Baked Powdered Sugar Donuts

Holy cow, it is June 1st! 

The last few months have really flown by, and now I'm just a few weeks away from graduating and packing my bags to head back north. I have to say, I was skeptical when I moved here, but Southern California has really treated me well. There is something to be said for the impact that sunny day after sunny day can have on your overall mood.

I haven't blogged for several months, but I have baked a few times since my last post. I wasn't so happy with the results of my last few projects, so I didn't feel like sharing those recipes. I get discouraged when recipes don't turn out well, but I think I need to change my mindset. Sometimes you'll get it right, and sometimes things will just flop. Luckily, baking is one of the very few things in life where you can simply throw away the mistakes and move on, no hard feelings whatsoever.

I woke up this morning with a hankering, and I've been wanting to try this recipe for baked donuts that I saw on... YouTube! I've been wasting tons of time on YouTube lately, mostly watching tutorials. I came across this video on baked donuts over a week ago, and have had the tab open on my computer since then, so I would remember to try making them. I finally got to it this morning, and I was really happy with the results. Really, really happy.

I've tried making baked donuts several times now, and I think these are my favorites so far. The outside was *just* crispy, and the inside was dense enough to remind me of a real, deep-fried cake donut. Sigh. Those are the best. Anyway, here's the recipe.

Baked Powdered Sugar Donuts
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1 whole egg

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar (to coat doughnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar on low speed. Add vanilla, egg and baking powder. Mix until thoroughly combined. Turn off mixer and add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing each addition completely. Add salt and milk, mix to combine. 

Using a piping bag, fill donut pan with batter. Bake for 13 minutes. 

Cool donuts in the pan, then turn upside down to remove donuts. Cool completely, then coat in powdered sugar.