French Toast Donuts

These really do taste just like French toast. It's crazy!

I guess it's not actually that crazy, given the ingredients lend themselves to the taste of French toast.

So tasty; give them a try!

French Toast Donuts Recipe:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg or allspice
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease your donut pan. If you don't have one, well then you can't make French toast donuts. But you could make French toast bread in a loaf pan or muffins!

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, combine all the wet ingredients including maple syrup. Mix the wet into the dry until well combined. Spoon the mixture into your donut pan. This recipe makes about 6 donuts with a little batter left over (throw it in a ramekin or silicone muffin cup). Bake for about 10 minutes.

Let cool slightly and then dredge in powdered sugar.

The donut will absorb most of the sugar by the time it's completely cooled, so you'll probably want to sprinkle more when you serve.

This looks more like French toast anyway, right??

Baked Banana Donuts

Given the choice between a donut or a kolache in the morning, I always go with the kolache. Even though donuts aren't a frequently craved food of mine, sometimes you just can't help but want a deep-fried, sugary piece of dough.

As with most of my recipes, I decided to satisfy this spontaneous craving by making it healthier! I had 3 bananas just chillin' in the freezer (ha ha ha) and was tired of the same old banana bread recipe. I just received a donut pan for Christmas so decided to make a baked banana donut. I topped with a simple maple glaze to add some shine and extra sweetness.


Although I wouldn't recommend this to a donut-fanatic or someone who swears by the fried yeast variety, this recipe is tasty, versatile and fun. And really, I just love anything banana.

Baked Banana Donut w/ Maple Glaze Recipe:

• 3 bananas (small to medium size)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice

• *1/4 cup maple syrup
• *1/4 cup powdered sugar
• *2 tbsp water
  

*Honestly, I just kinda eye-balled it.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas. Add the vanilla, oil, sugar and egg whites and mix together. Next add dry ingredients and mix until moist and well-combined. Spoon into your donut pan. Because this dough is thick and sticky, it's kind of a messy endeavor, but try to fill each donut cup about 2/3 full and even. I only have a 6-donut pan so I had a lot of leftover dough. Instead of waiting until they were finished and re-loading full of sticky dough, I just plopped the rest in a muffin tin and baked them all together. In a 425-degree Fahrenheit oven, the donuts were done at about 8 minutes; muffins took about 12 minutes.

While they're baking, mix the maple syrup, powdered sugar and water. Allow the donuts to cool and then smear on the sweet glaze.