A couple months ago or so I happened upon a tweet by @BourbonBanter about really wishing he could put his morning donut in some bourbon. That got me to thinking, bourbon should be, no would be, really good in a donut. All that vanilla and carmel flavor melding with the sugar, a little cinnamon and nutmeg...I got to drooling just thinking about it (as an editorial aside, I still am. Saturday morning, these may be breakfast again...).
So I went looking for a pan to bake donuts in. I like fried donuts, but there is too much clean up. That and you have to get the oil just the right temperature or they soak up so much of it that your mouth is coated in an oil slick that is almost impossible to remove. No, baked sounded like the way to go. At my local Bed, Bath and Beyond (way beyond...) I found what I was looking for. The Wilton Donut Pan. It works pretty good and I was happy enough with it that I went back and bought another (since the recipe makes 12).
It took a couple tries to get right. The first time I didn't add enough bourbon. While you don't want too much, I really felt that since I was using good bourbon it was only right to taste it a bit. And since I told @BourbonBanter that I would share the recipe, here it is. It is a variation of the recipe on the packaging of the pan. I added bourbon and cinnamon and adapted it to what I had on hand.
Bourbon (Baked) Donuts
(Makes 12 donuts)
Dry Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, buttermilk powder, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Mix together bourbon, water, egg beaters and butter. Add to dry mixture.
- Beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup approx. 2/3 full.
- Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing.
- Finish donut by dredging through cinnamon sugar or confectioners’ sugar. Donuts are best served fresh.