Ready, Set, Weekend with The Garden of Eatin'

I remember growing up in an area where there were donut shops on almost every block. Not an ideal neighbourhood for a teenager who wore skin tight bell bottom jeans. Eventually my butt started looking like a donut so I limited myself to one a month for a special treat and started playing tennis to burn off "donut" calories.

You may or may not know how REAL donuts are made. Let me break down the steps for you.

1. START WITH A YEAST DOUGH 2. ADD A TON OF SUGAR 3. THEN DEEP FRY 4. GLAZE WITH MORE SUGARY STUFF 5. TOP WITH AN OBNOXIOUS AMOUNT OF SPRINKLES

Sound good? OF COURSE IT DOES!! That's why skinny jeans may be out of the question if you are writing your memoir " diary of donut addict".

Well, don't fret my friends. There is a way to healthy up your little donut passion. That's right....YOU CAN BAKE EM'

Okay, so maybe they are still laden with sugar and are totally not "healthy healthy" ..........but they are better than fried.

My son's girlfriend and I decided it would be a fun project to make mini donuts together. First we needed to equip ourselves with "donut gear".....baking pan, cake mix, icing sugar and loads of sprinkles. Yes we used a ready made mix due to time constraints and the fact that I needed to bake up a babka on the fly. It's fine. You can always substitute the real McCoy with a cake mix if you want to. Just so you know. I am not perfect. I know you are shocked by this confession. I have had my share of kitchen disasters and this my friends was one of those times. We followed a recipe we found on Pinterest and what we ended up with was this........FLATNUTS. Translation? A donut that looked like a pancake. We have no idea what happened....my guess it was the pan. My other guess was that we were not patient and my final excuse was ........I had blow-dry scheduled for 3:00 p.m. and there was no time to fiddle diddle with these stupid flatsie donut thingies.

I quickly messaged my new friend who started a donut biz called MiniliciousByRachelle. I mean ....are they not the cutest? Here's how the conversation went:

ME: "Hi Rachelle....do you think you can make me one dozen donuts in an "ombre" series from white to pink to orange"?

RACHELLE: "sure"

ME: "okay thanks"

To be honest, the conversation was about 3 days long but do you really want to waste time reading about how, what and why when you can get right down to the donuts? Let's do this.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/8 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup whole milk 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 egg For the cinnamon-sugar mixture (optional): 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon For the glaze (optional): 1 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 1/2 Tbs. whole milk

To make the donuts, preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the wells of a mini donut pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In a measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk and whole milk. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and beat on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just blended. Pour a scant 1 Tbs. batter into each prepared well. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the donuts comes out clean, about 8 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes, then invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Wash and dry the pan and repeat with the remaining batter. If making the cinnamon-sugar mixture, place the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and whisk until combined. While the donuts are still warm, toss them in the mixture and transfer to a wire rack. If making the glaze, place the confectioners’ sugar and milk in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Let the donuts cool completely, then dip them, top side down, into the glaze. Transfer the donuts, glazed size up, to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Makes 24 donuts. #HappyNationalDonutDay !

See ya next week, xo Debi @thegardenofeatinsimplybeautifuleating.com