Baked Donuts: Apple Cider and Pear Crumble

By all means doughnuts should be enjoyed year-round, but I’d argue that National Doughnut Day should be celebrated in October (not June; who came up with that?). After all, donuts are synonymous with fall, pumpkin patches and apple cider. When my son was in high school, he worked at Fall City Farms where their biggest claim to fame was not the pumpkins, but the mini donut machine. (Okay the pumpkin canon had its fans as well.) On October weekends there’d typically be a line waiting to buy bags (that no one wanted to share) of warm melt-in-your-mouth mini donuts rolled in cinnamon and sugar. It was a once-a-year indulgence that I need to revisit. The best tasting donuts are the ones that smell of yeast frying in the air. That’s hard to argue. But there’s also a certain charm in baking donuts at home this time of year. Especially if you’re like me and are afraid to deep fry anything. I came across a Nordic Ware donut pan and in the spirit of fall, I set out to bake a couple varieties of donuts using a mixture of warm spices, apples, pears, a maple glaze and a buttery streusel topping.

Doughnut or Donut?

Doughnuts, or donuts, are most closely associated with a ring shape, but filled donuts, fritters, bars and twists also qualify as donuts. Don’t get me started on maple bars. Go directly to North Bend Bakery for maple bars, and then maybe hike off your sugar high on Mt. Si. One of my favorite memories is the time my high school friend and I ate an entire box of old fashioned glazed Ruth Ashbrook donuts. I still laugh at that 40 years later. Oh and then there was that one Dunkin Donuts trip during college … wait, where was I? Oh yes, “doughnut” or “donut” – which do you prefer? While donut is easier to type, my AP Style guide entry reads simply: doughnut. No explanation needed apparently. So as a journalism major educated in AP style, I’m going with “doughnut” here on out.

The two varieties I decided to try were Baked Pear Doughnuts with Crumb Topping (you may remember I had those pears from my sister), and Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze, well, because maple glaze.

Baked Pear Doughnuts with Crumb Topping

I found this recipe on the USA Pears website. The doughnuts are spiced with cinnamon and ginger. It goes without saying that the yummiest part of these doughnuts is the sweet crunchy streusel topping with oatmeal, cinnamon, brown sugar, walnuts and butter. When you bite into these, the butter lingers on your lips and you can’t resist licking it off and smacking your lips together to savor the buttery taste. This doughnut was perfect with my morning coffee. One note: I should have chopped the pears smaller – very small because when I filled the donut rings on the pan, it became quite messy.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup plain, whole milk greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup canola oil

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 pear, diced (peeling optional)

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1/4 cup oatmeal

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons crushed walnuts

• 4 tablespoons room temperature butter

Full recipe is on the USA Pear website. These need to bake for 10-11 minutes. Let cool for maybe 5 minutes and enjoy while warm. 

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

These doughnuts are from Tieghan Gerard of Half-Baked Harvest. I always gravitate to her recipes. I think I also wanted to remember the delicious apple cider from my son’s farm working days. Unfortunately, they no longer press the cider on site and I’ve found nothing quite like it. These doughnuts are similar to the pear variety, in that you add chopped up apples to the batter. I didn’t have apple butter, so what the heck, I used left over pear sauce I’d made earlier.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups apple cider

• 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1/4 cup apple butter

• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 honeycrisp apple, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar

These doughnuts bake at 350° F for 12-13 minutes. Again, doughnuts are the yummiest when warm, so while they bake, prepare your glaze. The full recipe is here, including the Brown Butter Cinnamon Maple Glaze. However, I dunked my doughnut tops in a brown butter maple frosting that I had in the fridge from a previous maple time. I thinned it a bit and just dipped the tops in the glaze.

As a blogger I always have at least one frosting in my fridge or freezer. In fact, one day my exasperated husband said, “There’s nothing to eat in the fridge but jars of salad dressing and frosting.” (Donut judge me!) HIs other gripe: He never gets a warm meal because of the photo sessions.

Hahaha. So sorry, life can be rough.  Eat a donut doughnut!