HAPPY NATIONAL DOUGHNUT DAY

Just when we thought Friday couldn't get any sweeter, today also happens to be the most holey day of the year... it's National Doughnut Day! I've never come across a doughnut I didn't like. From sprinkled cake doughnuts to jelly-filled doughnuts to simple glazed doughnuts, I love them all! However, I've always had a huge soft spot for doughnut holes, specifically cinnamon sugar doughnut holes. They're so easy to just pop in your mouth, and I like the fact that I get to eat more than one (it tricks my mind into thinking I'm eating more than I actually am). In a perfect world where calories didn't exist and I could eat anything without gaining weight, I could go through a whole box of these. But alas, that's never going to happen.

Fortunately, I found a recipe for cinnamon sugar doughnut holes that are significantly healthier than anything you can find in a store, not to mention they're extremely easy to make! They pretty much encompass everything you want in a doughnut hole: soft, doughy center, slightly crisp exterior, and a cinnamon sugar coating. There's no frying or yeast involved. And despite the fact that they're baked in a muffin pan, they actually do turn out spherical.

So celebrate this holey day with a baked doughnut hole (or five)! 

BAKED DOUGHNUT HOLES

Yields 12 doughnuts

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

For the doughnuts

• 3/4 cups milk
• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cups oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoons salt

For the topping

• 1/4 cups (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/3 cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Combine milk, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla extract.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir only to combine.
5. Distribute batter evenly between 12-cup muffin pa.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl.
8. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.
9. Take muffins out of the oven and remove from the pan while still hot. I was worried they would stick, but they just popped right out!
10. Dip the muffins into the melted butter and then into the cinnamon / sugar mix.
11. Let cool.

Doughnut holes immediately after being removed from the oven

Dip the doughnut holes into the butter, cinnamon, and sugar for the delicious coating

Take a look at that soft, airy center!

This recipe is adapted from Tasty Kitchen