Every once in a while, I just want a donut. True story: Dunkin Donuts came to Colorado a year ago… and I still haven’t had one!
Phew! Nope… not one crumb, not one cup of coffee. I just can’t. For me, having one of those beautiful maple iced babies could start something… a habit, a reason to drive thru. No, no, and NO!
But sometimes you just need a tiny cake with a hole in the middle, and then… you find these babies.
I love carrot cake and I love donuts… so I decided to put my donut pan to work again to taste these bad boys. The original recipe says that it makes 6 donuts, but I really think it makes closer to 8. You’ll notice I overstuffed my pan, but next time, I’ll definitely make them a little smaller… so that I can enjoy them for more days! So good, and I loved the frosting too!!!
Carrot Cake Donuts
From Emily Bites
INGREDIENTS
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¼ cup brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup grated carrots
1 Tbsp. canola oil
3 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
¾ tsp. vanilla (divided)
¼ cup + 2 tsp. skim milk (divided)
2 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 Tbsp. reduced calorie pancake syrup
1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly mist a 6 cup doughnut pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and brown sugar until well combined.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the egg and then add the carrots, oil, applesauce, ½ teaspoon of the vanilla and ¼ cup of milk.
4. Stir until well combined and then add to the dry ingredients from step 2. Mix until well combined.
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into the 6 prepared slots of the doughnut pan. Note: I had to overfill mine slightly. Next time, I will try to make 7, maybe 8 donuts with the batter. Also, make sure you use the cooking spray made for baking, and be generous in its application.
6. Bake for 15 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Flip the pan to release the doughnuts onto a cooling rack and allow the doughnuts to cool.
7. In a medium bowl, combine the remaining ¼ teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons milk and add the cream cheese, syrup and powdered sugar. Using a hand mixer, mix until well combined.
8. When doughnuts are cooled, add cream cheese glaze to the donuts. Add extra carrot “sprinkles” to the tops of the donuts. Note: I dipped mine in the small bowl and swirled them.
9. Serve and enjoy! Due to the cream cheese frosting, store leftovers in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Per 1 donut serving:
CAL 181; CARB 27g; FAT 6g; PROT 5g; FIB 3g; WW Points Plus: 5