Baked Coconut Buttermilk Donuts with Ginger Glaze

I think you should have donuts with a mom this Mother's Day. Whether it's your mom, your mom's mom, a friend's mom, a mom friend, or a new mom, and even if it's over the phone or FaceTime or Skype. The beauty of the internet is that we can be close even if we're far away. We can send pictures instantly, and even make the same donut recipe to eat together when we're miles and miles apart. 

The older I get (which, I might add, is only a few weeks away from my last twenties birthday… yikes!), the more I appreciate moms. A lot of gals I know are having babies, and man, that looks really hard. And also my mom, she's so tough and brave and strong (and pretty! and fun!). Mom's really carry the load for everyone. I wish we understood that as teenagers. Hey teenagers, be nice to your moms! 

So, here's to the moms! On Mother's Day, and every day. Celebrating Mother's Day with donuts. Celebrating every day with donuts. Celebrating mothers every day. It's a big circle, you guys… like… a donut. 

These donuts are so pretty and perfect for a springy Mother's Day brunch. I'm obsessed with the sweet coconut cake and spicy ginger glaze combo. If you're less into major ginger heat, start slow, with just a little ground ginger, and work up to the fresh stuff. 

Also, if you're looking for a gift for mom, get her a donut pan, already! 

Baked Coconut Buttermilk Donuts with Ginger Glaze

Donut base adapted from this recipe

Makes 12 donuts 

Donuts

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla 

3/4 cup desiccated coconut (dried, shredded, and unsweetened)

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (grated super fine and pulpy on a microplane)

1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

2.5 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Additional desiccated coconut (about 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease donut pan(s).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and sugar. Pour buttermilk in a measuring cup, and stir in melted butter and vanilla. Add half the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, stir, then add half the egg/sugar mixture, stir. Repeat with remaining buttermilk and egg/sugar mixture. 

Fill donut pan holes just barely to the top. I usually pipe donut batter in with a plastic bag, but this is a bit thicker, so I just spoon it in and spread it around with my finger or a spoon. Bake for 10-15 minutes (my oven took exactly 13 minutes), until donuts are just golden, spring back when touched, and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in donut pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter if you only have 1 pan. 

Cool completely on a wire rack before glazing. 

To make glaze: In a large bowl, whisk together both gingers, water, and vanilla. Add powdered sugar, and whisk until combined and smooth.

Put coconut in a separate dish or plate.

Dip cool donuts (smooth side down) in glaze, then immediately into coconut. Let sit until glaze hardens, about 15 minutes. 

Baked Chocolate Stout Donuts with Irish Cream Glaze

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. 

Spike all the things! Baked chocolate Stout and Irish Cream donuts! Let's do this! 

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. 

Baked Chocolate Stout Donuts with Irish Cream Glaze

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!)

Baked Chocolate Cake Donuts with Raspberry Glaze

DONUTS! I wonder how many times I'll write donuts in this post? 

I finally broke down and bought a donut pan. Guys… that pan set me back about 8 buckaroos. Seriously, why did it take me so long? I highly recommend everyone gets a donut pan. SO worth the $8.  

My favorite donut shop ever, Top Pot Doughnuts, has a chocolate cake donut with raspberry glaze that makes me weak in the knees. That was what I wanted to make first, but Evan insisted I make plain ol' plain donuts with powdered sugar and cinnamon. So I did that, just to test 'er out. And when I discovered how freaking easy it is to make baked cake donuts with this pan, I went to the gym… because, donuts. And then, I made chocolate donuts with raspberry glaze. YES. 

I think my counts is at 10… or 11, if you count the 1 use of the alternate spelling "doughnuts." 

I love the chocolate and raspberry combo here. The glaze is sweet but also tangy and fruity, and pairs so well with the super rich chocolatey donut, which is tender and cakey. And also, the glaze is so pretty and pink! I should have made these for Valentine's day, huh?

Well… what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a donut pan! GO! 

Baked Chocolate Cake Donuts with Raspberry Glaze

Batter recipe slightly adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes 10 donuts

Donuts

1 cup flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup water

1 large egg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature (runny, but not hot)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze

1.5 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup raspberries (about 8 berries, fresh or frozen, thawed)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Half a lemon

Preheat oven to 325, with rack in top 2/3 of the oven. Coat donut pan with cooking spray. 

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together Greek yogurt and water, and stir in egg, butter, and vanilla, 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). The batter will be a bit thick. 

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). I find this is the easiest way to fill the donut pan circles. 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, depending on how many holes your donut pan has. 

Let cool completely before glazing. 

To make glaze: Add powdered sugar to a bowl, and mash berries through a fine mesh strainer, straining juice into powdered sugar. Add vanilla and a small squeeze of the lemon. Stir until combined. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. If too thin, add more powdered sugar. 

Gently dip donuts into glaze, being careful when you pull it out to not break donut. Let glaze cool until hard/dry, about 30 minutes to an hour.  

Keeping Portland Weird

Last weekend 14 friends and I went to Portland for the Warrior Dash—a 3-mile RACE FROM HELL complete with obstacles like fire jumping, diving over floating logs, and the best part… a total, full-on mud bath. It was insane, it was awesome, I loved it. Did I mention that runners were dressed in costumes, ranging from furry loin cloths and Viking helmets to wedding dresses and 3-piece suits? Did I also mention that after the race there was a huge beer garden dance party, filled with muddy warriors chugging ale and gnawing on giant turkey legs (not to mention YouTube-worthy freak-dancing, but that’s another story). I told you… totally awesome.

Since we made the trek all the way down to P-town, we decided to get a hotel and celebrate our warrior-status with a night out. Now, I’ve spent a lot of time in Portland… growing up, Portland was our nearest big city, so we went there for all our school shopping, Christmas shopping, and all around mall shopping needs (that’s right… is an hour away from the closest mall). We also went to Portland for the airport, the train station, and school field trips. So during my adult years, while my friends took off on weekend getaways to Portland, I chose to stick around Seattle, or check out other towns cities I wasn’t so familiar with. However, it turns out I wasn’t very familiar with Portland at all (past the malls, anyway). Last weekend was my first grown up night on the town in Portland, and I loved it. With an earthy-hipster vibe and street food on every block, Portland is AMAZING!

Unlike Seattle, with its soul-crushing city ordinance against food carts, Portland is a food-cart mecca! Streets and parking lots are lined with food carts made from old campers and trailers, and serving up everything from grilled cheese sandwiches to Kahlua pork. It’s like a street festival or a fair… Every. Single. Day. I now know where all of the world’s dreamers go… they go to Portland. And they make street food. Wandering the lively streets of Portland late at night, after closing down the bars, I felt like a kid in a candy store… an inebriated, 20-something kid in a candy store filled with delicious street food.

After a very disappointing street quesadilla (I don’t want to give out a bad review, because that’s not my style… but… not a fan of one specific Portland dilla-cart that has chicken sausage on the menu... you’ve been warned), I needed the streets to redeem themselves. And that’s when I spotted the waffle place. Unfortunately, I don’t even know what this place is called. I wasn’t looking at the name; I was looking at the menu… and at the vanilla scented waffles, folded half, oozing with melted chocolate in other patron’s greedy hands. J-dub and I ordered 3 waffles. Hey…we jumped over fire, we deserved it! We had a ham and cheese, a maple pecan, and…wait for it… s’more! The s’more was everyone’s favorite. A chewy, golden waffle, filled with nutella and marshmallow cream, and folded in half…gooey, sweet perfection.

While in Portland, we also had to try a favorite for locals and tourists alike: VooDoo Doughnuts. You’ve seen it on TV… the little shop adorned with posters and voodoo dolls, with pierced and tatted-up donut slingers, and the famous holy-grail of all donuts, the maple bacon bar! If you haven’t seen it, you don’t watch enough travel or food TV (or maybe I watch too much).

Either way, we went, we stood in line for over an hour, and we got a dozen donuts, including the maple bacon bar, a giant squishy donut topped with Captain Crunch, and one with a mystery grape-flavored purple powder. Then Amanda, Evan, and I ate said dozen donuts, by ourselves, with help from no one. Was it worth the long wait? Duh.

Costumed leaps through fire, street-food galore, and donuts shaped like voodoo dolls...You’re weird Portland, but I like it. A lot. Keep it up.