the doughnut maker, instead using my favourite recipe from Smitten Kitchen. The resulting doughnuts were light and fluffy and I’m only slightly ashamed to say I ate five.



{left: smitten kitchen recipe right: sunbeam doughnut maker recipe}

If you don’t have a doughnut maker or pan, a mini cupcake pan works just as well, creating tasty bite sized treats. I like to coat mine in browned butter (or ‘beurre noisette’ as I like to call it to make it sound fancier) cinnamon and sugar.

{naked doughnuts}


Doughnuts…
75 grams butter, softened

½ cup caster sugar
1 egg
½ cup buttermilk (or ¼ cup yoghurt and ¼ cup milk)
1 ½ cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of nutmeg

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius, grease a mini cupcake pan or doughnut maker
2. Cream butter and sugar together, add egg and vanilla, mix until combined
3. Stir in buttermilk, then flour
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or for length of time recommended in doughnut maker instruction manual.


To coat…
100 grams butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Method:
1. Place butter in a small saucepan and over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until butter smells of hazelnuts and is a golden-brown colour, about 5-10 minutes
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl
3. Dip in or paint doughnuts with browned butter, then roll in cinnamon
4. Try not to eat them all by yourself