Weekend Gourmet Flashback: Bunny-Approved Baked Easter Doughnuts

It's time for Easter! I'm headed to the Houston area to celebrate with my family...but not before I share one of my favorite fun and easy Easter treats. My Bunny-Approved Baked Easter Doughnuts would make a perfect addition to your Easter breakfast table -- such a festive and special treat! These baked buttermilk cake doughnuts are similar in texture to a muffin, and they bake up in about 10 minutes. That gives you just enough time to whip up the sweet glaze and assemble your decor. Feel free to tint the glaze if you want, but I stuck with white since I was using colorful Easter and Spring-colored sprinkles. The main thing is to have fun and let your creativity go wild! 

Decorating these doughnuts is a bit like coloring Easter eggs -- only you'll have half a dozen delicious doughnuts to enjoy when you're done. I made two minor tweaks to a simple baked doughnut recipe from Sur le Table. I subbed cinnamon for the nutmeg called for, and I added 1 tbs. of vanilla extract with the wet ingredients. Feel free to double the recipe if you want to make a dozen doughuts...you'll have plenty of icing!

Bunny-Approved Baked Easter Doughnuts

adapted from Sur le Table 

Ingredients (makes 6 doughnuts):

• 1 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1.5 tbs. melted butter
• 1 tbs. vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar

For garnish: colorful Easter sugars and sprinkles

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425, and spray a six-well doughnut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside while you make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the egg, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir just until combined.

Step 2: Fill each well of the doughnut pan 2/3 full. A pastry bag or ziploc bag with the corner snipped makes this pretty easy, since it's a thick batter. Bake the doughnuts for 4-6 minutes, until the top springs back when touched. Let the cooked doughnuts cool for a couple of minutes, then remove from pan. They should release easily without sticking.

Step 3: Make the icing by combining the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar in a saucepan over med-high heat. Whisk until everything is combined and has a nice dipping consistency. Dip the round tops of each baked doughnut in the icing, letting excess drip back into the pan. Place on parchment and quickly decorate with the sprinkles and sugars before the glaze sets.

Step 4: Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes. This will give the icing time to set and allow the sprinkles to adhere firmly. Your patience will be rewarded with six adorable and tasty doughnuts that the Easter Bunny would be proud of!

These doughnuts are as tasty as they are cute! They bake up moist and light thanks to the buttermilk, and the icing is the perfect consistency to cover the tops without running down the sides. The icing is very sweet, so one doughnut with an ice-cold glass of milk should be enough for even the strongest sweet tooth. If you have little ones, I'm sure they'd love decorating the tops with sprinkles. Heck, I'm a big kid, and I had a blast!

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