I gave in and bought a donut pan.  It was 30% off at Sur la Table.  How was I supposed to resist?  It’s just this simple one from Wilton and will only set you back $10.

I’ve made fried cake donuts a couple of times, but frying makes such a mess.  The worst part, in my opinion, is dealing with the oil afterward. Baking donuts eliminates the mess AND makes you feel a little bit better about eating the donut.  I must admit something, though.  And it should come as no surprise.  They’re not as good as fried.  Frying gives such a lovely crunch to the exterior that you just cannot duplicate in the oven.  They are still good, just not as good.

Originally I tried the recipe printed on the wrapping of the pan for basic baked donuts.  They looked lovely, especially after a good coating of powdered or cinnamon sugar.  But they weren’t fantastic.  They were dry, crumbly and close to tasteless.  So I went on the search for a moister cake donut recipe and found this one for sour cream blueberry donuts.  I adapted it a little and turned it into an apple cinnamon sour cream donut.  The kids and I have been reheating and enjoying these for breakfast, but they really are best the day they’re made.  They are super moist and the grated apple provides just a little texture.

This recipe makes about 10 donuts.  Be careful not to overfill your pan because you will have half donut, half muffin top type things.  I tried both brown sugar and white sugar with the recipe below.  Not a huge difference, but I did prefer the white sugar.  I also tried more sour cream and less applesauce, and liked the variation with more applesauce thinking it added more apple-ness to the final product. Definitely do use a plastic bag to pipe the batter into the pan.  You’ll have a mess on your hands otherwise.  Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts

Adapted from Baked Blueberry Donuts

Makes 10 donuts

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sour cream (regular or low fat)
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 small apple, peeled and shredded with a large grater, then pressed between paper towels to reduce moisture

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 6 cavity donut pan with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.
3. Whisk the sour cream, applesauce, sugar, egg and vanilla in another bowl.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Fold in the apple gently.
5. Transfer batter to a large zip top bag and cut off a small corner.  Fill the each donut cavity just over half way.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until donut springs back when pressed with your finger.
7. Cool for 2 minutes in the pan, then move to a rack to cool completely.
8. Grease pan again and bake the rest of the donuts.
9. Finish with a simple powdered sugar glaze, toss in powdered sugar or dip into melted butter and then toss in cinnamon sugar.