Healthy Homemade Doughnut Recipes
Today is National Doughnut Day. Get your fill with these healthy homemade versions.
Happy National Doughnut Day! Today, we herald those sweet, plump, frosting-covered spheres of dough.
You can't, you say? Think they're too bad for you - packed with calories, fat and cholesterol?
Not necessarily: Healthy doughnuts do exist. The trick is making them at home, so they're baked rather than fried, and opting for smart swaps. U.S. News turned to doughnut-loving food bloggers, who shared their favorite recipes for guilt-free, homemade versions of the popular treat.
Lisa Cain, a foodie who runs the Snack Girl blog, likes this recipe, which makes six doughnuts. Toss in blueberries or cocoa powder for some variety:
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tablespoon melted butter
Confectioners' sugar (optional)
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Spray a doughnut pan with non-stick spray.
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium-size bowl. Add the buttermilk, egg and butter, and mix until well blended.
Spoon into doughnut pan and fill wells until 2/3 full. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes until top of doughnut springs back from your touch. Allow to cool for 4 to 5 minutes before removing from pan.
Add about 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar to a Ziploc bag, then add doughnut and shake until coated. Repeat. Serve warm or store in a sealed container for later.
Corey Valley, who runs the Family Fresh Meals blog, says her daughters love doughnuts. To make them healthier, she began preparing this baked version, which makes 24 mini doughnuts:
Cake ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar, mixed and set aside)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
Frosting ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons raspberry extract (or any flavor extract you have on hand, such as vanilla, maple or lemon)
Preheat the oven to 425 F. In a large mixing bowl, sift together - or stir with a whisk - flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, egg and butter. Mix until just combined.
Scoop batter into a large Ziploc-style bag, or a large piping bag, and snip off the tip to fill the batter in a doughnut pan. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 1/3 to 1/2 full. The batter will rise quite a bit during baking. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Cool in pan 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Next, to prepare the frosting, stir sugar, milk and extract in a small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved. Use immediately to glaze doughnuts. Dip each doughnut in glaze, then set on a plate. Top with sprinkles while still wet.
Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Doughnuts
Jane Box, who's behind the Janie's Kitchen blog, makes healthy doughnuts with Greek yogurt and spelt flour. This recipe serves 12:
1 cup mashed ripe banana (roughly 2 small bananas)
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1/2 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
1/4 cup unsalted melted butter
2 eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups spelt white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Topping (optional)
1/4 cup raw cane sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Using your electric mixer with a whisk attachment, add mashed banana, sugar and Greek yogurt. Mix until incorporated.
Add melted butter, eggs and vanilla extra and mix. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the batter, and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix!
Use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop the batter into a Ziploc bag and seal shut. Using scissors, snip the bottom corner of one side of the Ziploc bag to create your homemade piping bag.
Grease the doughnut baking pan and then pipe each doughnut mold 3/4 full with batter.
Optional: Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of each doughnut before baking. Or dip the doughnuts into the cinnamon sugar mixture once they're baked. You may need to paint melted butter on top of each doughnut before dipping the doughnuts in the sugar mixture to allow them to stick. Both options work perfectly.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool before eating.
For more healthy but tasty recipes, try Homemade Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Almost Healthy Chocolate Doughnuts or Whole Wheat Doughnuts.
