Pinned It, Made It Mondays: Mini Donuts

Awhile ago, I pinned this from Sprinkle Bakes, the beautiful dessert/baking blog Heather Baird keeps.  It's a fantastic blog although every time I visit it I find myself in my kitchen looking for something delicious to bake.  (In other words: Stay away if you are dieting!)  Not only are her desserts amazing, her photography is gorgeous, as well.

So, here is a picture of her Vanilla Bean Baby Doughnuts:

Photo by Heather Baird, Sprinkle Bakes

Darling, right?  I mean, who doesn't love donuts, and who doesn't love all things mini???  I immediately placed a mini donut pan in my Amazon cart, but because a mini donut pan isn't exactly the needed item for a kitchen (Alton Brown would call it a uni-tasker), it stayed in the cart.  Then, on Friday, my mom and I were browsing at Sur Le Table and I found one!  I bought it and the next morning made these:

I think have a new favorite treat for brunches and showers everywhere!  And here is my attempt to completely copy her idea:

I used the recipe from Williams-Sonoma, which I am sharing because I know you all will go and buy one of these pans this very moment!  Even if you don't, this is a pretty great recipe for a light cake donut, which you could bake in anything small.

For the donuts:

• 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 tsp. vanilla
• 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

Directions:

To make the donuts, preheat an 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, whole milk, and vanilla. 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.  Ready to fill pan!

Tip: Use a pastry bag to fill donut cavities.  Cut about 1 inch from the bottom of the bag, then squeeze into pan.  It should fill a little more than half the cavity.  They bake up pretty much how they look, though, so try to keep them uniform.

Bake in oven for 6 minutes, turning halfway for evenness.  (W-S says 8 minutes, but they were too done and tasted more like large cheerios.)

To make the icing, simply get a cup of powdered sugar and add in milk teaspoon by teaspoon until it is the right consistency.  Add a dash of vanilla or any other flavoring, plus your food coloring.  You can also make a chocolate ganache, powdered sugar dust, or cinnamon-sugar topping for your donuts.