I love St. Patrick's day! But, to be fair, i don't really know much about actual St. Paddy's day in actual Ireland (even though last year I made this traditional Irish snack plate!). The St. Patrick's day I know is all about wearing green (and pinching people who aren't wearing green), eating corned beef and cabbage, drinking green beer and Irish whiskey, and spiking everything you can with stout beer and Irish cream.
Guys, this donut pan business is dangerous! They're so easy and fun and cute! I could make donuts for every holiday. Friday is a holiday, right?
The baked cake portion of these is dense and chocolaty, with a little bit of stout flavor shining through. Use your favorite Irish stout, or find something fun. I used a salted caramel stout. What! Yep, it happened! It exists! The glaze is all boozy and Irish creamy. Ps. You can make your own Irish cream!
St. Paddy's Day donut time. Here's what you do: whisk, stir, drink some stout, pour, stir, mix, drink some stout, bake, drink some stout, whisk glaze ingredients, cool donuts, drink some stout, glaze donuts, eat donuts. Drink some stout.
Adapted from this recipe
Makes 6-8 donuts
Donuts
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark stout beer
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Glaze
1.5 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons Irish Cream
Green food coloring
Preheat oven to 325. Coat donut pan with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together beer, sugar, egg, and butter until combined. Add wet ingredients to dry, and gently fold with a spatula until combined (making sure to get all the dry ingredients mixed in).
Spoon batter into a ziplock baggie and cut the corner off one end, so you have a hole about the size of a nickel (or spoon into a pastry bag). Pipe a thick ring of batter into each donut circle. Bake for about 11-12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, and when you gently touch the top of a donut, it springs back.
Let donuts cool in pan for a minute or two, then gently turn out onto wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter if necessary (the original recipe said it made 6, it weirdly made 7 donuts).
Let cool completely before glazing.
To make glaze: Stir powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of Irish cream together until combined. If it's too thick, add more Irish cream (also, you can add a splash of your stout). Scoop about 1-2 tablespoons into a small dish, and to this small portion, add a drop or two of green food coloring, until desired color. Spoon into a ziplock bag.
Gently dip donuts into un-colored glaze, being careful when you pull it out to not break donut. Let glaze cool until hard/dry, about 30 minutes, then cut a hole in the tip of the baggie, and drizzle green glaze over top. Let cool another 10-20 minutes. (You can also let first layer of glaze dry, then double or <gasp> triple dip for more glazey goodness!)