Baked Nutmeg Donut Recipe with Berry Icing
Posted on April 10th, 2012 by Becky || 22 comments
I’ve been wanting to experiment with making homemade donuts for a while now but its kind of hard without owning a donut pan. Luckily, my professional baking friend Haley and my sassy, sweet toothed friend Hannah, were all over the idea, and came to my rescue with donut pans and butter in hand. We cooked up the most delicious donuts with a hint of nutmeg and a perfectly pink berry glaze.
Both Haley and I had recently listened to a Spilled Milk podcast talking about Nutmeg Muffins and we were perplexed that the spice was used in a main role of a baked good. We had to try it out for ourselves so we made a little twist in our donut recipe, flavoring them with nutmeg to give them a new flavor. Nutmeg is commonly a side-kick spice, but hardly ever do you find it as the main spice in a recipe. It often compliments cinnamon or is used minimally along with other spices. Being that I usually enjoy supporting the underdog or the undervalued things in life, I can say now that I’m a big fan of nutmeg.
I also used kefir from Green Valley Organics as the milk product for this recipe. Kefir is a great healthy substitute for buttermilk. If you don’t have kefir you can use buttermilk or yogurt. Although, I will highly recommend kefir since it is a probiotic with active cultures (very good for you!).
Thanks to Haley and Hannah for such a fun afternoon of baking! As we were baking we also came up with a new pinboard on pinterest for kitchen bloopers, Food Blogger Bloopers on Pinterest, you should check it out. Also, here are a few more photos of the homemade donuts process:
Separately, mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients.
Then mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Spoon the batter into well greased borrowed donut pan. It doesn’t have to look perfect. Or you can use a pastry bag to divide the batter into the donut rounds. Either way they will turn out looking like yummy donuts.
While they’re baking, make the icing. Dip donuts into a shallow bowl of the icing then let them cool until the icing is set.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup kefir (nay substitute low-fat buttermilk (1%) or plain yogurt)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup honey or agave
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly grease a doughnut pan.
- Combine flours and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
- Combine kefir, eggs, honey, butter, and vanilla, stirring well with a whisk. Add wet mixture to flour mixture; whisk just until combined.
- Spoon batter into doughnut pans, filling two thirds full. (Use a piping bag if you want to be more exact). Bake in middle of oven until doughnuts spring back when touched and are golden on bottom (about 9 minutes). Let cool in pan slightly (about 4 minutes); turn out onto a wire rack.
- Top with a mixture of sugar & nutmeg or dip into berry icing.
- Over the stove, cook berries with sugar and a couple tablespoons of water over medium heat until the berries are cooked down to a sauce (about 15 minutes). Strain into a bowl to get rid of any seeds then add 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Mix well.
Gorgeous! I’ve never made doughnuts, but yours look perfect.
Thanks Kalyn! It was fun experimenting with these. They are a little bit more healthy too being baked and I also used kefir instead of buttermilk.
I love the look of the pink icing- so pretty! And it’s fun that you got the idea for these donuts from a Spilled Milk podcast, which is one of my favorites.
Those donuts and the icing are beyond beautiful!
Thanks Juliana! And they were fun to make to. Grab a few girl friends and you can whip these up in a half hour.
They look great. I especially love the berry icing. I skipped dessert tonight and wish I could reach in and grab one.
Other recipes using Kefir.
I love nutmeg as a stand alone spice in baked goods! Nutmeg acts as the not-so-secret “secret ingredient” in my family’s holiday decorated sugar cookies, and I cannot imagine making the recipe without it. These donuts look wonderful, and I especially love that bright berry glaze!
Good to hear I’m not the only nutmeg fan!! Although I hear you can od on nutmeg if you have to much so be careful
They look yummy! I really need to get one of those pans!
I want to try this! In the icing part of the recipe it list 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon. How much vanilla should I use?
Sorry about that typo!! Its 1/2 tsp of vanilla. I made that correction.
[...] Baked Nutmeg Donuts [...]
Thanks, Becky for the beautiful recipe! We love that you grated your nutmeg rather than using it from a can or jar. It makes a difference! We’ll be looking for one of those pans now! P.S. Love your bowls!
Thanks Nancy! It was a fun recipe to create and even more fun to eat and serve to friends!
PS… I bought my donut pans from Sur La Tab
What’s your suggestion if you don’t have a donut pan? Do you think a muffin tin would work, or would circles on a baking sheet be better? I like the idea of baked donuts.
I would recommend a muffin pan as a substitute for a donut pan. Or ask around to see if your friends have a donut pan you could borrow
If you use a muffin pan, depending on the size of muffin pan you would need to make the baking time longer or shorter.
I am intrigued by this recipe and I am eager to give it a try. However, I do not own a donut pan nor do I know anyone who does. Can you provide an alternative method for baking? Grazie, Lorenza
I would try a muffin pan! They may need to bake a bit longer that way. Good luck.
I tried your recipe – and they didn’t come out very well – they weren’t very fluffy, and were a little concave. Any tips?
The glaze was good though – I made them just with strawberries.
I’ve made them several times and they’ve never been concave for me! Do you live at high altitude or is your baking powder not fresh?? That’s the only thing I could think of. Hope it works the second time around. So sorry, they didn’t turn out for you!
more Donut Recipes by Barbara Bakes