School Morning Doughnuts

Hear me out.

Like lemonade, ice cream, and Fruit Ninja, doughnuts appeal to just about every kid. Of course, doughnuts are the epitome of a breakfast that you grab in a moment of weakness and regret when your child is hyperactive and hungry 20 minutes later. I’m pretty sure that if you want your child to bomb a test, your contribution to the effort would be to offer him a rainbow-sprinkled on his way out the door.

That said, what is a doughnut, technically, other than a fluffy, puffy, ring-shaped pastry? (Yes, I realize that connoisseurs would balk at this—including Pennsylvania Dutch grandparents, professional bakers who made, by all accounts, delicious fastnachts, yeast doughnuts traditionally fried in lard.) But with the whole wheat croissants at my favorite New York City coffee shop, Via Quadronno, in mind, it occurred to me that one could fortify the simple “cake” doughnut, even just a little bit, and have them still be appealing to kids. Having not seen whole grain doughnuts in the wild, I turned to my friend the Internet, and found and tweaked a couple of recipes (thanks to eatgood4life for getting me started). With some milk and fruit for good measure, these are two school-morning-worthy treats kids—and you—can get behind.

(A few things that seem key, here: A nonstick doughnut pan (I got two of these Wilton doughnut pans from Amazon); whole wheat pastry flour (pastry flour makes baked goods more tender, important for cake doughnuts); and some really good flavorings. Inspired by Ina Garten’s bookmark-worthy list of favorite pantry staples and a few free samples from the company itself, I’ve become pretty devoted to Nielsen-Massey’s vanilla and chocolate extracts. (At the risk of sounding like a really annoying baking purist, in simple baked goods, especially, quality extracts do make a difference.)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon-Sugar Doughnuts
Makes 6-8

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
(For topping:)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cooking or baking spray oil (I use Coconut Oil spray for most baked goods)

Steps
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly spray doughnut pan with cooking spray. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in small bowl and set aside. In medium or large bowl, whisk together sugar, milk, yogurt, egg and vanilla until smooth. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Distribute into doughnut pan holes, taking care to not overfill (about 3/4 full is just right). Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until doughnuts spring back slightly at a light touch. Cool completely. While cooling, in a shallow dish, mix melted butter and sugar and cinnamon for topping. Dip cooled doughnuts into butter and sugar mixture, coating on all sides.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Doughnuts
Makes 6-8

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup white flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (my favorite is Ghiradelli’s cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of milk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons canola, sunflower or coconut oil
1 teaspoon chocolate extract
(For topping:)
1 cup white chocolate chips or white baking chips
Cooking or baking spray oil (I use Coconut Oil spray for most baked goods)

Steps
Preheat oven to 325 and lightly spray doughnut pan with cooking spray. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt) in small bowl and set aside. In medium or large bowl, whisk together sugar, milk, eggs, oil, and chocolate extract until smooth. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Distribute into doughnut pan holes, taking care to not overfill (about 3/4 full is just right). Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until doughnuts spring back slightly at a light touch. Cool completely. While cooling, in a shallow dish, melt white chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 seconds intervals, stirring each time you take it out, until smooth. (Should take at most 2 rounds for a total of 60 seconds. Don’t overheat. Spoon melted chips into snack or quart sized plastic bag. Snip tiny corner off of end. Pipe onto cooled doughnuts in any design you like.