Who says all donuts are deep fried? And who says baked donuts need a donut pan? 

I love donuts. There's something so special about that ring of cakey bready thing that fits into your hand and the drizzling chocolate and toppings all over your hand. There's something so special about that ring in the centre that makes everyone scream DONUT! when they say rings of goodness displayed all over the glass display cases. 

But donuts are just simply bread (or cake) dough in a circle form and piled with toppings. My baked donuts are exactly that. Donuts made with yeast that are baked till golden brown and dipped in chocolate or cinnamon sugar and served with a cup of hot coffee. Perfection. 

Baked donuts 

Adapted from <a href="http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2012/09/baked-cinnamon-sugar-doughnuts.html

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter

2 large eggs

5 cups all-purpose flour

A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and sugar. 

2. Add the butter, eggs, flour, nutmeg and salt. Beat the dough with the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon and eventually your hands) for 2-3 minutes at medium speed. Adjust the dough texture by adding flour a few tablespoons at a time or more milk. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky – don’t overflour! 

3. Knead the dough for a few minutes (again, by mixer or by hand) and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size (the exact time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen). 

(I proved my dough in my steam oven in the prove setting at 40 degrees celsius for one hour) 

4. Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or a 2-3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough. Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, they don’t fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough. 

5. Cover the tray with lightly greased plastic wrap. (At this point, you can refrigerate the doughnuts overnight or proceed with the recipe.) Let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled.

6. Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking the doughnuts around minute 8. They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through.

7. Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Dip each one in the melted butter and toss or sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately.

8. For the chocolate version, simply dip the donuts in melted chocolate and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. Leave in the fridge to set. 

Enjoy!