Donut Be Discouraged; These Chocolate Donuts Still Taste Good

Hole-y moly are those ugly donuts! But don’t let your eyes glaze over—they taste great, if I do say so myself.

Not only did I bring these bad boys to life using a muffin tin, but these donuts are also baked (not fried!). AND the (w)hole process took less than an hour! So if you’re in the mood for chocolate donuts with chocolate glaze, donut hesitate any longer.

Okay I’ll pause on the puns for now, but some of those were just too easy to not sprinkle in. 🙂

What to Expect:

You can expect baked chocolate donuts that have a springy, fried cake donut texture but without the hassle of frying. The texture is more dense than a cupcake, but still tastes cakey and not overly sweet.

The glaze is really responsible for the sweetness factor. It turns out glossy and delicious.

What I Recommend:

To achieve more attractive looking donuts, I would advise you to purchase a donut pan, with donut-shaped molds. Since I’m impatient and didn’t want to spend the money, I read online that you could use muffin tins instead and make tin foil pegs to create donut holes.

My makeshift donut pan: chocolate donuts with tin foil pegs in a muffin pan

If you’re going to use this method, make sure each peg reaches the top of the pan. This method worked well enough but I struggled a bit. The pegs kept falling over when I poured in the batter and I had to take out the pegs when the donuts were halfway done to re-center them because they had toppled over.

I would also suggest filling up the donuts one-third full if you use a muffin tin, since they double in size. (Mine were overflowing a bit out of the muffin slots, since I filled them halfway up.)

After the donuts cool, poke the peg through the other side of the donut when you remove the it from the pan to create a donut hole.

So if you don’t trust this munchkin’s word on these donuts, I recommend trying it for yourself!

Recipe from Handle the Heat:

Ingredients

Doughnuts:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Chocolate glaze:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)
• 4 tablespoons whole milk, warmed
• 1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

For the doughnuts:

1. Lightly grease a doughnut (or muffin) tin and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda, and then whisk in the sugar, nutmeg and salt. Add the butter, and using your fingers, rub it into the dry ingredients until it becomes coarse crumbs.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, yogurt, vanilla and egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Do not overmix, or your doughnuts may be a bit rubbery.
4. Fill a ziploc bag with the batter, cut an opening in one corner, and pipe the batter into each cup 1/2 to 3/4 full. It’s important not to overfill, or as the doughnuts rise, you’ll lose the hole. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool slightly on a wire rack before glazing.

For the glaze:

1. Combine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted. Turn off heat, add the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Place the mixture over a bowl of warm water and dip the doughnuts immediately. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.