Glazed Chocolate Cake Donuts

My kids haven’t had a snow day in a couple of years, but today we had our second snow day of the season. We were very happy for the break from reality. 🙂 Everyone slept in this morning and then my daughter made this special breakfast. ❤

These baked donuts were quite a treat- I had to post them right away. The recipe was adapted from bunsinmyoven.com. They were very light, tender, and moist. The batter would also be great to bake in mini-bundt pans. Next time!

I’m looking forward to another indulgent breakfast tomorrow morning… We just found out that my kids have another snow day! 🙂

Yield: 12 mini donuts

For the Donuts:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 6 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup milk (preferably whole milk)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk (preferably whole milk)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch of coarse salt

To Make the Donuts:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, preferably on convection. Coat two mini-donut pans with cooking oil spray.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Whisk in the mini chocolate chips.
4. In a small bowl, using a hand-held mixer, beat together the vanilla, egg, sour cream, milk, and oil.
5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
6. Using a small cookie scoop or spoon, distribute the dough into two greased mini-donut pans.
7. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs.
8. Let the donuts cool in the pan for 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.
9. Let the donuts cool completely before glazing.

To Make the Glaze:

1. Place a piece of plastic wrap, parchment paper, wax paper, or newspaper under a wire rack to catch drips of glaze.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
3. Dunk the donuts in the glaze to fully coat and place on the wire rack to set, about 5 minutes.

Mark Bittman’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

I feel somewhat compelled to try different chocolate chip cookie recipes- especially when they claim to be “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER”…. (and I don’t think I’m alone!)

A couple of weekends ago, I had to make a dessert for my kids and their friends, so naturally I thought of chocolate chip cookies. I had seen this recipe adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything on Sarah n Spice.com. She said that they were “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER”- even beating out a recipe from Alton Brown. (WHAT!?!?) I had to try this one.

I liked that the recipe incorporated both mini and standard semisweet chocolate chips. I adapted the recipe only to chill the dough prior to baking. We ate them as is as well as in chipwich form with French vanilla ice cream. SO good!! I have come to the conclusion that I just appreciate a really good chocolate chip cookie. It’s too hard to judge “The Best!”

• ½ pound unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 on convection.
2. Start off by creaming together sugar and butter in a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated.
4. Add the vanilla.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix until the cookie dough comes together.
6. With a spoon, stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or up to overnight. (Alternatively, the dough can also be scooped into tablespoon-size mounds prior to refrigerating.)
8. Scoop tablespoon-size mounds on a baking sheet. (I used an ice cream scoop.)
9. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

One Year Ago:

• Whole Wheat Banana Bread with Roasted Bananas

Two Years Ago:

• Whole Wheat Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Sour Cream Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Bean-Infused Turbinado Sugar

Other Chocolate Chip Cookie Favorites:

• Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

Raspberry Meringue Kisses

My grandmother used to make over thirty different types of Christmas cookies.   This recipe was always one of the thirty.  Growing up, my mom, sister and I made them every year as well.  They are my daughter’s favorite.  So EASY!!!  They have the best texture if they are made on a dry day.  I double the recipe and use 1 small box of gelatin, and 1 bag of mini chocolate chips.

• 3 egg whites
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 1/2 T raspberry gelatin
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 cup minature chocolate chips

1. Beat egg whites with salt until foamy.  Add raspberry gelatin & sugar gradually, beat until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved.  Mix in vinegar, fold in chocolate bits.
2. Drop from teaspoon (or using a cookie scoop & a teaspoon!), onto 3 parchment lined cookie sheets.
3. Bake at 250 degrees for 25 minutes.  Turn oven OFF.  Leave cookies in the oven 2 hours to overnight.

Yield: Makes about 9 dozen.