Tag Archives: desserts

Mini Donut Break

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It is fall break here and at our house any school break is a reason to make donuts. This time I had two requests from the children. The eldest asked for gluten free and the youngest asked for “no pumpkin”. But it is FALL! Fine, no pumpkin. I wanted to have spice donuts, but after I put hemp protein powder in these babies, I decided that chocolate would be better. My kids are pretty good at eating what I give them, but green donuts aren’t terribly appetizing. So a couple of tablespoons of cocoa and these donuts were perfectly chocolate. These are so good! I’m still so new to gluten free baking. I haven’t even begun to figure it out. These actually turned out. They were light and so tender. I was trying to find a substitute for rye flour and in a list I saw hemp flour. AND since gluten free products benefit from protein added to them I thought “hemp protein powder”. It worked. I am so happy.

GF DF Chocolate Donuts

  • ½ cup GF flour blend (Bob’s Red Mill)
  • ¼ cup hemp protein powder (Manitoba Harvest)
  • ¼ cup oat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cup cane sugar
  • Pinch freshly ground nutmeg OR dash pumpkin pie spice
  •  ¼ tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder (or carob powder)
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
  •  1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage
  •  ½ tsp vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Stir egg, milk, and vanilla together. Add wet into dry ingredients. Stir in melted coconut oil. Preheat oven to 400° while the batter rests. Fill greased donut (or muffin) pan 1/3 full. Bake for 6-10 minutes (depending on pan size, 6 min. is perfect for mini donuts). Cool on wire rack and shake in*/sprinkle on powdered sugar. Makes about 18-24 mini donuts.

I have tried filling the donut pan using a spoon because I think it will be easier or less wasteful or something, but using a pastry bag or sandwich bag with the corner snipped is the best way to fill the pan.

*My girls love to cover the donuts in tons of sugar. Put 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar into a (food safe) paper bag. Gently toss 1-3 donuts in the bag at a time. These donuts are fragile and one or two have been lost to overzealous sugar shaking.

 

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“Clean Cooking”

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I don’t mean healthy or anything, but the opposite of “messy cooking”; the way I usually cook. I think I am a great cook. My family had to suffer through some interesting dinners when I was in high school, but by the time I was on my own, I could make just about anything with a recipe and I had some killer go to recipes. Good or bad, down-home or gourmet, my cooking style is messy. I use every pot/pan, knife, utensil, cutting board, anything I can get my hands on. Now that our home is for sale, I need to adjust my cooking style. Yesterday I went through the Chick-fil-A dive-thru three times. My kitchen stayed clean, but I don’t think that fast-food is a solution to any problem. Unless you are too skinny and have too much money. So…Today I made a pot-roast. Definitely not fancy, but I pretty much used one knife, one cutting board and my crock pot. The only problem was the smell of onion cooking all day. If you are showing your house, onions are not the first smell you want hitting people when they walk through the door. Luckily I have been wasting time on Pinterest looking for bar cookies. Why do cookies have to be messy and time-consuming? These bars have all the sweet cinnamon-y goodness of Snickerdoodles, but they are so much easier. Snickerdoodle is a good smell for prospective buyers. And while the pan was in the oven I washed the mixing bowl and measuring cups/spoons. After the bars cooled I cut them all and put them in an airtight container and then I washed the pan! I had cookies AND a clean kitchen. Amazing.

snickerdoodle bars

Chewy Snickerdoodle Bars
Adapted from The Domesticated Redhead, adapted from Frugal Antics

Ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk yogurt
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 tsp vanilla
⅓ cup sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Instructions
  1. Cream shortening and sugar.
  2. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between eggs.
  3. Mix in yogurt.
  4. Combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, baking powder and salt.
  5. Mix into shortening/sugar mixture.
  6. In a separate, small bowl, combine ⅓ cup sugar and cinnamon.
  7. Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar mix into a 9X13 pan.
  8. Spread batter on top.
  9. Top with remaining sugar mixture.
  10. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
  11. You don’t want this too much like cake, so opt for less time if you need.

I didn’t think it looked like enough batter for a 9×13 pan, but it raised beautifully. I don’t know why I need to confess this, but I ate three bars last night after dinner. They tasted so good I couldn’t stop. And then I felt sick. Perhaps today I will only eat one at a time. Shouldn’t I have learned that lesson?