Sometimes it's a good idea to bring your kids to Crate and Barrel. I know, sounds counter intuitive but if I hadn't had my little eagle-eyed 11-year-old with me recently, I never would have seen this awesome doughnut pan! I've been meaning to get one of these for years so that I could make nut allergy-safe doughnuts, but the pans available had always been so expensive at $30 or so that I always saved it for another day. Being unable to visit doughnut shops due to all of the cross-contact risk is an adjustment that we've had to make, so I've always been on the lookout for ways to make our own at home.This great pan pictured above was $10.95 at Crate and Barrel. You can also order it from www.wilton.com. They also have mini-doughnut pans available, especially nice since Hostess Donettes are not longer an option for our family--they now carry tree nut allergy warnings.
Best of all, the doughnut pan comes with a simple recipe that I altered just a bit. You could also do some variations like adding a few tablespoons of cocoa powder and a little more canola oil for a chocolate cake donut. Or add a nice spring-y touch with some lemon or orange zest to the batter. I also remember some amazing apple doughnuts that we used to buy, pre-nut allergy, at a farm bakery store that were seriously amazing. So you could grate some apple into the batter, add some cinnamon and roll them in cinnamon sugar for apple doughnuts. The possibilities are endless!
Baking doughnuts does change their taste a little bit. Let's face it, fried foods are the bomb! But baking doughnuts does make them healthier and I found the taste delicious. My kids LOVED them. They couldn't believe it one Saturday morning when they awoke to fresh powdered sugar doughnuts.
This pan makes a great Mother's Day gift, too if you're looking for last-minute ideas.
The following recipe is just an example of the great things cooking next week during the Food Allergy Recipe Swap live chat at The Motherhood. Please join us if you can--May 10, 1 pm EST. Lori Sandler of Divvies will be our host! You can share your own recipes along with pictures of the finished product. I hope you can be there!
Nut-Free Powdered Sugar Cake Donuts
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray pan with nonstick baking spray (such as Pam). In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, eggs and butter. Add vanilla and beat until just combined; do not over beat. Fill each doughnut cup about 2/3 full--any more and you won't end up with that nice doughnut shape.
Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Color on tops is no indication of doneness-they will be more golden on the bottom.
Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnuts by placing them, one at a time, in a resealable bag filled with 2/3 of powdered sugar. Close the bag and shake gently to coat.
Makes 12 doughnuts.
17 comments:
I wonder - can egg substitute be used?
At Target I seen a Bella Cucina donut maker I am contemplating buying....not that we eat a lot of donuts but I wonder if there's a chocolate donut recipe????
Those sound yummy. I found some pans at a local festival awhile ago, but haven't found a good recipe.
We do buy Entenmann's donuts sometimes, but I can't wait to try these.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip! Now if only I could find nut-free bagels! :)
Katespot, sorry, do you mean egg replacer or EggBeaters?
Those of you who bake without eggs--what egg replacer would you use?
Thanks!
We used to but Entenmanns but about a month ago when I called the company they told me if my son was allergic to peanuts or tree nuts we should not buy ANY of the donuts or Popems.. They are made in a facility with nuts but they do not have that as a warning! I filed a complaint as we ate these all the time thinking they were ok!!
Depends, for many things I just use applesauce. Otherwise, ENER-G has a great egg replacer I will use - such as in this recipe!
I absolutly love homemade donuts, but call Hostess. In Southern California, if the factory number on the box begins with 70, the product is made in a peanut and nut free factory. We don't buy them often, but for those crazy times, the chocolate ones work wonders!
Do you think rice milk or coconut milk could be substituted successfully for the buttermilk? Thanks!
A lot of companies now tell you to check serial numbers, etc. on packages. I get that people want to use these products, but if it says "may contain" I avoid. I'm not relying on a serial number...lots of room for error there. If they want us to know that it's peanut/tree nut free facility, I personally want them to spell it out on the package, not to have all of us deciphering codes.
For subsitutions of ingredients, you may get a different result. I've heard that rice milk doesn't work so well from others in these type of recipes. I would give the coconut milk a try -- it's a little richer and I don't think it will affect the flavor too much. Let us know how it works out!
We love making donuts! Here's my egg, dairy and nut free recipe:
1/3 cup butter or margarine (Earth Balance is dairy free)
1 cup white sugar
1 Tablespoon flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water (this is the egg substitute, can use egg repacer powder, but you miss the nutritional benefits of flaxseed)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup soy or ricemilk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease doughnut pan (or, if you don't have the special pan, make doughnut muffins, using a muffin pan).
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar; beat in egg substitute. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Stir flour into egg mixture alternately with milk.
Spoon batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
While doughnuts bake, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Remove doughnuts from pan and let cool for 5 minutes. While doughnuts are still warm, roll tops in cinnamon sugar mixture.
Delish!
I thought about this post earlier today when my daughter was asking for doughnuts. She has a peanut allergy, although it is nowhere near as severe as your daughter's. We have found that the 7-11 stores near our house sell packages of four chocolate iced cake doughnuts that do not have any peanut allergy warnings on them. They are regular full-size doughnuts, and they aren't very expensive. They are really good, too. They come four in a package, and are found (at our store) under or near the other doughnut display case. I thought you might want to know so you could check your stores if you have them near you and see if they work for your family. The doughnuts are individually wrapped inside the package, which is wasteful to me, but nice if you want to pack them for lunch or a picnic or something.
Yum! I used to like donuts every now and then. It's been over three years now since I've had one. I might have to order this pan! Thanks for the idea.
For a donut to buy in stores, Kinnikinnick donuts are gluten free/nut free/dairy free!
Are you able to freeze the dough or made donuts?
Hi, thanks for the dairy and egg-free recipe, Food Allergy Assistant!
Regarding freezing the dough or prepared donuts, I've never tried it. I think freezing the donuts should work fine but of course everything always tastes best fresh. However, if you're in a time crunch, freezing is awfully convenient. Either way, if you make them, enjoy!
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