Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts

Even though I’ve been a busy girl lately, I’m never too busy for a doughnut break!  I especially love the mini variety.  These are extra light and have a double dose of vanilla goodness. 

The idea for these came from the Starbucks Birthday Cake Doughnut, a very dense doughnut that is eye-catching with pink icing and tiny white nonpareils.  Since my recipe turned out very light and fluffy (the exact opposite of Starbucks) I made them in my favorite shade of blue.  The texture was not at all what I expected from a baked doughnut.  I love them so much, I had to share!

Newborn baby doughnuts… aren’t they cute?

You’ll need a mini doughnut pan for this recipe.  I usually don’t like to clutter my pantry with unnecessary baking equipment, but I’ll make exceptions (like this tuile stencil) if something special speaks to me. I’m eager to experiment with other doughnut recipes, so I think this pan will be well utilized.

The recipe is pretty strait forward, and the only extra advice I can give is to put the donut batter into a piping bag.  It is so much easier to fill the doughnut cavities without making a big ol’ mess. 

Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts                      [click for printable version]

Adapted from Sur La Table

Yield: 5-6 dozen baby donuts

Doughnut batter:

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp. butter, melted

Seeds from one vanilla bean

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray donut pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In large mixing bowl, sift together all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and butter and beat until just combined. Spray doughnut cavities with cooking spray or brush with butter.  Fill each donut cup approximately 1/2 full.

Bake 5-8 minutes or until the top of the donuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4–5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnuts with vanilla glaze. Doughnuts are best served fresh.

Vanilla glaze:

1 cup confectioner’ s sugar

1 tbsp. milk

½ tsp. vanilla extract

4 drops of liquid blue food coloring

White nonpareils

In small bowl, stir together sugar, milk and vanilla extract until sugar is completely dissolved. Add food coloring and stir until color is uniform.  Use immediately to glaze doughnuts.  Sprinkle on nonpareils.