Who doesn’t love brunch. In my house brunch is a common occurrence, weather it be with family or friends. We love it because it is so much more laid back then a sit down dinner. With brunch you can just put everything out and your guests can just casually help themselves to what they would like. Since we have a few brunch get togethers a year, I like to change things up and make something different each time. Then I thought, donuts just scream brunch. Don’t you agree?
The best thing about these donuts is that they are baked instead of fried. I know your thinking “ that’s not a donut “. But trust me they are just as good as any fried donut that you have had. With the juicy blueberries and a hint of lemon in every bight, they are sure to be a crowd pleaser.
How to make baked donuts:
It all started when I found donut baking trays. They make the perfect donut. They are non stick and super easy to clean.
Another great tool is my micro plain. I use it all the time weather it be for grating fresh spices or for zesting citrus. It is the perfect tool to have in the kitchen. Since these were going to be blueberry donuts had to add some lemon zest. In fact, I think every recipe that I have ever made that contained blueberries I have added some form of lemon to weather it be zest or juice. Blueberry and lemon just go great together.
I always like to sift my dry ingredients and then whisk them together to incorporate. This will make for a fluffier donut. Once your wet ingredients are added you can switch to a rubber spatula but do not over mix, or your donuts will become tough. Just mix until almost fully incorporated.
Now for the head liner, the blueberries. You can use fresh or frozen. For this recipe I used fresh. Pour them into the batter and gently fold them in. Once everything is incorporated, it will be time for your baking pan. To make it a little easer, I put the batter in a pastry bag without a tip in it and cut a larger then normal hole at the end to accommodate the blueberries. I spray my pan, just to be on the safe side and I squeeze the batter into each donut shape. Fill only about 3/4 full, they will rise.
Ingredients:
- 3 Cups all purpose flour.
- 1 3/4 Cup cane sugar divided.
- 2 Teaspoons baking powder.
- 1 Teaspoon baking soda.
- 3/4 Teaspoon ground cinnamon.
- 1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest.
- 1/2 Cup or one stick of butter.
- 1 Cup buttermilk.
- 3 Large eggs .
- 2 Teaspoons vanilla.
- 1 Cup fresh or frozen blueberries.
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a donut tray with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and lemon zest.
- In a small pot or micro safe bowl melt butter then set aside.
- In a separate bowl whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter until combined.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir to combine, do not over mix.
- Gently fold in the blueberries until incorporated.
- Pour dough into a large pastry bag or ziplock bag
- Cut the tip off the bottom of the pastry bag or a corner off the ziplock bag making sure the hole will be big enough to accommodate the blueberries, and pipe the dough into prepared donut tray being careful to fill each mold to 3/4 full.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until donut spring back when touched.
- Remove from oven and let cool. Invert tray onto a wire rack and let donuts cool completely.
- Once completely cooled. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
