Sprinkles-on-the-Inside Donuts

I bought a donut pan a while ago.  And by "a while ago," I mean at least a year ago and maybe more like two.  I had good intentions to use it right away, but... well, the road to hell and all that.  I finally used it yesterday for some baked donuts that I brought to work.

Googling "baked donuts" will give you a huge selection of recipes to try.  I admit that I was drawn in by the photos, but I also considered number/expense of ingredients and difficulty level.  Ultimately I decided to try a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.  She calls hers Baked Funfetti Donuts, but I'm petty sure "funfetti" is trademarked.  So I renamed my version of the recipe.  Part of the inspiration for the new name is something my grandmother sometimes says when it is raining outside: "That's OK.  We'll have sunshine inside."  These donuts are sort of like that: a little boring looking on the outside, but super cheery once you bite in and really see all the colors.  

Of course, I didn't just change the name.  I also changed the original recipe a bit.  Partly on purpose and partly through a misread in directions on my part.  I think they turned out well, though, and they were easy to make.  The recipe below has my adjustments included it.  Give them a try!

Please note: The photo above is a little washed out, due to the lighting in my kitchen. (I know, I know.  "Jenny, if you were a real food blogger your photos would be prettier."  Yeah.  You're right.  They would. They also would probably not have been taken on my phone.  So....good thing I'm not a real food blogger, huh?)  Seriously, though: in reality they weren't so ghost-like in color.  

Sprinkles-on-the-Inside Donuts

Makes: 12 donuts in standard donut pan

Ingredients for Donuts:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used closer to 1/2 but might do more of a heaping 1/4 next time)

A few shakes of Penzey's baking spice (This is a combo of cinnamon, mace, anise, and cardamom...basically things that taste nice with nutmeg.  It could be excluded entirely or swapped for just cinnamon, I think, with semi-similar results.)

1/4 cup milk (I used skim, but you can probably use any kind)

1/4 cup yogurt (I used vanilla flavored 0% fat Greek yogurt)

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine (I used blue bonnet margarine) 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used Penzey's double-strength vanilla)

1/3 cup rainbow sprinkles (the long, tube-shaped kind; not the small, ball-shaped kind)

       BTW: The original recipe called for 1/2 cup.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some sprinkles. But sprinkles can be expensive, so feel free to use fewer if you want to.  1/3 cup seemed like a nice amount, though.   

Ingredients for Glaze:

1/4 cup milk 

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions for the Donuts:

1) Preheat  oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a donut pan with non-stick spray. I then wiped off some of the excess spay/oil.  

2) Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3) Whisk milk, yogurt, and egg together in a smaller bowl until smooth. Add the melted butter and vanilla, and whisk together.  

4) Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. (Do not overmix.) Fold in sprinkles gently.  The sprinkles I used were purchased at Target and are pictured below. This particular container DID NOT have blue sprinkles included, a fact that makes me incredibly happy!!    

5) Spoon batter into a quart sized ziploc bag, cut a corner off the bag, and pipe batter into the donut pan.  (I did the filling of the quart bag twice)  

6) Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges are light brown.  Allow donuts to cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pan.

7) Cool donuts fully before glazing.

Directions for Glaze and Glazing:

1) Put the 3 glaze ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat on medium, stirring until smooth.  (I kept the heat on warm/low after this, but you might want to take it off the heat).  

2) Glaze donuts by dropping them into the saucepan.

3) Place donuts on a wire rack and allow the glaze to set.  (I put my rack over waxed paper to catch the drippings)

4) If desired, you can either a) glaze both sides of the donuts by flipping them over in the saucepan or b) dip the donuts in the glaze a second time.  However, you are likely to run out of glaze if you do either of these.  I started glazing both sides of my donuts, but only had enough to do this with 8.  the last 4 of the 12 had to be only glazed on one side.  

I love sprinkles!  They make everything so much more cheery!!