Baked Donut Holes

Baked donuts. Easier and far healthier than fried donuts. And who can resist a cute donut hole?  

Not kids, that's for sure. Because I made this batch of 24 donut holes and by the end of my brunch last week there were 4 left. Those 6 toddlers and preschoolers went to town on the donut holes. But that's okay. I can easily make more because these were SO quick and easy to make. You can find the original recipe here, although I altered it a bit.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup flour

Preheat over to 375 and grease a mini muffin pan (mine has 24 spaces, so I only needed to do this once.) Mix sugar and melted butter or margarine in a medium bowl. Stir in the milk, and then the baking powder and flour until ingredients are just combined.  Fill muffin cups halfway. Bake 15-20 minutes. Tops should be a light golden color.

Meanwhile, melt another 1/4 cup of butter or margarine in a large dish and add about 3/4 cup of powdered sugar to a large Ziploc bag. Once the donuts come out of the oven, cool slightly. Then roll in the melted butter and place in the sugar. Shake well to coat and then set aside to cool.

I might make these again next time I have to bring something to a playdate. They were quick, easy and yummy. Tasted just like a donut hole! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread-A Fall Favorite

Fall is finally here, and it has brought cooler temperatures and a bit of a breeze back the area.  Very refreshing after a week of 90+ temperatures!  I know it's only temporary, as the forecast calls for a return to the 90s next week, but I'll take it while I can.  And to welcome the cooler air and the Autumn season, I baked up a batch of my mom's pumpkin bread.  This recipe comes together quickly and is a cinch to make.  It makes two full size loafs, so I had one to enjoy and one to share!

First, I gathered up all my ingredients.  I always to to get everything out beforehand, but I don't always remember.  It makes it so much easier when I have everything at my fingertips.  

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1 16oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 2 loaf pans.  

In a large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients.  In another bowl, beat eggs, pumpkin, oil and applesauce until well blended.  Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until just blended.  Add in the raisins and walnuts if desired and divide evenly between loaf pans.

Bake 1 hour 15 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove to remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

Orange-Honey Muffins

Cheesecake tomorrow, muffins today! I have a playgroup coming over tomorrow and I'm making the cheesecake for the moms, these muffins are for the kiddos.  This is another recipe that has been sitting in my "I cut it out of a magazine" file for I don't even know how long.  The original recipe seems to have come from Florida's Natural Orange Juice.  This particular recipe doesn't seem to be on their site, although I did find a few others I'd like to try!  For this recipe, I made a few modifications.  I used raw Ukrainian honey, butter instead of margarine and 2 eggs instead of egg substitute.

Orange-Honey Muffins
1/2 cup Orange Juice
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.  In a small bowl, combine the honey, juice, margarine, egg and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth and stir into dry ingredients.
Line a muffin pan (mine is stoneware from Pampered Chef) with paper liners and fill each cup 2/3 full with batter (I actually filled them a little more that that).  Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.

The flavor of the raw honey definitely shone through in these muffins, but in a good way.  If you don't like raw honey, you'd probably want to use regular, store-bought honey.  But they came out very moist, buttery and light.  My little helper and I split one to test them out and we agreed that they were yummy! I think they'll be perfect for the kiddos tomorrow!

Banana Nut Bread

We're pretty picky about bananas.  For me, they need to be slightly green.  Once they're completely ripe, they're too ripe for me.  For my son, they can't have any brown spots, and they can't have any green.  And for my husband, they can't have any green, but they can have a few spots.  But we're all in agreement that once they turn mostly brown, the only thing they are good for is banana bread or muffins. But sometimes I only have 1 or 2, and that's not enough, so I will peel them, toss them in a freezer bag and freeze them for later.  Then, when I have 3 (which is how many my banana bread recipe calls for) and the time and inclination, I will take them out and thaw them and make banana bread.

My banana bread recipe is my mom's.  I have no idea where she got it, but it's the one we have both been using for years.  I have tried others, just for the heck of it, and in my opinion, they just don't compare.  Of course, I'm biased.

My Mother's Banana Bread

This recipe makes enough for a very full loaf or 1 dozen very full muffins.  You could probably do smaller muffins and stretch it to 18.  I love to take a slice and put in in a frying pan and kind of grill it that way and then butter it.  I'm drooling thinking about it now.  Or cut a muffin in half and fry it the same way. I also love to make french toast with it.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup shortening (I use crisco sticks)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

3 bananas

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sour milk or cream

1 cup chopped walnuts

To sour the milk or cream, add 1 tsp white vinegar and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Mash bananas and set aside.

Mix shortening, sugar and eggs.  Add bananas to mixture, the the mixed dry ingredients alternately with the sour sour milk.  Add in nuts last, if desired (it's just as yummy without them!) Pour into a loaf pan.

Bake at 350F for 1 hour (depending on climate, it may need longer.  I've had to bake it up to 1 hour 20 minutes before)

Enjoy!

To Die for Blueberry Muffins

These muffins really ARE to die for.  I got the recipe from a friend ages ago, and now I don't make any other blueberry muffins, because they just don't compare.  I didn't know where SHE got the recipe, so I googled it and found it on AllRecipes.com.  I have tweaked the recipe a little to fill a 12 cup muffin pan.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12 oversized muffins

3 cups flour

3/4 cups Splenda blend (double amount to use regular sugar)

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp +  1 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs

2 cups blueberries (the small, wild variety work best; the large, cultivated variety are okay, but just not as good)

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Mix in eggs, oil and milk. Fold in blueberries.  Fill greased muffin cups (not paper liners) right to the top and sprinkle with topping. Bake 20-25 minutes until done.

For topping: Mix all ingredients with a pastry blender until crumbly.

These muffins are A-MAZ-ING.  I make them for brunches all the time and they are always the first things to go.  Sometimes, I don't even get one!